How do you wash your quilts?

Yesterday morning,  my friend Connie and I loaded up a stack of quilts and headed to the laundromat. When you have several to wash at once, those big machines are pretty handy! We were in and out in about an hour and a half, with a whole pile of freshly washed quilts to show for it.

I’m firmly on Team Wash Them.

I love that quilts are a functional art, and my quilts are made to be used. They go on beds, get snuggled under, travel around the house, and occasionally have a dog curled up on them. They’re going to need to be washed eventually!

***I do have several pattern cover quilts that are still unwashed because they aren’t in circulation for everyday use yet. I like keeping those quilts crisp for photography, trunk shows, classes, and displays. Once they retire from cover-quilt duty and become quilts we actually use, they’ll get washed right along with the others.***

 

My routine is pretty simple:

I don't usually wash my quilts before gifting or displaying them. I like to keep that nice, crisp, freshly quilted look as long as I can. But once a quilt is being used, into the washing machine it goes.

For a queen-size quilt, I’m comfortable using my top-loading washer at home.  King-size quilts are another story.  Those are just too much quilt for my machine, so I’ll head to the laundromat and use one of the larger-capacity washers.

I discovered this detergent a while ago, and it has become my favorite for washing quilts. It smells wonderful!

Here’s something else I’ve learned along the way. If someone in your household has sensitive skin, it may be worth taking a closer look at the ingredients in your laundry products.

I thought I was safe using All Free and Clear, but it’s not as allergen-free as I was lead to believe. We discovered that we needed to avoid SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) in certain products. Once we started reading labels, we found SLS in so many things! I started using ECOS detergent for one family member’s bedding and towels. It’s worked well for us and is an easy switch when I’m washing those loads. (Mozi does not contain SLS but it does have fragrance.)

Most of the time, I prefer to air dry my quilts. Sometimes I’ll put one in the dryer for a little while on medium and then finish drying it draped over our upholstered bar stools where it can get plenty of air.

But I have another little dryer trick.

If I have a quilt that has been air dried and I want it looking nice and soft again, I’ll put it in the dryer for about 20 minutes on medium with a wet towel. It helps relax those crispy edges without putting the quilt through a full dryer cycle.

This trick also removes fold lines when I’m getting a quilt ready for photos or putting it back on a bed.

I know washing a quilt can feel a little scary, especially after all the hours we put into making one. But I also love seeing a quilt get softer and cozier as it’s used and washed.

A quilt on a perfectly made bed is beautiful.

A quilt that has been washed, snuggled under, piled on the couch, shared with the family, and maybe claimed by a dog or two?

I think that’s pretty wonderful, too.