I use Woolite myself. Be sure you dry it completely right away. I washed my well basted applecore to get out the starch before hand quilting. I left it slightly damp as I was planning to iron it back out smooth again. Even though I prewashed every single fabric, using Retayne and Synthrapol on many but apparently not all, I had two black patches that bled to the back along the damp inside basting threads. There was no dye transfer across the top to the next white patch because the outside fabric got dry enough, just to the cream backing along damp threads through damp batting. It left black dots on my backing--totally unacceptable. I had to undo part of the basting, enough to stuff in a folded towel and BLEACH those dots with a Q-tip. (Believe me, I tried everything before I got close to this applecore with bleach.)

If there is something that I need to remember, I sew a loop of pastel colored ribbon in the side seam of the garment, and write on it with an indelible sharpie pen. If the item is light colored, I use the lightest colored sharpie in my stash :^) If I am sewing the loop into slacks, I sew it into the waist band. On some items, I have sewn the ribbon at the hem line, and it shows not at all!

jillinnj - Hi there, and so sorry for the delay in replying. Normally, I'm frequenting this forum all the time, but life has been super busy over the past 6 months. I purchased the drapery panels from Country Curtains. They are very nice and look custom, but without the custom price tag. They are the Brookside Diamond tailored panels, and they come in the 96" length I was looking for. You can purchase them lined or unlined. I bought them unlined, as the fabric is already quite heavy, and I didn't want the white/off-white lining showing around the sides. The background pattern is a medium, warm brown, and there is a subtle diamond pattern in gold, with small red dots in the centers. The fabric threads have a rich sheen, and the panels hang nicely and do not wrinkle easily. I am posting a picture from the CC website below: It's a pretty accurate representation. BUT . . . I was just visiting the CC website, and I can't seem to locate these draperies on their site any longer. Hopefully they haven't been discontinued. If you would like a more close-up picture, let me know. Jan

You all make good justifiable comments from your perspective and the way you prefer to do laundry...if we were all the same it would be a hell of a boring world. To reply to a few comments...no .....soaking my whites in Clorox- underwear, etc does not effect the elastic or fabric that I notice...and I do notice all.....and no .....4 cap fulls of downy DO NOT make my clothes gummy because I DO NOT use very cold water in final rinse. Downy to be most effective, needs to be used in a neutral temp water or warm and hot depending on what you are laundering...but never very cold water- it will not mix into clothes well if very cold water is used.. I never use Downy in my towels....why?....while using Downy makes towels feel soft it really greatly cuts down on ability to absorb water...try towels without Downy and you will see difference immediately and I do feel you will even like it better with no Downy .....if you try it once, however...to each his own, I understand. I do use dryer for bed sheets, towels.. Oh, I DO NOT of course, solely judge people on how they smell or exactly what clothes they wear- that would be ridiculous, however in the business world....first impressions do carry weight. Sure, I have cheap clothes as well to wear around house and for working in yard outside, etc, etc. Perhaps commentor thought I was saying get best in all clothing for everything one does. Oh, by the way, anyone else have this particular issue: I tried washing clothes inside out and here is what I discovered, at least from my experience.....the lint, etc, in wash seemed to gather on the sides and almost everywhere on the sides of the clothes once I turned them correct side out. So turning inside out purposely to wash clothing was a disaster for me....maybe it is due to the type of agitator that came with my washer?....it seemed to be like a vacuum effect that lint and etc, was possibly being carried to the inside of my clothes when washing....or maybe I need to buy some type of EFFECTIVE lint trap device to actually put in wash WHILE WASHING....can anyone recommend a good in wash lint trap that actually works well for you? I have gone online to read about this....and yet there seems to be no consensus as to one that is a stand out product that works great and can be used over and over again. I get a lot of lint from my "Sweats" as I call them...tops and bottoms and especially..... terrible lint!..... on 1st ever wash after wearing from brand newl Oh, how I miss my mothers old washer that had a "lint dish" that sat on top of agitator and recirculated water from wash water itself was constantly flowing through this lint dish with tiny holes in bottom to catch ALL the lint, etc. Wow...that washer method worked so well! Would appreciate any lint removal comments and thank you for reading this.