Quilting guide

How to wash a quilt: machine, hand, drying and shrinkage

Updated October 5, 2026 by Khokhar Sab

To wash a modern cotton quilt, use cold water, a gentle cycle and a mild, dye-free detergent, with color catcher sheets in the first wash. Tumble it on low for 10 to 15 minutes, then lay it flat to finish drying. Wash antique or fragile quilts by hand, or not at all. Expect a new cotton quilt to shrink about 3 to 5 percent in its first wash.

Before you wash: check the quilt and test the colors

Look the quilt over first. The Company Store and Casper both suggest mending loose threads and weak seams while the quilt is dry, so the wash doesn't make the damage worse.

Then test for color bleeding. Missouri Star suggests wetting a small white cloth and pressing it on the darkest fabric in the quilt. If color comes off on the cloth, treat the quilt with a dye fixative such as Retayne before washing. Nebraska Extension gives a similar test for older quilts: put a few drops of water on each color in a spot that won't show. Let it soak in, then blot with white paper or cloth. Its advice for an old quilt that fails the test is firm. Don't wet clean it at all.

How to wash a quilt in the washing machine

The Company Store says most modern quilts can be machine washed in cold water on a gentle cycle. The Warm Company tells quilters to machine wash a finished Warm & Natural quilt in cold water. Missouri Star gives these settings:

1. Use a front-loading washer if you can. Missouri Star warns against top loaders with a center agitator.
2. Pick cold or cool water. Never hot.
3. Choose the gentle or delicate cycle with a low or medium spin.
4. Add a mild detergent. Missouri Star lists Orvus Quilt Soap, Synthrapol, or a single drop of plain blue Dawn.
5. Add 2 or 3 color catcher sheets the first time you wash a quilt with bright colors.
6. Wash the quilt alone. Consumer Reports advises washing anything likely to bleed on its own.

Check the quilt as soon as the cycle ends. If any color has moved, Missouri Star says to run it through the washer again with a couple more color catchers.

Color catchers and dye bleeding

Color catcher sheets are treated sheets that soak up loose dye in the wash water. The evidence that they work is mixed. Consumer Reports washed red shirts that were sure to run with white cloths. Both Shout Color Catcher and Carbona sheets turned pink, yet the white cloths came out no better than in a wash without them. Its advice was to separate darks from lights and wash anything likely to bleed on its own.

So for a quilt, treat color catchers as a backup to the color test, cold water and a fixative for any fabric that bleeds. Some quilters prewash their fabric to remove extra dye before cutting. Missouri Star calls prewashing a personal choice, since it removes sizing and loose dye but can make cutting less accurate.

How to hand wash a quilt

Hand washing is the gentler method. Casper and Missouri Star both say to hand wash heirloom and vintage quilts. You need a clean bathtub, mild detergent and a lot of rinsing. These steps follow Nebraska Extension and Missouri Star:

1. Fill the tub with cool water. Nebraska Extension says room temperature, or no more than 90 to 100°F.
2. Mix in a mild detergent. For old quilts, Nebraska Extension suggests about 1 tablespoon of mild liquid dish detergent per 4 gallons of water. It says not to use laundry detergent, because of the harsh additives.
3. Lay the quilt in and press it under. Don't scrub, squeeze or wring it. Let it soak: Missouri Star says 15 to 30 minutes, and Nebraska Extension at least 30 minutes for old quilts.
4. Drain and rinse. Refill with clean water, press the quilt gently and drain again. Nebraska Extension calls for five to seven rinses, until no suds remain.
5. Press out the water. Push down on the quilt with flat hands, or roll it in towels.
6. Lift it with support. Nebraska Extension warns not to pick a wet quilt up by one end, since its weight can tear stitches. Slide a sheet or a piece of nylon screen under it and lift the whole thing.

Water temperature and detergent

The sources agree on cool water. Missouri Star says never hot, and Nebraska Extension sets a limit of 90 to 100°F for old quilts. Cooler water also keeps shrinkage down. The Warm Company expects 3 percent shrinkage from its Warm & Natural batting washed cold, and 5 percent washed warm.

For detergent, look for a mild one without dyes or perfume. Missouri Star and Nebraska Extension both name dish soap as an option. Nebraska Extension goes further for old quilts and rules out laundry detergent entirely.

How to dry a quilt

A wet quilt is heavy, so it needs support while it dries.

• Low dryer, then flat. For modern quilts, Missouri Star suggests 10 to 15 minutes on the lowest heat or air fluff, then laying the quilt flat on clean towels to finish. The Warm Company allows machine drying for a finished Warm & Natural quilt.
• Flat on towels. Lay towels or a clean sheet on the floor and spread the quilt flat. Nebraska Extension suggests a fan 3 to 4 feet away to move the air.
• Not on a clothesline. Nebraska Extension says a quilt hung over a line isn't supported, so it can sag and tear. It also says to keep quilts out of direct sunlight, which fades colors and weakens fibers.

For antique and high-value quilts, Nebraska Extension rules out the clothes dryer completely.

How much does a quilt shrink in the first wash?

A new cotton quilt shrinks the first time it is washed. The Warm Company puts its cotton batting at 3 percent washed cold and 5 percent washed warm. Hobbs gives 3 to 5 percent for both its Heirloom cotton and its 80/20 cotton and polyester batting. Missouri Star also says to expect 3 to 5 percent. Fabric shrinks too: All About Quilts found good quality quilting cotton shrinks about 2 percent each way, and poor quality fabric up to 6 percent. It adds that fabric stitched into a quilt shrinks less than a loose piece.

That shrinkage creates the crinkly look of a washed quilt. The cotton batting draws up while the quilting stitches hold the fabric in place, so the fabric puckers between the lines of stitching. The Warm Company calls this an "antique puckered look" and suggests warm water if you want it. Cold water keeps it smaller, at about 3 percent for the same batting.

What each quilt size becomes after shrinking

Here are the standard quilt sizes from the quilt fabric calculator shrunk by 2, 3 and 5 percent. Those are the figures the sources above give. The last column checks whether each quilt still covers the top of its matching US mattress, from the quilt size chart, after 5 percent.

All sizes are in inches. The bed-size quilts still cover their mattress tops, but the overhang shrinks. This table shows the drop at each side and the extra length before washing and after 5 percent shrinkage:

A 90 × 95 inch queen comes out about 85.5 × 90.3 inches after 5 percent, so it loses about 2.3 inches of drop on each side. The crib quilt is the one to watch: at 52 inches it starts exactly as long as a crib mattress, so any shrinkage leaves it short. If the finished size matters, make the top bigger. To end at 90 × 95 after 5 percent, a queen top would need to start at about 95 × 100 inches. The quilt backing calculator sizes the backing for it.

Washing a new quilt vs an antique or hand-quilted one

A new machine-quilted quilt made from modern cotton can go in a front loader on a gentle cycle, as above. Older and handmade quilts need more care, and the sources go further the older the quilt.

• Heirloom and vintage quilts. Missouri Star says to always hand wash a vintage quilt and never put it in a machine. Casper says to hand wash heirloom quilts, because a machine can damage the stitches. None of the sources gives a separate rule for hand quilting, so a hand-quilted heirloom falls under this advice.
• Antique, fragile or high-value quilts. Nebraska Extension says these should never be machine washed, even on the delicate cycle. For very old or high-value pieces, it recommends a professional textile conservator, not washing at home. Its general advice on an old quilt is blunt: "usually it is best to leave it as is."
• Cleaning without water. To remove dust from a quilt you won't wash, Nebraska Extension suggests vacuuming on low suction. Cover the nozzle with nylon hose or cheesecloth and hold it half an inch to an inch above the surface. Airing a quilt flat on a sheet in the shade also freshens it.

Washing a quilt isn't the same job as washing a finished cross stitch piece. For that, see how to frame cross stitch.

How often should you wash a quilt?

The sources give different numbers. Missouri Star says 2 to 4 times a year for a quilt in everyday use, and only when truly needed for a vintage heirloom. Casper, a bedding brand, suggests once a season for an everyday quilt and once or twice a year for an heirloom. Amerisleep says no more than twice a year for a handmade quilt. Between washes, Casper suggests spot cleaning small marks. Nebraska Extension disagrees for high-value quilts, since it says the cleaning solution is almost impossible to remove fully afterward. Airing a quilt in the shade freshens it without water.

How to store a quilt

Nebraska Extension's companion guide, Care of Quilts, covers storage:

• Choose a dark, steady spot. Avoid attics, basements, kitchens and unheated rooms, where heat and damp swing. Its ideal for long-term storage is 50 to 60°F and about 50 percent humidity.
• Wrap it in cotton, not plastic. Plastic bags trap moisture and can lead to mildew. Missouri Star suggests a cotton pillowcase or muslin bag.
• Keep it off bare wood. Line shelves, boxes and cedar chests with acid-free tissue or washed cotton muslin, and replace the tissue about every five years.
• Refold it now and then, so the strain doesn't build up along the same fold lines.
• Or roll it. Roll the quilt loosely around a padded tube at least 4 inches across, covered in tissue or muslin.

A quilt that will be washed often lasts longer with sturdy edges. The how to bind a quilt guide covers double-fold binding, which puts two layers of fabric on the edge.

Sources and further reading

Missouri Star explains machine settings, color catchers and drying in how to wash a quilt without ruining it. Nebraska Extension's Care of Quilts: Cleaning by Shirley Niemeyer and Patricia Cox Crews covers testing, hand washing and drying old quilts. The Warm Company gives its shrinkage figures on the Warm & Natural batting page, and Hobbs gives its range on the Heirloom cotton batting page. All About Quilts reports fabric shrink tests in fabric shrinkage. 6abc reported the Consumer Reports color catcher test.

Video tutorial

"Quilting 101 How to Wash a Quilt" by Erica Arndt, on YouTube. The video loads only when you press play.