quiltingshorttimer

yes, one of my guild buddies lost the entire house to flood the week before Hurricane Harvey and our extensionist did a huge search for info. First, hose out all the muck and gunk from the quilt as it's laying flat. Then soak the quilt in 2-3tsp of bleach in a full tube of water in washer--or if a king size quilt, soak in a bathtub--plenty of water. I did not use hot water for this, cold worked fine. I let it soak for about 1 hrs. You can spin the water out of the washer but do Not agitate the quilt in the washer. The bleach is needed to permanently kill the mold and mildew spores so they don't come back later. yeah--I was Totally freaked using bleach on someone else's quilt--but at that point it was worth it to salvage it. It did not fade the colors and the white came out great. This will also get out tons of dirt--even though you thought you'd gotten most out by hosing it! then wash like you normally would--a newer quilt I wash in the washer but again don't agitate or only for a very short time, then rinse, spin, etc. And antique quilt I put into a plastic laundry basket (which I would have used to bleach in the bathtub also)and wash in the bathtub by pulling up/down, rinse, etc. I then laid the quilt out flat on a tarp either with a fan (inside) or in the shade (outside). Her quilts came out beautiful and I also treated a purse she'd made for a purse sale this way. Now if the flooding tore the quilt up, I'm out of ideas!

P.S. fill the tub with water, add the bleach and agitate the water Then put the quilt in.