Thread: Mold in the quilt

I recently inherited an older quilt that has little mold spots showing. Does anybody happen to know of a way to remove them?? Thank you!

I never had any success removing old mold spots, and I tried a lot of different things -- many of which could prove damaging to an older quilt.

Could you possibly cover the spots with some coordinating fabrics? Old quilts are often mended that way -- by hand appliqueing a coordinating fabric over a weak spot.

You could try soaking in in BIZ -- it's a stain remover/laundry detergent type product that's amazing.

Somebody had a post on here recently about baking soda and vinegar. I don't know if it would work on mold but it shouldn't be harmful, I wouldn't think. I'll look for the post.

I found a post dealing with stains. Actually, if you go up to serch then type in stains, several post from this forum come up.

This is a quote from sy on one of the posts.

Hi, A friend of mine deals in old quilts. She put Biz in cold water in a bathtub. Lets it soak over night then wrings them out by hand . Lets it dry naturally..then if the stain are not gone . She will try it one more time. if it will come out it usually does then .

Hope this helps. :-) :-)

Sorry, it's not the one about baking soda and vinegar.

Mould and mildew can often be removed by dabbing the spot with pure lemon juice and putting in sunlight (not on scorching days for hours) then rinse and put a little bi-carb in the rinse water.

I would probably seek the advice of a fabric conservator at a museum or gallery if the quilt was exeptionally old or valuable. Good luck.

Hydrogen peroxide might work

Originally Posted by roselady

Hydrogen peroxide might work

I wouldn't, just in case it ruins it. Hydrogen Peroxide can bleach out your hair, I can't imagine what it would do to fabric dye on a quilt.

The reason I suggest Hydrogen peroxide is that I use it on stains on colored clothes that I can't use bleach on. If it stayed on a long time it might bleach it too much, but it has worked for me, safely.