patti p

I was at our local flea market and got these 13 appliqué pieces they are 18x18 they have some stains on them and are in need of a little repair I am looking for suggestions on the best way to clean ? Should I clean before making then into a quilt or table cover? What is the best product to clean them with?

dunster

I've heard very good reviews on RetroClean for cleaning vintage linens.

Tartan

I would fasten down any loose spots and hand soak the blocks in water with Retro Clean. If they bleed or fall apart in the washing you haven't wasted any time or other fabric on them.

Prism99

Honestly, I would not try to clean the blocks before putting them together into a quilt. You have no idea how the different fabrics might shrink, and just soaking them in water could be enough to introduce tons of distortion into the blocks. I would make the quilt first. Quilting stabilizes fabrics so that they cannot shrink wildly the way they can when washed on their own. The quilting stitches bind the fabric to the batting, transferring control of shrinkage to the batting. In other words, the batting in a quilt will not let an 18" block distort. Soaking an 18" block of old fabric in water, on the other hand, could result in shrinkage of an inch or more in one direction and none in the other, or turn the entire block into a "wonky" block -- especially with applique, which can bubble and distort differently than the underlying background fabric.

If the blocks smell so bad you cannot work with them, I would encase them in a plastic bag with Odoreaters shoe insoles with charcoal (or some other odor absorbing type material) for a couple of weeks.

Once the quilt is actually quilted and bound, I would just try washing normally in a manner suitable for quilts -- meaning in a washing machine that uses a ***lot*** of water so any dye bleeds are quickly diluted, and not allowing the machine to agitate. Turn off machine, hand agitate, then spin. There are good threads on the QB about how to safely wash a quilt for the first time in case there is dye bleeding. If you do this and the dyes don't bleed but you still have oldish stains, then I would use Retro Clean (http://www.retroclean.com ). Retro Clean requires soaking, and you really do not want to soak a quilt unless you are pretty sure nothing is going to bleed.

ManiacQuilter2

WOW, what a cute find. Have you tried setting these blocks on point?? Depending on how dirty they are would be how I would proceed.

joyce888

I think I would try some Oxi Clean and wash by hand. I tried Grandma's stain remover and it didn't work worth a flip. I got some ketchup stains out of clothing with regular dish washing liquid (of course ass soon as it happened).

mike'sgirl

I've heard Retro clean does a good job. I have to tell you how jealous I am. Those blocks are so charming, I love them. They're going to make a cute quilt.

mountain-moma

I would do as Prism99 said and by the way that's a wonderful find

mountain deb

They look like some I found eons ago. I think I still have them....somewhere?????maybe?

carolynjo

Whatever you do, do not wash separately. Wait until the top is assembled to wash and then go it gently or you will have a machine full of threads and useless blocks. Ask me how I know. I would even go so far as to put batting and backing on the top and quilt it and then wash. The blocks are so cute, I can't wait to see how you finish it.