Cedar Chests
 

Please do not store quilts or other fabrics in cedar without some protection from the wood. I've seen too many stained antique quilts as a result of storing in cedar as it has oils. The stains are varying shades of brown and cannot be removed. Placing in a pillow case doesn't work because the oils can penetrate the case and migrate into the quilt.

To use a cedar chest (which does protect from tiny critters eating away at fabric and cotton batt) line the chest with a sheet of aluminum foil or other similar substance (not cardboard or cover the cardboard with the foil) and then store the quilt in a pillowcase or just stack them. The object is to protect the quilt from touching the wood, but having the advantage of bug proofing.

SandyQuilter

I made a Sunbonnet Sue quilt for my DGD when she was born. My daughter stored it in a cedar chest. I now have to take it apart and hope I can get all the brown spots out of it. Thank goodness its only tied.

No the wood will bleed into the fabric and can leave some stains - and you don't want to store the quilts or fabric in sealed plastic for long periods of time either - need to breathe.

never had any problems. I just went trough my mom's cedar chest and things have been it untouched since she passed in the early 90's

Here's another good article on storage of textiles:
http://www.essortment.com/store-vint...ens-15438.html

I have three inherited cedar chests and before I put any quilts in them, I wrap them in plain white sheets first. They can stain from direct contact with the wood. The only way to avoid the wood staining is to sand down the wood and put 2-3 coats of clear sealer on before storing goods in contact with the wood.

I had a quilt stored in a box of some kind of wood and it stained so I looked into the subject. Now, to store quilts esp long-term, I got some cardboard tubes from Joann's for free (2-3" in diameter and used two together for longer quilts), wrapped muslin over the tube first, then rolled the quilt (top up) over the tubing and rolled another layer of muslin over that. The quilts are stored in a closet where they are at an even temp. Seems to work fine and they can be shown off easily, no folds to worry about. Plastic, metal and wood seem to be risky.

Haven't read all the posts but I recently saw some beautiful crochet items that were stored in a cedar chest and they were ruined with large brown areas that were falling to pieces. One was a large table cloth made out of fine thread.

My grandmother stored her quilts and other items she valued in a cedar chest - the quilts were usually wrapped in a sheet or pillow case and pictures, and other items were in shoe boxes or plastic bins. When she passed and all of the grandchildren picked out a quilt, they were in perfect condition. The pictures, not so much but I think it was more from the way pictures were developed a half century/century ago and the paper & film used in old albums. Great improvements since then.

Lots of opinions here I know - but i'll tell you a quick story - when my sweet mother in law passed, we had a lot of old stuff to go through. In the attic we found a cedar chest - inside were yards of different fabrics and 2 quilt tops that had belonged to HER mother....who passed away in 1976. The fabric and quilt tops looked like they had just come off the bolts / just been stitched...and they'd been in that cedar chest for 40+ years. So...??? I plan to finish the quilts and use the fabrics one of these days.