Our 95 yr old neighbor died last year and her daughter has moved in. The Mother was a school teacher, loved history, kept EVERYTHING. Daughter finally has the inside of the house cleaned out, she also values and saves, now she started on the garage. Two old trunks, quilts and quilt tops made prior to 1940 by family members, been in the trunks for probably 30 years, and smell so musty. Washing will help, any other suggestions. I told her I was associated with a group of professionals and I was sure we'd get some answers. Hello!!!!!!

Baking soday and vinegar in the wash will remove a lot; hang to air out as much as possible.

Airing them outdoors in the shade, laying on sheets is a good way to start. If that isn't feasible, then a bath in vinegar and baking soda may help.

Don't let them agitate but for a minute... let them soak and then spin out the water. Fill up the machine with rinse water, let agitate for a minute and then spin the water out. Use the delicate cycle :D:D:D

When you can would you please post some pics. I would love to see them.

I use Vinegar in the wash.

I'll try to take pics.

I did some research and would suggest layering the quilts with newspaper for a few days. That will absorb some of the odor.
The odor is caused by mold spores.There are three things you can try. Add a cup of white vinegar to the wash water and another cup to the rinse water then air dry, preferably in the sun.
You could add a cup of baking soda to the wash water.If you use vinegar and baking soda together, they neutralize each other.
Or you can wash with detergent as usual but add a cup of ammonia to the rinse water.
Never use bleach and ammonia together as they create toxic fumes when mixed.
With all methods, drying in the sunshine is suggested.Once the quilts are dry if any odor remains, laying them in the grass can help. The chlorophyll in the grass is a great odor remover.

Good luck!!

good luck and love to see pictures of the old quilts

I have actually soaked a quilt I made in FABREES (sp?) for several hours and then rinsed it out well and the smell was gone. It had gone through a house fire and the experts told them that they would never get the horrid smell out. WRONG!!

Okay, I hope you see the pictures of these quilts. Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day in central New York, so she put them out on the grass. I printed out all of your suggestions. Her name is Phtllis, she is on the right in the Grandma's Flower bed. I haven'tgo a report on the success yet.