Originally Posted by quilter in the making
I always read about the wonderful finds the QB members stumble across at garage sales, so last week I went to one myself and hit pay dirt. Attached are the pictures of the yardage I found and also some hand pieced blocks. I spent $16.30 and got 17+ yards, 108 of these blocks and still have a paper box and Rubbermaid container of various pieces of material, miscellaneous cut pieces, a cigar box of scraps, sheets and about 10 sets of pillow cases and about 2 dozen cookie cutters. There are a couple of crewel work pillow fronts (completed). My problem is it all smells horrible from cigarette smoke. I have washed the yardage and that washed up fine, but what do I do about the handpieced blocks and miscellaneous cut pieces? They smell so bad I don't want them in my sewing room until they smell better. Is there a way to wash them without them falling apart?
Pull out your biggest stock pot. Pour a couple cups of Oxy-clean (I use generic) in the bottom. Fill about half full with warm water. Carefully lay similar colored pieces in the water, one at a time so that each soaks up some of the solution.
After I get the stock pot about half full, I lay a dinner plate on top of the water. Luckily my stockpot is baredly wider than a plate. I soak for a while, then push the plate up and down, sort of like an agitator. I usaully take the pieces out and reverse the order so that I'm pretty sure the pieces have all soaked evenly.
Leave in the water a good while. I usually leave mine a couple hours.
Drain water, fill with clear water and agitate with the plate. Repeat a few times until you're confident the Oxy-clean has been rinsed out.
If you still have a bit of smell, add vinegar to a rinse. In a washing machine, I'd use some baking soda with hot water. But I always have trouble getting baking soda completely disolved in a pan.