All quilts get washed in this house before they go out. I want to spot any potential issues ahead of time and I feel like it should be fresh and clean.

Do I dare speak up?--I have given away hundreds of quilts --small, large, and in-between. I have NEVER washed one before gifting it and I do not wash my own before using them.
Never entered my mind to do so and I doubt if I will begin now. My feeling is, especially with the baby quilts, that the user is going to wash them before they use them, so why wash them twice? I do give laundry instructions.

absolutely ditto.

never use detergent in washing quilts. there is a special soap strictly for washing quilts at the quilt stores. Faye Cassity

If I'm selling a quilt and saying it's machine washable and/or dryable then I HAVE to check myself first if this is the case. Any wall hangings with delicate embroidery or beadwork I sell as 'specialist clean only.'

If I buy faric or batting at JoAnns, I always wash a quilt before gifting or selling. All of their fabrics come from abroad, and have to be fumigated before entry to this country. It scares me that fumigation residue might get onto something in a baby quilt

I always wash, one to be sure it doesn't have a seam somewhere that just wasn't sewn in correctly, and two because I have dogs, and I don't want any dog hairs to go along with the quilt. I do tell them I have washed it and used a color catcher, so if has a little color on the catcher, I tell them, and tell them to use the color catchers until it doesn't run. I don't usually have a big problem with colors running, but I would hate to spend all that time on them just to be ruined because of color running.

i always wash mine...even had one dry cleaned!!

If it's to be sold, I wouldn't wash it. Just like you wouldn't want to buy clothing that was already laundered.

i always wash mine before it goes your right i want to make sure it holds up and is clean