Can this quilt be saved?
 

I made this quilt for my son's girlfriend about 2 years ago. Last week she brought it to me saying she "doesn't know what happened" and she didn't spill anything on it. Well, looks to me like she (or somebody) spilled cola on it. The stains are on all 4 corners and down both long sides so it must have been folded when it happened. Her mom tried to spot clean it and some of the red from the backing bled into the quilt top. The backing was prewashed in warm water and didn't bleed then so it shouldn't have run now. I suspect chemicals in whatever her mom used on it caused the bleeding.
Do you have any thoughts on what I can wash it with to make it better? The only saving grace is that the background is Moda Grunge with a bit of brown running though it. So if I can get some of the stains out, it may not be quite so noticeable.

Try soaking it in Oxyclean.

yes, Oxyclean or Retroclean should work well. good luck.

What about soaking it in Dawn and hydrogen peroxide? As an old cleaning lady for the altar guild at church, I had success using these for wine stains. Wishing you well!

I agree something was spilled on it and may have set for awhile. The oxyclean may help. I hope you can at least get most of it out.

Oh that is such a shame!
I hope you are able to remove those nasty stains - please let us know how you get on.

I would use dawn and a soft brush to work it in on all spots, let it sit for a few hours than wash. I’ve had great results using dawn on stains, even ones that have been thru the wash. Your quilt is beautiful, I will be doing that pattern this coming year for a Christmas gift for my daughter .

yikes. something left those stains.


i have started to soak all my fabrics for a couple of hours in hot water before washing them now.

i had a dark burgundy that i used for sashing that i had given a quick lukewarm dip for a washing - it bled when i washed the wuult. of course, the fact that i did not dry the wet quult immediatrly after washing did not help.

I'd use a stain stick on the damaged areas rather than soak the whole thing. I wouldn't worry about the red on the back - let it be a reminder to be more careful in the future. OxyClean has a new gel stain stick - it soaks into the stain better than a hard one.

I would soak it a couple of days in retroclean. I would avoid bleach or peroxide...they are hard on fabric.

I have no advice that hasn't already been given, but I wanted to tell you that's an adorable quilt. I made the smaller one and know how much work you put into it. I hope you can get the stains out.

Grandma's Secret Spot Remover! That stuff is amazing on cleaning quilts.

Good Luck to You!

That is one cute quilt!

Another vote for Dawn! Took out some serious bleeding on a quilt I made this summer. I think the stain stick is also a good idea.

Best of luck!

i used a stain remover stick on a comforter. it did take the stain out - and it also removed the color.

if possible, test on an inconspicuous area.

Retroclean is sodium perborate - a bit stronger than the sodium percarbonate that is in Oxyclean - no it won’t hurt the fabric! It does a great job on most stains, but may not get out the dye that ran. It might, but might not. It definitely will take out the other stain. I use it all the time on vintage linens with awful stains and it usually works wonders. Put the quilt in a big sink or washtub (or the bathtub), get it good and wet, but don’t cover with water yet. Sprinkle a half cup of sodium perborate (Retroclean or other brand) on the quilt mostly near the stain. Spray it with hot water to dissolve and cover the quilt. Let soak for at least 24 hours. Do again if that isn’t enough.

Sodium perborate basically converts to peroxide in hot water. The chemical conversion helps in removing the stain.

I've been using oxyclean to soak everything lately, and its gotten almost everything out. Ancient embroidered linens- soaked for a few days, rinse and check, and soak for another few if not done yet. I'm a convert!

We have discussed this at our guild. One of the girls has taken classes at a local museum and they use Orvis soap. It is bought at the harness shop and is basically used for kids who are entering their horses in the country fairs because it cleans good and makes the horse shine. I bought some to use on a quilt I made for my GD. She (or someone) had spilled someone on it and it mildewed and I soaked it with dawn and it did not touch it. So I will try this, just waiting for a nice day because I want to hang it out on the line to partially dry. Good luck on your quilt.

Retroclean. It will not fade the rest of the quilt and took out 30 year old tea and coffee stains on a tablecloth I had.
It's spendy, but it works and one doesn't have to dither around seeking any other solution. No connection to the company. Just a satisfied customer.

I have found that wetting the spots, then putting Blue Dawn, spraying with peroxide and adding baking soda to the spots to make a paste, slightly rubbing in with an old toothbrush and let sit for an hour or longer takes out every spot that I have encountered, including permanent marker, ink, oil, cow manure and grease. I wash it in wash machine with regular detergent in cold water. It may take a couple of times, but it will come out. Good luck!

Oh my that is some stain. If all else fails maybe you tea dye it?! That stain is really dark. Good luck. It’s a cute quilt.

Thanks, everyone. I think I will get some Retro Clean and give that a try. I'll let you know how it turns out.

It looks more like an espresso drink was spilled on it. Either way use hints for removing coffee stains first.

Coffee was my first thought also.

Dawn seems to work for some stains.

Let us know how you come out on this! That's one big stain but, if the quilt has already been washed and dried, I would expect it to be pretty much a permanent thing by now. Such a cute quilt that I hope you can save it. If the stain doesn't come out, perhaps it can best be rescued by simply removing that bottom row of doggies and put a border on it. At least, the stain doesn't appear to be up into the body of the quilt and mostly there at the bottom.

While it won't help this quilt, maybe it would help some "doothless" folks if a "care of" set of instructions were included with every quilt.

I once was told that Biz works well for stains on quilts. It is enzymatic and shouldn’t harm the fabric. I find that it works better than oxiclean for laundry stains.

I use BIZ..it used to come in powder only...Fill washer up with hot water put in BIZ, let t dissolve. Let water cool to cold. Put the quit in and soak it over nite. Using same water put in some Blue DAWN, maybe 1/4 cup..wash on gentle cycle...Take quilt out , if stains still on quilt repeat process . I have used this method for years with good results.
Do not dry quilt in dryer until all stains are gone. Heat sets the stains oin.

BIZ is my go-to for stains. For a while I was not able to get in the grocery store, but now it is back. I soak lots of stuff in BIZ overnight before washing.

I have some Biz! I'll try that.

Restoration or Retroclean (same basically) then for bleeding check out Dawn Cavanaugh on-line--she tells how to use blue Dawn dish detergent to get out bleeds. Cola should wash out fairly easily--I'm thinking coffee???

It's been a little over a year- did you get the stain out? What did you end up using??

Thanks for asking. I tried soaking with Biz, Era, Dawn dish soap. Each helped some but not enough. Then I soaked it overnight in liquid OxyClean. Most of the brown stains finally came out. There are still some red spots from the bleed from the backing but they're not too bad. The only casualty was the label - it was on printer fabric with a pic of her dog. The picture faded a lot but I can live with that and the quilt doesn't look too bad now.

Thank you so much for the update! I always wonder what happened after the end of the story . Sounds all in all like a pretty good outcome.

I too have used Oxyclean to get stains out of already washed and dried items. I had to soak on piece more than 2 weeks for a major stain. It was a shirt with a black oil stain. It came out and no sign of the stain anywhere. It is worth a try.

Oh I love the dachshunds, they are the best. I would try a product I think it is called Restore, it removed several old stains on items I had little hope for.

So sorry for this "accident" of the stains on the quilt but very happy for you to get most of the stains out. I feel for you as it hurts sometimes when you see this issue and you have worked so hard on the quilt. BTW-the quilt is so adorable.

I vote for Restoration. I have not used it personally, but a quilter in Florida had a 1930's quilt that had many large brown stains. She found Resoration on the internet and bathtub soaked it several times. She said it really had a nasty smell and the water turned brown and repeated the process several times. --- She was showing us the results of her efforts. The whites were white as snow and the colors in the patches did not run and remained bright. Again, I vote for Restoration.

I had an old table top runner with a brown stain about the size of a quarter. I forgot what I used on it, but after I used it the hole was Gone. Now there was a hole in the runner - about the size of a quarter.