romanojg

Please be careful with the Color Catchers. I agree they do an amazing job but can cost you alot of money. There was a thread on here a few months ago about them getting into the pump of the front loading washers. I know that even with regulare washers little kids socks can do that so on the rare occasion that I used one after that I'd pin it to a piece of fabric and it still did the job. Well, it was too late. Not too long after that I started having problems with my washer and after tons of trouble shooting I had to call the repair man (thank goodness I had the warranty). He fixed it, it was clogged and showed me what was in it and told me I might want to go thru it because there were a few coins in it. I asked him about the color catchers and he agreed about them being a problem. After he left I went thru the fuzz as he called it, in the middle was 2 Color Catchers. Now I don't use them too often, as a matter of fact, I've only used a partial box. This would have cost me plenty if it hadn't been for my warranty. From now on I'll pin it to a piece of fabric and make sure I remove it when I'm done. I'd be careful since you didn't pre-wash it and I'd only do cold or warm water. Pin the Color Catcher to a separate piece of fabric so that it's not next to your quilt or if you have a mesh bag you can put it in that. I'd say you could probably dry it but not knowing what batting you used. That will depend on the look of your quilt when it's done. You can use a low setting to dry and you can also do a combination of drying and air drying so it's not in there too long. Good luck.

Caryn

i make quilts that i sell and gift...and always, whether i prewash the fabrics or not, the last thing i do before the quilt goes to a new home, is wash it and dry it. it is like a final test... i use cold water, one ounce of detergent, one color catcher and use the perm/press cycle of front load washing machine. when done, it goes into the dryer on medium heat. there is very little shrinkage if any, and i have never had a problem. so far, they all come out of the dryer looking like they are supposed to look and feel like they are supposed to feel like.

Weezy Rider

I asked about batting since I don't want the wrinkled look. I'm thinking of washing in cold water and line drying. I steamed the batting pressing the blocks (QAYG)

Rubesgirl

My daughter washed her quilt for the first time in cold water with a color catcher. She has front loading washer and dryer and said it came out perfectly. All fabrics and batting are 100% cotton and I did not prewash them. The colors are very bright and she said that the color catcher came out of the washer only colored with the orange from the batik I used for one of the borders. No other bleeding occurred and the reds did not bleed at all, which was my major concern.

Jingle

I prewash all fabrics and wash quilts before I give them away. I put in washer use water level for super agitate for a minute, let soak about ten minutes, agitate a few minutes, use fabric softener and let it rinse, pt in dryer and dry on low. I keep turning it as it tends to get into a roll. I drape it over my glass top dining table overnight to make sure it is dry. I know whomever it give it to will not do this but, I try to forget about the care it gets once it leaves here.

psailer

i heard a cup of vinegar in the wash water keeps them from bleeding and i use it and never have had a problem, but not sure if it is from the vinegar or not..lol...

BrendaK

We all have to do what works best for us. I prewash all my fabrics. After the quilt is made I then wash in hot water and it goes into the dryer on hot. I would love to hang on a clothesline but don't have one. I have never had a problem with a quilt after I have washed it. Knock on wood. I never know how someone is going to treat the quilt so I want to be sure that I can take care of any problems that might come up. BrendaK

GwenH

I never pre-wash my fabrics, but before I use a quit or give one away I do machine wash them the Retayne and make sure they are rinsed very well. I don't like the smell of the checmicals in quilt fabric and sure don't want anyone laying the the quilt until it is washed. I try to remember to use the gentle cycle on my machine, but sometimes they just get washed on normal.

Pat75

I wash all the time but I never ever use anything other than shampoo on my quilts Detergent is very harsh and shampoo is gentile.I never let my machine agitate just let it soak and then I drape the quilt wrong side out on the clothes line.I do chose to prewash all fabrics .