Glassquilt

Can you afford to lose $5.00?

caspharm

Treat it like a delicate fabric. Wash with woolite and delicate cycle wash and dry.

I have washed some items like tat.

Baloonatic

I wouldn't send a quilt to a cleaners, I couldn't for a second consider sleeping under a quilt with residual chemicals in it! I wash my quilts in the washer with a little Orvus soap, you can find it at your Farm Supply lots cheaper than your LQS.
You might want to look at the quilting to see if there is enough to hold the batting without shifting over time or thru washing it. Consider adding more if it looks like it's needed.
I wouldn't hold your breath on tennis balls fluffing anything up in the dryer, the quilt is going to take up most of the room in there and the balls need to kind of bounce around to be effective.
If you choose to dry the quilt outside, I would recommend that you drape it over at least 2-3 clean clothes lines (wash them well or cover them with strips of white cotton) and then drape lightweight white cotton (to prevent any color transfer) on top to help prevent sun fading to the quilt.
I once purchased a pretty store-bought (probably China-made) quilt once. I pulled all the "hand quilting" out (it took me about 15 minutes), reinforced (restitched) all the seams, put a decent batt in, and quilted it again by hand. It came out gorgeous! It brought $475 in the church bazaar

CactusFlower

Wash it.. I would because I have never had anything cleaned that didn't hold on to the smell of cleaning fluid. Ugh!!!

gbquilter

We were in holmes County in Ohio this past week. Of course there were several quilt shops with Amish quilts for sale. Aside from all the beautiful quilts they had, there was also washing instructions for their quilts. The suggestion was to fill the washer with cold water. Put some laundry soap in (less than usual) and put your quilt in. Make sure it is completely saturated. Soak your quilt for about a half hour. Drain the water. Put in fresh water to rinse. Again do not adgitate. Soak the quilt for about fifteen minutes then drain the water again. Rinse once more or until the water comes out clean. Spin out most of the water and hang to dry. Good luck.

butterflywing

make sure that the spaces between the quilting aren't too far apart or the batting will shift. often that's why they say not to wash it. if the areas between stitching are large, add stitching for stabilizing. when you wash it, make sure you dry it very well. it always seems dry when you feel it, but on the inside it's often still damp and can mildew. better overdry than damp inside. don't even ask. btw, that looks like a comforter that was made to be used inside a duvet cover, and you might consider using it that way so that it needs to be washed less often.

edit - i just looked again and it looks like the kind that isn't stitched in boxes at all. it's stitched in the pattern that allows the filling to move around inside, allowing you to shake it around so you can shift it to where you most need the warmth.
for example, if you have cold feet, you can shake more filling to the bottom. we had one and that's what it looks like to me. (do yourself a favor and even out the stuffing and stitch it in place). it was meant to be covered. btw, when it got washed it weighed at least, .....oh, ...... 4,000 pounds. so don't think you can line dry it :lol: :lol: . count on drying for at least 4 hours if not more. it's worth it for the warmth and light weight.

jacie

sounds to me like a good washing will be in order, and I 'd also put it in the dryer, low setting,,, I also have a washer that does not agitate, LOVE IT..... give it a good whirl...............