Thank you so much for the ideas of how to save these quilts. Of course they are washed after they are quilted and nothing is donated to a charity that isn't well made and clean.
I just wanted a new long arm quilter to be able to use her machine and new skills the way she wanted to do. If that means basting a quilt soaking it in the tub and drying it flat. I have the time and am willing. Much of this fabric is donated by family members after a quilter has passed. They don't know that it spent 20 years in the basement being saved for the perfect quilt. i know I have saved fabric until it was little more than strings so I'm not surprised. And I have the dead nose of a prior smoker and can't smell the problem. But i can see water that is dirty.
Thank you for the suggestions you have given me. I'll be looking for the borax. i haven't seen that in an age.