Washing Quilts…Oh my

I truly thought I could never be stumped on how to wash a quilt…until I purchased a new front load washing machine! If you still have a top load machine, read this. But…should you find yourself in this situation and now have 11 settings to choose from…YIKES…to wash a quilt in… Well, I HAD to pick one… to handle my quilt with care. So I did some experimenting, I hope my findings will help you.

By the process of elimination, I chose the delicate cycle with an additional drain & spin tacked on at the end. First, I emptied and cleaned the automatic detergent tray. Next, I add a small amount of quilt wash to the tray. I also threw a “color catcher” into the drum of the machine. And lastly, I took a deep breath and added my precious cargo, the quilt. Then… I laid an extra quilt on the floor in front of the washer… for my comfort while I knelt on my knees praying… for a good results at the end of the cycle. It seemed as though my new washer somehow knew that I had entrusted it with some rare specimen of fibers. Once it beeped, alerting me it was finished, I open the door for a peep. I then decided the 2nd rinse and drain would be a good safety measure, to ensure that all of the soap residue was completely rinsed out. Whew…that worked out well, now on to the dryer.

I chose delicate for drying too. I have washed some of my largest quilts and some of my throw quilts in this new washer, all of them have been utilitarian ones except one… which was a wall hanging. I think when I wash any more of the wall hanging’s, I will not dry them fully. Next time I think I will lay down plastic on the floor or a guest bed and block the quilt…but I will need to find a tall fence suitable to surround it… should I choose the floor, so my Miss Maize does not claim it as a new nap quilt! The one wall hanging I did do, was by no means damaged, but it was not as nice as it would have been, had I blocked it.

If you Google how to wash a quilt, I am sure you can come up with many alternatives on washing quilts. I just know that washing a quilt in the bath tub, is not only more work and time consuming, but could potentially tear the batting from the water weight… and wrestling with it! You are also taking a chance of popping stitches from the water weight too as you man handle it.

Hope this helps next time you have a soiled quilt. I am sure there was lots of naps taken under your quilts this past Thanksgiving day after the turkey tryptophan kicked in! So maybe you might want to freshen up a few throws before the Christmas nappers invade the nest next month!

Don’t forget that Fri. 11/24 thru Mon. 11/27 if you enter 10FREE on the web site you can get 10% off Wide Backing & Free shipping too!

In Ma’s brick and mortar shop on Small Business Sat. 11/25, you will receive 20% off any fabrics on the bolt…that includes wide backing too.

Let’s get the Quilting Holiday Shopping days started, shop small business first…the collective small businesses represents what makes up free enterprise and makes the USA such a great place to live!

Sew Says Ma!