shake everything out (outside of course) to get the loose stuff off before washing

Ill have to give it a try and see if they work. Someone else mentioned that to me. I forget who but Ill give them a try.

Trust me I am :)

Should i even wash the darker fabrics in the hot water?

I know some will disagree, but plastic tubs have worked for me. I have some stacked up in the laundry room which is outside of the house. Every time I have gone out to get something, I check ALL the fabric, and in over a year, no bugs or mice. No damage to the fabric, even in the heat and humidity of central florida.

Any time I have lived in the country, mice have found me. Down here, I have found frogs and lizards in the house, and I'll be darned if I know how they got in! Enzyme cleaners are great for all sorts of "natural" stains, so anything that doesn't come clean in the forst wash should not go in the dryer, but instead a washtub with some Tide or Biz. I always add Borax in the wash to get smells and germs out.

Good luck!

Hmmmm I will look into some plastic tubs.

I wash all my fabrics when I bring them home, darks with darks, lights with lights, a bit of detergent and a dye grabber for anything that may bleed. I do it to get out any sizing and pre shrink the pieces.

Everyone has their own way, so there's no right or wrong. :-)

I'd use Clorox 2 for all of it. Regular Clorox is safe ONLY for white whites. You don't want to bleach out your lights, do you?

Sorry about your messy friend and good luck on saving the friendship. I'm a messy friend too (sans mice) but I don't rent.

Are you going to put the washed and dried fabric in containers so the fuzzy invaders can't do the damage again?

I don't envy you having to do all that washing, but look on the bright side: you get reaquainted with all your stash again.

Sew sorry for all the problems. But now you will know what you have! Gotta be positive. (I am a fabric hoarder also, so I have some serious storage problems. I like the tubs and shelving!) :?

I went to Target last night and got me several large clear tubs with lids So I can fold and put the stash into them so furry critters cant get to them anymore.