INSTRUCTIONS ON WASHING AND CARING FOR YOUR QUILT

 WASHING YOUR QUILT 

1. Is your quilt historically important, very old or extremely high  in workmanship, in unwashed condition (or badly damaged), or has unusual features? STOP right here, and consult a professional first. Warning: Quilts in bad shape may not survive even the gentlest cleaning! 
2. Are you willing to take the chance that your quilt might have  fading, dye bleeding?  or the stains might not come out, in spite of  everything? (There are no 100% promises when washing a quilt, no matter what.) 
3. Have you tested your quilt top with a damp q-tip, to see if the  fabrics in the top would give off dye? (If so, your quilt will bleed some dye  when washed?  and you are taking more risks than usual. Stop, and think it  over again.) 
4. These instructions apply only to cotton quilts ? not wool, silk or anything else. Just cottons!
 

STILL READY TO PROCEED?  Fill washer to medium with lukewarm water, then add 2 tablespoons  of Clorox II color-safe bleach (NOT regular Clorox), and 5-6 squirts of  Ivory dishwashing liquid, the pearly kind. (The latter is not a detergent,  so is safer for washing quilts.) Ivory soap flakes can also be used; so can Orvus. While the washer is filling, put the quilt in, distributing it  evenly, then push up and down with your hands for 3-5 minutes, until the quilt has  been thoroughly kneaded into the soapy water. 

DON'T let the machine agitate the quilt for you - that breaks  threads and rips fabrics. Instead, set the machine ahead to "spin," then let  it go into "rinse." While the machine is filling with cool water,  hand-agitate with your hands again, so the quilt is thoroughly rinsed. Spin,  repeat "rinse" cycle twice more (DON'T let the machine agitate!), then let  the machine "spin" to finish the process. Gently lift the wet quilt out  and dry flat, right side down - either on sheets or towels, with a fan  blowing across the surface of the quilt, or outside on sheets in the grass,  topped with another sheet. (I have also hung wet quilts on the clothesline  with success, if they could be supported by two or more lines.) 

PLEASE NOTE: Some quilt professionals advocate washing your quilt  in a bathtub, supported by a towel or sheet. Why I don't -- when quilts  get wet, they're HEAVY. And I have literally heard and seen seams popping from  the stress as the damp quilt is lifted out of the tub. The benefit for  the wash-by-machine method, in my opinion, is that it is not only easier  to handle the quilt during the washing process, but spins much more  liquid out of the wet quilt than you can easily wring out by hand! 

Benefits for  the bathtub process are that you can see the body of the quilt while  washing, and treat individual spots much more easily. Please feel free to do  what YOU are most comfortable doing. If it's washing the quilt in your tub, by  all means, forge ahead! 

CARING FOR YOUR QUILT: When you first take the quilt out, be sure to hang it out on the  line, or put on a bed for a day, to air it and let the folds settle out. If  you're planning on storing the quilt, instead of displaying it, be sure to  fold it in loose thirds (to distribute the fold lines more evenly, so they  don't become permanent).

 Store the folded quilt in a pillowcase or muslin.  Don't put it in a plastic box unless you move to a bone-dry climate, like Colorado! The best spot is a darkened shelf (like a closet). A cedar  chest is okay, as long as the quilt doesn't directly touch the wood. That's  what causes many stains on vintage quilts.