Linda E

What is the best way to remove silver pencil markings after you finish quilting a quilt and what is the best detergent to use when you are afraid of the red fabric bleeding onto the white where the markings are??
Long story...in about 1987, I bought a pre-cut Aunt Martha quilt kit for my 82 year old grandmother to work on while she was visiting at my home during the hours I was away at work. The kit was a Lone Star quilt in red, white and blue. She didn't get it finished on her visit so she took it home to complete. Before she died in 97, she gave me the completed "star" but I still needed to inset the white corner blocks and triangles. I had a hard time adding to that top, but have finally decided its time.
Due to my grandmother's "delicate" stitches, I chose to not wash the top before putting in the frame to hand quilt. I'm a long way from having the top quilted, but every time I sit down to quilt, I worry about those pencil markings.

craftybear

I will follow this thread to see what advise others give you

Beautiful Quilt

tazzyjj

I'd try oxyclean...after it gets quilted...that's what I use for my markings!!

Prism99

I think the silver pencil markings will come out in the wash. I would be more worried about the red or the blue bleeding.

Do you have any scraps of the red (and the other fabrics) that you could test for bleeding? You may luck out and there may be no bleeding at all. However, if either of the dark colors bleeds, you will have to take a lot of precautions when you wash it. If you don't have any fabric scraps to test, I would at least dampen a white cloth and rub the red and the blue to see if any dye transfers.

Whether the test fabric bleeds or not, I would recommend a first washing in Synthrapol (suspends unset dye particles in water so they can rinse away). If the test does show bleeding, you need to wash with Synthrapol in a machine that holds a *lot* of water (to give more opportunity for unset dye particles to stay suspended in the water).

p.s. The quilt is *gorgeous*!!!

craftybear

thanks for this information

Prism99

I would be afraid to us Oxyclean on the dark, solid fabrics. I *really* like the Oxyclean liquids and gel for laundry, but found that I would sometimes get bleach-type spots on the clothing when using Oxyclean powder (I think because often not all of the particles dissolve completely).

Linda E

I appreciate the information...no, I have no scraps. This was a pre-cut kit and if my grandmother had any pieces left over, they were not a part of what she gave back to me. I will try the wet cloth test!! Thanks for the help!!

Jammin' Jane

You can try a soft eraser to erase the pencil marks.
Google: "graphite stain removal" to find out more!

dd

My silver marking came out just in the regular laundry.
If you have any of the red or blue left over, pin them or sew them to a piece of any white fabric and wash that to see if they will bleed. You can also use that color catcher sheet, don't remember what it's called. But Synthrapol is probably your best bet. Let us know what happens.

Linda E

I have tried three different erasers....the rubber eraser seems to work best, but it doesn't get down into the "sew" line. They are not bad...and the quilt won't be going for judging. It will be an heirloom, however. Guess I could just live with them there, but thought there might be a more excellent way of removing them than what I had come up with. I appreciate your help. Linda