Washing a finished quilt
 

I just finished a bed-sized quilt for my granddaughter's 10th birthday and want to wash it before giving it to her. Not sure what detergent/soap to use. It's very brightly colored so I do plan to use a color-catcher with it since I did not pre-wash my fabrics.

I pre-wash, but I also wash the finished product. I don't use anything special, sometimes liquid detergent, sometimes dry.

A long time ago, I didn't pre-wash a quilt, and when I washed, I had seams come loose. I always pre-wash now and sometimes even in the middle of the process to check for issues. I probably go overboard but that experience with loose seams had a long term effect on how I handle quilts. I usually make queen size quilts.

Serita

I prewash every fabric that comes into my house. I keep washing until the water runs clear. I'm very anal about prewashing. I don't want to have to deal with bleeding and with what I've seen how some people handle fabric in the store with disregard like wiping their sweaty necks and such. I definitely prewash.

With bright colors, and no pre-wash I would take it to a Laundromat. Use a large capacity machine with lots of water and several color catchers. You want lots and lots of water to keep any color run suspended in the water & not deposited on your quilt. I just use a tiny bit (like 25%) of my regular laundry detergent.

I wash my finished quilts in warm water, light amount of regular detergent and light agitation/spin cycle with at least 2 color catchers, then dry in a low heat dryer without softners. I like to wash quilts to remove spray starch, spray basting, check for loose seams and bleeding before gifting.

I agree with Paper Princess, take it to a Laundromat. My HE washer can hardly handle king size sheets, it simply couldn't spin a bed size quitl. On a large quilt I use 1/4 - 1/2 a box of color catchers. I use regular HE detergent.

Yes, do use lots of color catchers. It's worth it in the long run.

The only things I really fear on my completed quilts are bleach, burns, and rips.

I try to have the excess dyes out of the fabrics before i cut them - and if I have a bleeder I get rid of it.

I wash my finished quilts with the same laundry products that I use on my clothing. I have a large capacity, top loading (older) machine so don't have the same water (and lack thereof) issues that some others here have. I can wash my quilted (store bought - I know, but the dogs are not going to ruin something I put all the effort of a king quilt) king sized quilt in my home machine with no problems.

When I wash a quilt, I use a very mild soap made especially for washing linens and quilts. So many detergents are harsh for cleaning clothes so many have bleach chemicals even Woolite.