Be careful w/ iron on stuff - Quilt of Valor
 

I met a retired Marine the other day. He has been friends w/ my neighbor across the street. We got talking and he showed me his Quilt of Valor that was given to him while in a VA facility. He is beyond proud of it!!!

The back of the quilt has 2 signature saying pieces that the women ironed on. He is truly appreciative of this quilt and carries it in his truck.

Instead of sewing these 2 blocks on, they ironed them on. It is now several years later and the patches are coming off - I'm going to sew them back on by hand.

This is my qusestion: These white blocks also have some staining to them due to the iron on adhesive that was used. Does anyone know if that staining will come off using oxyclean, 20 mule-team, etc??

He mentioned the staining last nite and my first response was I'm sorry, probably not since it is a chemical reaction to being washed and the iron on stuff.

Thought i'd check here. I don't ever use iron-on stuff, so why i'm asking.

Thanks!!

So

That so nice of you to fix it. I never bothered with putting a label on my QOV.

Is the writing part of the fabric or something each wrote on the fabric? If it is part of the fabric then I'd try to soak the patches and see if the stains will come out. If they wrote the text then I'd be afraid the text would fade out or go away.

Could you copy the label on an ink printer? I know stores sell fabric you can put through the printer. You could remove the old label and sew the new "cloned" label in it's place.

Someone in one of my quilt clubs had this exact same thing with the fusible. She tried every imaginable remedy and the stain won't come out.

You may want to try a little acetone or "Goo Be Gone" on a cotton swab and gently see if you can work it up off the fabric. Sometimes alcohol will work in this manner.

thanks for the comments ladies! I can pull the labels off because they're already starting to come off on the corners and edges. Just by rubbing the fabric vigorously w/ my finger will get rid of the residue - not the stains though.

I pulled one label off and i'm going to soak it in some Biz/Oxyclean solution and see if the stains will come out. I know i wont harm anything. :D Then i'll hand sew the label back on.

Thanks again!

Whenever I use iron on fusible I always stitch it on after fusing!

Any staining left is still old residue that has gotten dirty.

I had some luck getting rid of iron-on goo, by using scraps to iron over it, then when cool, tearing the scrap away. I did it several times with several scraps and got rid of quite a bit of it, but it had not been washed yet....

Try hydrogen peroxide. Just dab at it. It just might work. Also try a magic clean eraser. Those things work miracles.

I got a pair of shorts at the thrift store that someone had shortened with some type of fusible that was coming undone and I wanted the length anyway so I was able to remove the residue with rubbing alcohol. I just saturated the area and scrubbed with my thumbnail. Any stains came out in the wash.

I would be afraid of hydrogen peroxide,i used a tin bit on a q tip to remove a stain from a table runner and it immediately pt a hole all the way through the top.

The stain may not be goo from the iron-on, but scorching from the iron
which will not come off.
I think simply sewing on the original label is best.