neraus

I bought a beautiful old handstiched star quilt top. Lots of half square triangles. The white fabric is muslin not sure what the red is. Very loose weave to it and starting to get small holes in it. Usually I don't wash old tops but not to beat around the bush this one smells. I have it laying on my desk outside. It is overcast so it shouldn't fade but hoping the fresh air helps it. I have no idea how colorfast the red is so my two concerns are that it will fade and run red all over. And will washing it aggravate the spots that have small holes? Will have bigger holes when it comes out of the wash? Any info or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

charsuewilson

You could always hand-wash it in the bath tub, and hang out upside down over several clothes lines to dry. You'll see while washing it if the red bleeds. I can't say whether or not the small holes will increase in size, but with the smell, I'd say washing it would be worth the try.

barbb baumgardner

I was given some fabric that was really old. It stunk to high heaven. I loved the fabric though and wanted to do something with it. I took it and drenched it in Febreeze...let it sit outside to dry and then brought it in and used it. It has NOT been washed, but smells fresh and clean. As for the washing of the top...I do not recommend you wash it first. ( I did that with my great grandmother's Dresden Plate quilt top and ruined it.) Get it quilted first and then wash it in cold water with a color catcher and use some Febreeze and perhaps Woolite...I use regular detergent, but not in a large amount.

alleyoop1

White and red.....use lots of color catchers!

JustAbitCrazy

Soak in water with Restoration dissolved in it, in the washer. Do not agitate at all. Spin that out, fill with rinse water, and shut off the machine to prevent agitation once again. After soaking, spin that out and repeat for another rinse the same way. I would not recommend going to any trouble to quilt a top before determining if the fabric is strong enough not to fall apart afterwards. Dry flat if possible, out of sunlight, or over a clothesline. Never put in the dryer with heat.

Prism99

I would not try to wash an unquilted top in this condition. Aside from dyes bleeding and seams fraying, it's quite possible for the fabrics to shrink at differing rates. This would create a distorted top that can never be ironed flat again.

What I would do is place the top in a garbage bag with a pair (or two) of Dr. Scholl's Odor-Eaters shoe inserts -- the ones made with charcoal. Leave it alone for a couple of weeks, then check. I did this with a featherweight case that had that moldy basement smell and it worked very well. Charcoal absorbs bad odors. Using Odor-Eaters means you don't risk getting charcoal on the fabric.

After the top is quilted, you no longer have to worry about uneven shrinking of fabrics. Quilting binds the three layers so that the batting takes control of shrinkage. Assuming just a moderate amount of quilting, the batting does not allow any fabric to shrink more than itself. (This does not apply to quilting that is 12" apart, or to tied quilts. In those cases there is not enough tying the layers together, so the fabrics can still shrink at uneven rates.) You also do not need to worry about frayed seams.

As for bleeding, you really do not want to soak a quilt unless you are sure no fabrics will bleed. For a first washing, it's important to use a washing machine that uses a *lot* of water (so any dye bleeds are diluted well). The large front-loaders in a laundromat are good for this. However, as I mentioned, you want to do this only after the top is quilted and the quilt is bound.

Edit: Just an added note. You do not want to lay a wet quilt or wet top over clotheslines to dry. Water is very heavy and puts a lot of stress on the stitching. With a top, the added weight of the water can break thread, especially if the top is hand-pieced. With a quilt, the quilting thread can break. It's better to dry a quilt or top flat. A finished quilt can also be tumble-dried in a large dryer.

One more edit: I would want to reinforce any holes in the top before layering. One option is to hand sew small appliques over the holes.

neraus

Here is a picture of the top. Thanks for all the helpful solutions. Just the short time it was outside helped quite a bit. So maybe some fabreeze or odor eaters will do the trick.[ATTACH=CONFIG]411880[/ATTACH]

patchsamkim

That is an awesome quilt! Glad that airing it out helped!

franc36

What a beautiful quilt top! I'm sure you can get the smell out without washing. My sister buought me a quilt mother made her decades ago. Her ex-husband had the quilt for the past 20 years and had let his cats sleep on it. When she brought the quilt in, it made my entire house smell. Because of bad weather, I could not put it outside, so I sprayed it several times with Fabreeze then folded it with sheets of Bounce with Fabreeze inside each fold. The quilt no longer smells. I will wash it if I ever finish repairing all the torn places; but it is wonderful that the horrid smell is no longer in my house or on the quilt.