I found that using my front loader machine was alot gentler on my fabrics. I haven't experimented with a rag quilt yet, since it's needs the agitation to "rag out".

I have a top loading machine and wash my fabric on a delicate cycle and dry it on delicate also. I have not had any problem with fraying.

I use the gentle cycle.

. Oops, typo...I mean to get FOLDS out of fabric, not foods!

No, it wasn't the manufacturer's website. I clicked thru to where to buy, then to a dealer. No price.

I understand it with something important like a sewing machine, but not a washer lol

Lol!! We were thinking maybe you were a messy eater....:D

When we replaced our washer and dryer I wanted to get something really high end that would almost put the clothes back in the closet for me. My DH wanted to get something really low end that would almost put money back in his wallet. We both wanted large capacity-we agreed on that one thing. Our appliance dealer convinced us to go for Speed Queen, saying they make all the commercial laundromat equipment & thus are the reliable experts. So we did - just like my vintage sewing machines they're non-computerized, tremendous work horses.

My washer is top loader with an agitator. I prewash fabric & either clip the corners 1/4 to 1/2 inch or use a laundry bag or both. Oh, & when I prewashed my silk I sewed the yardage ends together like a tube. I know what I have pre-washed by the diagonal corners. I was going to prewash my precuts until reading comments on this board, so I don't wash them. I just bought a lot of second-hand fabric at a rummage sale and it all went into the wash to test or 'proof' it.

Not to hijack the thread, but while we're bemoaning the drawbacks of the newer front loaders, how about dishwashers?? Mine is at least 20 years old and while I'd love to get a new one, I've heard horror stories from my friends, one of whom just purchased a top of the line model. The shortest cycle runs almost 3 hours!!! It's supposed to be energy efficient, which is why it runs so long per the salesman. But how can it be energy efficient if it runs so long????

You know what I'd love to see the manufacturers do for dishwashers? Make them run for 2, 4, or 6 minutes, like the industrial ones in restaurants and school cafeterias. I'd be tickled pink if I could have all the dishes clean and put away half an hour after dinner was over.

I bought new washer and dryer to replace my Maytags (which I left in the old house). After trying to touch the bottom of the top loaders, I bought a Whirlpool front loader like DD has. I love it when I wash fabric since I have noticed less raveling and my delicates do not have the wear and tear of a top loader. I need to try the steam drying.

When I wash fabric yardage, I serge the cut ends of the fabric to prevent the raveling, and avoid tangled knots in the washing machine. My machine is an old Sears Kenmore machine and has worked well for many years. If you serge the raw endges of your fabric yardage, you shouldn't have problems with raveling. I don't buy pre-cuts or quilt kits at all and, thus, I don't work on those --I can only imagine the difficulty anyone would have trying to wash pre-cuts and kitd. I just don't buy those items because I'm left in the lurch with the raveling and the shrinkage, and I don't want to deal with that problem.

I have a Sears Kenmore top-loading washer -- We got it not too long (less than a month) after we moved into our new house in August 2000. It does not damage the fabric, but I do serge the cut ends of the fabric, and I don't trim the selveges off until after the fabric is washed. It takes such a short time to run it through the serger, and I really have not experienced any damage to the fabric. My dryer, on the other hand, was given (new) to us by my parents back in 1978. My son has overhauled it several times, and the heating element has been replaced at least a half-dozen times. BUT it's a terriffic machine, so as long as we can get the parts to fix it, I guess we will. My son has replaced the bearings, all the belts, just about everything that could possibly be replaced. It's by far more inexpensive that purchasing new, and some of the newer stuff is "junk". Perhaps we just got lucky when we got this machine. As I said, I do serge the cut ends of the fabric because what little fraying you get when washing fabric will tie in knots and that takes far more time than running the serger. JMHO, for what it's worth. I've heard of the brand mentioned -- fisher paykel -- that brand is a sponsor on many of the PBS shows involving cooking, baking, etc. -- The shows -- America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country TV, Martha Bakes -- there are a lot of shows sponsored by fisher-paykel.