csknott

I have done several rag quilts and I spray them with water first then dry. I do this several times then put in washer and dryer. I had a friend that had to have a plumber after washing hers. This seems to really help but you do have to empty the lint frequently.

AliKat

This is what I do. I put them in the big washer then into the dryer without any heat, just to be able to remove the threads that make the lint. When I don't get much thread lint, then I turn up the heat on the dryer. May take awhile, but worth it by far.

Also, at the laundromat you will prbobaly get some unique comments as I did. An immigrant with little english skills thought I had 'broken' by rag quilt because I kept removing so much thread lint.

janjanq

I'd made about 40 rag quilts and what works best for me is to:
1.Dampen the flannel and dry in the dryer for about 20 minutes before cutting
2. Assemble the quilt.
3. Dampen and dry in the dryer again.
4. Wash the quilt.
5. Dry the quilt in the dryer again.
You may need to use a lint roller or vacuum to get the rest of the lint off. But using this method works much better than assembling, washing, and then drying. I also use three equal size layers of flannel instead of two layers of flannel and batting. Also using dryer balls or tennis balls in the dryer helps too.

MadQuilter

It's also not a good idea to run them through a front loader. The threads can tangle up and get caught.

When I made a chenille throw a few years back I washed and dried it a couple-three times until it had a nice consistency on the frayed edges.