Edie

Don't wash them before it is all put together, completely finished. Then go to town and do the cleaning. It is sweet! Have fun. Edie

coopah

This is it. Spendy, but the water can be used for more than one item. PM me if you have ?
Edited to add:
OH, yes...it should be put together first...othrwise you will have a real mess. Retroclean took ouot large coffee AND tea stains that had been washed and pressed 30 years ago!!

twinkie

Great find. I would listen to the experts on this board.

partsalot

If the stains are not terribly large ones try working with a Tide stick, not my detergent of choice, but my life saver stick when it comes to quilts. Keep one at my machine, cutting table, etc. haven't found anything yet that I could not remove. Recently removed red ink that had bled from a price tag.

maviskw

If you put each one on point, you can make a quilt with 13 blocks. Top row is 3 blocks. Row 2 is two blocks centered. Row 3 repeats row 1. Row 4 repeats row 2, and row 5 repeats row 1. Makes 13 blocks.
Rows 1,3 and 5 are three blocks. Rows 2 and 4 are two blocks. You can put narrow or wide sashing strips with cornerstones or not.
Lay them out and see what you think.
Have fun.

JustAbitCrazy

Hand soak the blocks in a sink before putting any work into them. I use Restoration, which is made for vintage textiles. Hand rinse and line dry. After you get the stains out, then applique/mend where needed and put them together into a top. Never wash a quilt or top in a washing machine with agitation (only use it to soak and spin out). Never dry a quilt in a clothes dryer with heat. Never dry clean a quilt.

Wanabee Quiltin

I washed some vintage blocks and some turned out OK and some didn't. My rule for me is to only wash if I couldn't stand to touch them or they smelled so bad I could not work with them. I would repair them first though.

patti p

Thank you all for the great advise, I so love this board everyone is so helpful.

nunnyJo

what a find