I find that the OxyClean works best too. But as a suggestion...Whenever I have a cross stitch piece that will be machine washed, I always use some fusible backing. Iron it on really well and then you can machine wash to your hearts content. Sometimes, if I need a really stiff backing. I will use the backing, stitch the piece, then iron on more backing. This works well in framing a piece. One piece of lightweight backing works best for quilts and wearables. By the way, I love her pieces. They are very well done.