Hand block printed cotton is printed with azo-free pigment dyes and finished softly, which is why it keeps getting better for years. Bedding just needs slightly different handling from clothing, because the pieces are big, heavy when wet, and often stitched by hand.
The first wash — before the bed is made, not after
The mistake specific to bedding is putting a new piece straight onto the bed. A small amount of excess surface dye can rinse away the first time hand-printed cloth is washed. On a garment that means one careful wash. On a bedcover it means colour held against a mattress, a protector and everything else on the bed for eight hours, with body heat and damp working in its favour — and a mattress is the one thing in the house you cannot put through a machine.
So wash it cold and on its own, before it is ever slept under. Nothing else in the drum. This is normal for naturally finished, hand-printed cloth and is not a fault; after that first wash the colour is stable.
Large pieces carry one more risk a garment does not: a king-size quilt in deep indigo or madder can leave colour on the drum seals. If the next load is light, run an empty rinse cycle in between.
Routine washing
- Cold water, gentle cycle, mild detergent.
- No bleach, no optical brighteners, no harsh stain removers — these attack the print, not the dirt.
- Wash prints with prints and darks with darks.
- Do not overload the drum. A large quilt needs room to move, or the stitching takes the strain instead of the water.
Washing quilts and kantha
Layered pieces hold a lot of water and get heavy. Two rules matter:
- Support the weight when wet. Lifting a soaked quilt by one corner pulls on the hand stitching. Gather it and lift the whole mass.
- Use a large machine, or hand wash. Cramming a king-size quilt into a small drum stresses the seams. A laundromat-size machine or a bathtub is kinder.
Hand-worked kantha stitching is strong but it is thread — it will outlast the quilt if you never wring or twist it.
Drying
Dry in shade, never in direct sun. Sunlight is the main cause of faded block prints, far more than washing is. Line-dry sheets and covers folded over the line so the weight is shared, and dry quilts flat if you can, turning them once so both faces air. Avoid a hot tumble dryer; if you must tumble, use low heat and take the piece out slightly damp.
Ironing
Iron on the reverse, warm, while very slightly damp. Never press a hot iron directly onto the printed face. Quilts and kantha need no ironing at all — the texture is the point.
Stains
Blot, do not rub; rubbing pushes the stain into the weave and abrades the print. Treat with cold water and a little mild detergent as soon as you can, and keep any spot treatment off the printed motif where possible. Hot water sets protein stains permanently, so start cold.
Storing between seasons
Cotton needs to breathe. Store it clean and completely dry — stains you cannot see will oxidise into brown marks over months, and any residual damp will mildew. Fold with a cotton sheet between layers, use a cloth bag or a cardboard box rather than sealed plastic, and refold along different lines every year or two so permanent creases do not form.
What is not a defect
Slight variation in colour density between repeats, small shifts in registration where blocks meet, and the faint scent of natural finishing on a new piece are all characteristic of hand block printing — more on how the cloth is made in Sanganeri vs Bagru. So is the way the cloth softens and the colours mellow over the first year. If something is genuinely wrong, our returns and exchanges page explains what to do.
The same routine covers bedsheets, duvet covers, cushion covers and table linen.