If I'm making a quilt that will be used and washed a lot, like a children's quilt, I prewash using the harshest treatment that I think the quilt will receive. The last thing a mom needs to worry about is whether or not the quilt will survive the wash.

Question...do you also pre-wash your batting for children's quilts?

[QUOTE=Garden Gnome;7753777]If your main concern is the crinkly look that happens after a new quilt is washed, you might want to try pre-shrinking the batting before using it. (Soak in bath tub, drip dry, then finish in dryer) I think the batting shrinks a lot more than the quilt top or backing, so that causes most of the crinkle if the quilt is first washed after quilting it. I keep thinking I am going to do this, but I have begun to value the crinkled look more, so...

Regarding the shrinkage, you may want to check out this batting which came out a while back... Quilter's Dream Blend for Machines, 70% cotton and 30% polyester. There is no crinkling and it shows the quilting very nicely.

I wash using unscented soap just in case the person I am gifting the quilt to has any kind of sensitivity but usually I don't dry. I don't like the wrinkles that sometimes have set in, so I just put everything in a plastic bag and then iron it!

Perhaps I'm looking at this issue wrong -- but I'm financially limited, as most folks are, to some extent. If I purchase a specific fabric for a specific quilt, and that fabric bleeds -- I've already paid out my money -- so my method is that I use a product I found on-line -- Rit Dye Laundry Treatment. It is a dye-setter, and it works. I first test all fabric, then treat the bleeding fabric with the Rit product, rinse it, wash it, dry it and iron it. It is much less expensive than throwing the fabric away, or whatever one would do with a bleeding fabric otherwise. I've learned to pre-test my fabric for bleeding (particularly reds, but any vibrant or deep-colored fabric can be a bleeder, and price does not guarantee that your fabric won't bleed. The product I use is inexpensive, so discretion is the better part of valor (emphasis added), I also add a color catcher to my wash when I'm washing a quilt. I know they work.

And, please, I feel I must add this: I have no financial interest in the company that makes or distributes the product mentioned above, nor do I have any ownership interest in the company.

Thank you for the great idea Jeanette!