Any tips on washing photo quilts?

[Momofmonsters5]

I've made photo quilts in the past but they were for display. I just made four baby ones this week each with one pic..6x5 I need to wash them today to get the basting spray off before I give them for donation. I colorfasted the pictures after printing them. Just wanted to see if theres something I need to know before I put them in the wash? Do you wash on a normal cycle? Its the dryer that fades the pics right? I was going to half dry them outside and finish in the dryer. Thanks!

[Suzette]

Re: Any tips on washing photo quilts?

A few years ago, I made my brother-in-law a photo quilt of all his dogs over the years and he absolutely treasures that quilt. I told my sister when she washes it to make sure that she uses a super mild detergent (and not much of it) and to use the delicate cycle (or if you have it, the hand wash cycle on your washer) and cool water to wash and rinse. Then to dry it on a very low setting until just dry or even a tiny bit less than completely dry.

She doesn't wash it often, but she has a few times now and when I was at her house last month it was looking great - no problems from the few washings and dryings it has gone through. My understanding is that no matter how well you heat set photo quilts, they will fade to some degree with each washing, so I think the key is to follow the above ideas, but wash it as infrequently as you possibly can to preserve the color in the photos. I hope this helps you some!

Okay, having said all that, I went back and re-read your post and see that you just want to wash basting spray from your completed blocks. You can still follow the above suggestion for washing and drying or since they are so small, you could opt to hand wash in the sink and let air dry.

[Sandy Navas]

Re: Any tips on washing photo quilts?

Use a soap - not a detergent to wash it. (I read that somewhere on M*'s forum recently . . . ).