**✂️Don’t Wash Your Rag Quilt Until You Watch This — Transcript & Summary | SozAI** Source: https://sozai.app/transcript/dont-wash-rag-quilt-until-watch/ Melissa walks through her full process for washing and drying a rag quilt to create fluffy, fuzzy seams, including dryer prep, mesh bag washing, and lint control tips. ## Key Takeaways - Dryer-first, then wash, then dry again is an effective way to achieve fuzzy rag quilt seams. - Mesh bags and color catchers protect the quilt and washing machine during laundering. - Microfiber towels greatly reduce lint and thread buildup in the dryer. - Shaking the quilt outdoors before washing and drying removes most loose fray. ## What the video covers - Rag quilt seams are snipped first, then the quilt is shaken outside to remove loose fray before any washing. - Fabrics are not pre-washed; the finished quilt goes straight into the dryer with microfiber towels for about 20 minutes to loosen threads. - Microfiber towels collect a large amount of loose thread and lint, protecting the dryer lint trap. - The lint trap should be emptied regularly during drying, since flannel layers can produce heavy lint buildup. - The quilt is placed in a mesh bag with a Shout Color Catcher to capture any dye bleeding during the wash. - Washing uses normal cycle with cold water, with a towel or two added for tumbling action. - Lint brush is used repeatedly on the seams to pull out loose strings and encourage fuzzy seam formation. - After washing, the quilt is shaken outside again since much of the fray will not go through the dryer, and seams are checked for any unraveled areas. - The quilt is dried with the microfiber towels, then the seams are trimmed of stray strings with scissors. - Melissa recommends gifting rag quilts with a printable care card and a mesh bag for the first few washes, since early washes produce extra lint. ## Chapters 1. 00:00 Introduction and Goal of the Video 2. 00:53 Supplies Overview: Lint Brush and Microfiber Towels 3. 01:49 Shaking the Quilt Outside Before Washing 4. 02:35 First Dryer Cycle with Microfiber Towels 5. 03:50 Preparing the Mesh Bag and Color Catcher 6. 05:02 Washing the Quilt 7. 06:20 Drying and Trimming Seams 8. 08:20 Gifting Tips and Care Card Answers ## Questions about this video Why does the quilt go in the dryer before washing? The first dryer cycle of about 20 minutes loosens the loose fray and threads in the seams. The microfiber towels catch much of this debris, so it doesn't clog the lint trap or wash into the machine. What is the purpose of the Shout Color Catcher? The color catcher sheet is placed in the mesh bag during washing to absorb any dye that might bleed from the flannel or cotton fabrics, protecting the quilt and other laundry. What should be done with the quilt when it is gifted? Melissa includes a printable care card with the quilt to explain how to care for it. She also includes a mesh bag, since the first few washes often produce extra lint. ## Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown 00:00 Speaker A So, I just finished snipping all the seams on this rag quilt. Now, how am I going to take this rag quilt that has all these fresh cut seams and turn it into a rag quilt with all the fluffy, fuzzy seams that we all know and love about our rag quilt? Well, that's what this video is about today. I'm going to take this quilt that I just finished. 00:11 Speaker A I'm going to walk you through all the steps that I do in order to wash and dry and everything in between to get my fuzzy seams and also to cut down on a lot of the mess. So, that's one of the things, you know, folks worry about. Can I wash it in my washer and dryer? Do I have to take it to the laundromat? Well, I'm going to show you my exact process and everything that I use. And towards the end of the video, I'll give you some ideas on what you can do when you gift your rag quilt. There's also a printable care card that you can find in the description. Just download that and you can include that with your rag quilt when you give it as a gift. It tells the folks a little bit about how to care for and love their quilt. And I also give them a mesh bag when I gift them. So, just in case, you know, the first couple three or four washes, you might have a little bit more lint, but I always include the mesh bag and then the gift card. So, again, stick around to the end of the video and there'll be more information around that. But, before we get started on the steps, let me tell you a little bit about this rag quilt because it is gorgeous. It is a Robert Kaufman design, so the front is 100% cotton and it is oceanic and it's so pretty. It has like mermaids and seahorses and everything. The back of it is also Robert Kaufman. It is their Mammoth flannel, and this is their Dawn colorway. They are so pretty. I mean, they're just gorgeous. 00:19 Speaker A And then, so, there. So, again, I finished that. So, let me talk to you about some of the products that we're going to use today in all of the steps. And then I will do the first step, which is to put it in the dryer, not wet. I'm going to put it in the dryer for about 20 minutes. But, let me walk you through everything that I use. So, let's start with this mesh bag. 00:30 Speaker A So, I bought this mesh bag on Amazon. This quilt will fit inside this mesh bag, and I'm going to show you that. So, that is one of the first things that I have when I'm on my supply list to wash these. So, we'll have our mesh bag. The second thing that I use are these Shout Color Catchers. Now, I put these Shout Color Catchers right inside my bag. So, in the event that any of this bleeds, now, I normally don't have a lot. I'll show you what we picked up in the Color Catchers. So, these, again, are real handy. 00:39 Speaker A Of course, you just need some type of detergent. Whatever you use is fine. I love these Tide Pods, but that's what I'm going to use today. And again, I'm showing you exactly what I'm going to do. I'm filming all of this as I'm doing it. So, you will see everything and all the results as I come out. And I use Downy. I just love Downy. 00:53 Speaker A This is invaluable, my lint brush. And I like to do the lint brush a couple different times during the process. So, I have several of these. But, yeah, I will rub it over the seams, anything I can do to lessen the amount of strings or anything that we find. So, I got the lint brush. Well, what am I missing? My microfiber towels. 01:02 Speaker A Okay, so, I did not come up with this. I can't remember where I found it, but somebody suggested putting microfiber towels in. And you can tell I use these a lot. These have been through about six quilts, and they've also been through the gift bags. And if you haven't seen the gift bag tutorial for the rag bags, check it out. It's probably right up here. It's really super cute, too. But, yeah, so, again, these are great to use. 01:13 Speaker A Okay, so, again, I have my mesh bag, my Color Catchers, my detergent, my softener, my lint brush, and my microfiber towels. So, the first thing that I'm going to do is I'm going to take this outside and I'm going to shake the devil out of it. I've already done that, so I'm not going to show you that part of the shaking. I'll show you the part of the shaking whenever I get it out of the wash if it's still daylight here. If not, that's pretty self-explanatory. So, just take it outside and shake it till your arms hurt, because, again, all that is coming off there is not going to go in your dryer. 01:25 Speaker A So, now what I'm going to do is take this quilt. Oh, I did have one thing I wanted to talk to you about, pre-wash. None of this has been pre-washed. I do not pre-wash any of my fabrics that are pre-cuts. I just don't. So, you'll be able to see how it looks now, and then when it's done, I'll bring it right back on this table and you'll be able to see exactly what it looked like coming out of the washer and the dryer. I'm going to now put it in the dryer with the microfiber towels, and I'm going to run my dryer for about 20 minutes. Now, be sure you also check on your lint trap, because depending on how thick your flannel is, or if you did three layers or two layers, and how hard you shook it outside, your lint may build up. These towels are going to pick up a lot of it. So, just keep an eye on that. So, that's step one. Let's get it in the dryer for about 20 minutes with our microfiber towels. 01:40 Speaker A All right, so, again, I'm just going to throw it in my dryer with the microfiber towels, and I have cleaned out my lint trap. 01:55 Speaker A And so, I'm going to let it go for about 20 minutes. And then I'm just going to do about a medium. And then I'm just going to let it run for about 20 minutes, and I'm going to check on it here in about 10 minutes. 02:05 Speaker A All right, we're at about 12 minutes. I'm going to go ahead and take a look at it, and you can see we're starting to see some stuff float around, and that's what my lint trap looked like after about 8 minutes. So, I'm going to go ahead and empty this and then start it back up. 02:16 Speaker A But, again, I only leave it in here for about 20 minutes before I take it outside, shake it, and then put it in the wash. And you can see that it is picking up a lot. I hope you can see that it is picking up a lot of the pieces of fray on here. Okay, so, I finished the 20 minutes in the dryer. So, let me get us back out to the table, and we'll talk about what I do before I put it in the washer. Okay, you can see we have lots of thread that we collected on these microfiber towels. I really do love using these now that I have found this out. So, it kept a lot of that out of my lint trap. So, let's see what I have here. In reality, it's not much more than I would have in a big batch of towels. 02:33 Speaker A All right, so, again, this was 20 minutes in the dryer with it dry. So, this is the first step. Again, we just put it in the dryer for 20 minutes with our microfiber towels. 02:37 Speaker A Now, I'm going to take it and put it inside my big bag here. 02:49 Speaker A And I'm just going to stuff it in there, and I'm going to put the color sheet in there, and I'm going to take it to my washer and wash it on... Let me grab these again. They're the Shout Color Catcher. And they're just little sheets. They almost look like fabric softener sheets, but they're a little bit heavier. 02:56 Speaker A A little bit heavier. So, I'm just going to throw one in here. I'm going to bundle it up, and I wanted to show you because several people had asked about the size. So, you can see it fits right in there. And there's still lots of room for it to agitate around when it goes into the wash. 03:13 Speaker A So, now I'm going to take this to the washer. I'm going to wash it on probably normal and cold. I'll throw a towel or two in so that it'll have something to tumble around with. But, once I'm done with that, I'm going to take this whole bag outside, because I did make the mistake once of not doing that, and I had strings [sighs and gasps] all over my bathroom floor. So, let's go get this in the washer and let it wash, and then we will take it and bring it back in, put it in the dryer with some 03:18 Speaker A Okay, so, I did not come up with this. I can't remember where I found it, but somebody suggested putting microfiber towels. And you can tell I use these a lot. These have been through about six quilts and they've also been through the 03:31 Speaker A gift bags. And if you haven't seen the gift bag tutorial for the rag bags, check it out. It's probably right up here. It's really super cute, too. But, yeah, so, again, these are great to use. 03:42 Speaker A Okay, so, again, I have my mesh bag, my Color Catchers, my detergent, my softener, my lint brush, and my microfiber towels. So, the first thing that I'm going to do is I'm going to take this outside and I'm going to shake 03:56 Speaker A the devil out of it. I've already done that, so I'm not going to show you that part of the shaking. I'll show you the part of the shaking whenever I get it out of the wash if it's still daylight 04:04 Speaker A here. If not, that's pretty self-explanatory. So, just take it outside and I mean, shake it till your arms hurt because, again, all that that's coming off there is not going to go in your dryer. 04:17 Speaker A So, now what I'm going to do is I'm going to take this quilt. Oh, I did have one thing I wanted to talk to you about, pre-wash. None of this has been pre-washed. I do not pre-wash any of my 04:26 Speaker A fabrics that are um pre-cuts. I just don't. So, you'll be able to see how it looks now and then when it's done, I'll bring it right back on this table and you'll be able to see exactly what it 04:36 Speaker A looked like coming out of the washer and the dryer. I'm going to now put it in the dryer with the microfiber towels and I'm going to run my dryer for about 20 minutes. Now, be sure you also check on 04:48 Speaker A your lint trap because depending on how thick your flannel is or if you did three layers or two layers and how hard you shook it outside, your lint may build up. These towels are going to pick up a lot of it. So, just 05:02 Speaker A keep an eye on that. So, that's step one. Let's get it in the dryer for about 20 minutes with our microfiber towels. 05:08 Speaker A All right, so, again, I'm just going to throw it in my dryer with the microfiber towels and I have cleaned out my lint trap. 05:17 Speaker A And so, I'm going to let it go for about 20 minutes. And then I'm just going to do about a medium. And then I'm just going to let it run for about 20 minutes and I'm going to check on it here in about 10 minutes. 05:35 Speaker A All right, we're at about 12 minutes. I'm going to go ahead and take a look at it and you can see we're starting to see some stuff float around and that's what my lint trap looked like after about 8 05:47 Speaker A minutes. So, I'm going to go ahead and empty this and then start it back up. 05:52 Speaker A But, again, I only leave it in here for about 20 minutes before I'm going to take it outside, shake it and then put it in the wash. And you can see that it is picking up a lot. I hope you can see 06:04 Speaker A that it is picking up a lot of the pieces of fray on here. Okay, so, I finished the 20 minutes in the dryer. So, let me get us back out to the table and we'll talk about what I do before I put it in 06:17 Speaker A the washer. Okay, you can see we have lots of thread that we collected on these microfiber towels. I really do love using these now that I have found this out. So, it kept a lot of that out of my lint trap. So, let's see what 06:33 Speaker A I have here. So, in reality, it's not much more than I would have in a big batch of towels. 06:41 Speaker A All right, so, again, this was 20 minutes in the dryer with it dry. So, this is the first step, again, we just put it in the dryer for 20 minutes with our microfiber towels. 06:50 Speaker A Now, I'm going to take it and I'm going to put it inside my big bag here. 07:00 Speaker A And I'm just going to stuff it in there and I'm going to put the color sheet in there and I'm going to take it to my washer and I'm going to wash it on Let me grab these again. They're the 07:12 Speaker A Shout Color Catcher. And they're just little sheets. They almost look like fabric softener sheets, but they're a little bit heavier. 07:20 Speaker A A little bit heavier. So, I'm just going to throw one in here. I'm going to bundle it up and I wanted to show you because several people had asked about the size. And so, you can see it fits 07:33 Speaker A right in there. And there's still lots of room for it to agitate around when it goes into the wash. 07:39 Speaker A So, now I'm going to take this to the washer. I'm going to wash it on probably normal and and cold. I'll throw a towel or two um so that it'll have something to tumble around with. But, once I'm done with that, I'm going to 07:52 Speaker A take this whole bag outside cuz I did make the mistake once of not doing that and I had strings [sighs and gasps] all over my bathroom floor. So, let's go get this in the washer and let it wash 08:04 Speaker A and then we will take it and then bring it back in, put it in the dryer with some more microfiber towels and let it dry. From there, we're going to check the seams. So, you know, you clip and you try to clip very well, but 08:22 Speaker A sometimes you might get a little close to the seams. So, I always come back and check my seams. One, to make sure I caught both sides. And two, to see if there's any area that I might need to 08:33 Speaker A restitch or, you know, reinforce the stitching on. And then from there, I'll take my lint brush and I'll go over all the seams again and give it another couple shakes. And then from that point, really, I gift them from there. I do one 08:46 Speaker A wash with this process. And then I will fold them up real nicely, put them in the little bag and I'll hang the um care card on it and I'll gift. So, let me go get this in the washer so that I can 08:58 Speaker A shake it. I'm hoping I have enough daylight to do that so that I can actually show you. But, um that's it. 09:03 Speaker A Let's go wash. All right, so, here it is in the washer. We're going to turn it on now. 09:08 Speaker A Oh. Let's wash. We're going to wash it on normal. I'm going to make it half cold. 09:19 Speaker A And then let's see. All right. We'll be back once it has finished washing. So, we're outside. I have the bag out here. So, let's go ahead and take a look at what we've got. 09:32 Speaker A And this is, again, coming straight out of the washer. And I, again, we're going to shake this thing out, but I will show you that all, I mean, I don't know if you can see it, but all of 09:45 Speaker A the strings are inside this bag. So, let's see we've got here. So, look at all the strings that are inside the bag. So, this process again keeps all of that out of your washer and dryer. 10:03 Speaker A So, now I'm going to go back here and shake the devil out of this thing. 10:14 Speaker A Okay, you clearly can see I get it all over. But, all of that that we just shook out won't go in our dryer. So, now I'm going to take it back inside and put it in the dryer with our microfiber towels. 10:26 Speaker A And we're going to let that dry and while we're drying I'm going to come clean up all the mess that I made. Oh, we were going to look at the color sheet, weren't we? Okay, so let's take a 10:32 Speaker A look at the color sheet. So, you can see I mean you can't really tell here. There was just a faint little bit of color picked up on the color sheet. Nothing like when I washed the um Ohio State 10:43 Speaker A quilt, it was red. All right, so the microfiber towels are in. Here is our quilt. 10:50 Speaker A We're going to check the dryer every 10 minutes. Then we will have our fluffy seams. So, what I'm going to do is I'm just going to clean up a little bit. I've got my broom out here. 10:59 Speaker A And I'm going to clean up where I put all these little strings. And then we're going to go continue to check the rag quilt that's in the dryer. 11:10 Speaker A And then we will take a look at the fluffy seam. So, all right, so it's out of the dryer. But, the first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to go through all of my um seams and I'm going to 11:18 Speaker A check them. Like for example, this one you can see I missed a little bit here. 11:24 Speaker A So, I'm going to go back and clip them. But, I will go through and I will check all my seams and I'll tug on them. 11:30 Speaker A And I'll make sure that there's nothing that came apart. Let me get this out here. 11:36 Speaker A So, I'll make sure that there's nothing that came apart. And then I'll actually flip it to the backside. 11:45 Speaker A And then I'm just going to run my hand along all of the seams just to make sure that I didn't accidentally clip too close and as I washed it it would come apart. So, I just do that and 11:59 Speaker A I tug on it and just make sure everything's in good order. And then what I will do is I'm going to find any of those that I might not have clipped. So, then the final step that I do before I actually 12:14 Speaker A can give it um away or gift it is I take my lint brush my handy dandy lint brush and I'm going to go over the seams and see what else I can pick up. I'm going to keep these um snippers out because I 12:26 Speaker A know I'll find their place. But, I'm going to take my lint brush and I'm going to go over my seams. 12:32 Speaker A And again, it just helps pick up anything that's left. And then it also helps if I find any strings. So, then I'll just clip them off here, too. I know I I keep trying to adjust my camera. 12:47 Speaker A So, again I'll just go through pick up anything else that I had. And I'll do it for a few minutes, you know. 12:54 Speaker A Again, you're not going to get every one of them off that first wash, but with this process you'll get a whole lot off there. It looks like sprinkles. You must see. Look, it looks like sprinkles. 13:05 Speaker A [snorts] So, that So, again I'll just wipe my And anything that I found that I needed to reclip, I'll just clip it. 13:14 Speaker A But, it is now ready to gift. And I normally only do one [snorts] wash before I gift it away. 13:24 Speaker A And I'll probably go out and just shake it one more time after I've run the lint brush over it. So, let me see if I can do a mini rag quilt roll down with this one. 13:34 Speaker A So, there's the front. And let's flip it around and let you guys see the back. 13:46 Speaker A It turned out rather rather pretty. So, again it's Robert Kaufman fabric on the front and it's also Robert Kaufman flannel on the back and this is the juniors. So, I hope this was helpful. Um I know a lot 14:00 Speaker A of people really wonder about how to wash and dry their rag quilts especially after they first quilted it. 14:06 Speaker A [snorts] So, I took you from clipping to cozy and showed you my process on how I wash and dry my rag quilt. And then I showed you how I do it to minimize the amount of fabric that might get into my washer or 14:18 Speaker A my dryer. I talked about a few of the things that I used, the mesh bag, the color catchers, the microfiber towels. 14:27 Speaker A And um that's about it. So, just a recap, there is the printable for you to share in the description below. There's instructions on how I do the wash and dry. And um oh, you really want to see the seams up close? 14:44 Speaker A They're so pretty. If you found this interesting, go check out the actual no cut rag quilt. So, it walks you through all the fundamentals on how to put one of these together. This one was just about washing, but if you watch that no 14:57 Speaker A cut, it will tell you anything and everything that you need to know. And we are going to be doing a done in a day rag quilt. So, I'm going to take you through the whole process of making one 15:07 Speaker A of these really larger quilts with the layer cakes and how to do it in a day. 15:12 Speaker A So, it's all about organization and that and then you can go from having two stacks of layer cakes to one big beautiful quilt in a day. 15:20 Speaker A And with that, I am Melissa. This is Make with Melissa and I hope you have a good day. I will talk to you soon. See you pop. 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