How I Maintain My Heirloom Quilts 

They are just so incredibly beautiful! It has become very tattered with age so I don’t use it any longer, but I would love to find a protected way to display it. I’m on the hunt for a special cabinet to house my delicate quilts.

My Mama made me another butterfly quilt in the early 1990s which has held up very well! I used it on our bed for quite a few years. It’s another that needs to be displayed.

When Doug and I were stationed in Hawaii the first time, I bought a double wedding ring quilt that I was using on our bed. It was so pretty – it was in pinks and blues on an ivory background which was all the rage at that time, and I absolutely loved it!

One weekend when I was doing laundry, I decided to wash the quilt in the washing machine. It was a new quilt so I thought it would be fine to wash it. And, you know what? It was okay that I washed it. What wasn’t okay is that I left it in the washing machine sitting wet for a few hours. Do you know what I found? The colors had run, and I was completely devastated! I knew not to dry it with the colors bleeding because that would set the stain, but I really didn’t know what to do to get the dyes off the background. I decided to take it to a professional laundromat to see if there was anything they could do or advise me to do to fix it. I met with a very soft-spoken gentleman, and he said he thought he could help me with it, but there were no guarantees. I told him I understood and he said to come back the next day to pick it up.

When I got there, he had a very shy grin on his face as he brought the quilt to the counter. He had gotten 99% of the dyes off that had bled onto the ivory background. It looked so good and if you didn’t know it had happened, you really wouldn’t notice it. He gave me some very sound advice that day. He said the problem is leaving the quilt wet in the washing machine. He also said if I would add plain white vinegar to the wash (along with a gentle detergent) it would set the colors so they would be less likely to bleed.

Now, that is the advice that you need to remember! This little trick has served me well for years and not just with quilts! I use it on anything...garments and household items...that I’m worried the colors may bleed on one another. 

With a new quilt or monochromatic quilt, I will most definitely wash them in the washing machine in my frontload washer.  I think a top load washing machine may be a little rough with the beater in the middle so if that’s the type of machine you have, consider going to a laundromat to use a frontload washing machine. I also dry new and monochromatic quilts in the dryer. 

If a quilt is an heirloom quilt or showing any signs of fraying or getting tattered, I usually wash them in the bathtub with Woolite. Make sure your bathtub is clean and fill the tub with a few inches of cool water. Add in your Woolite and still use a ½ cup to 1 cup of white vinegar. With this method, you will use your hands to push the water through the quilt gently.

Drain the water and Woolite and add more cool water, push the quilt into the water until there are no suds and the water looks clear. Once the water is clear, drain the tub and press down on the quilt to remove as much water as you can. Do not wring the quilt because it will put too much tension and pressure on the threads. Be gentle with it!

Once you’ve pushed out as much water as you can this way, grab a light-colored towel (preferably a large bath sheet or beach towel) and lay it on the floor. Place the quilt on the towel and roll the towel over the quilt like you would a cinnamon roll. Push down on the towel once you have it rolled. You may have to replace the towel a few times to get it as dry as possible.