cleaning vintage blocks
 

I was given these blocks by a fellow quilter. There are 20 of them.... all hand quilted. The only problem is that they are very stained. I have googled cleaning and Biz and Oxy-clean seems a favorite for removing stains... Just wondered if anyone had better advice.
Also would love your suggestions for quilting them.

Thanks.

I would not wash them until they are already quilted. There are risks associated with washing them first. Risks include having the edges fray, having the fabrics shrink and distort in different ways, and having the applique fabrics or embroidery thread bleed. Most of these risks can be handled if you are aware of them ahead of time. For example, hand wash with little agitation to avoid fraying; block each square immediately after it comes out of the water and allow to dry blocked; use Synthrapol in the wash water to help avoid dyes settling into background fabric, and/or use Synthrapol in the first one or more washes of the quilt to remove any dye bleeds. However, it is still safer to wait to wash until the blocks are already quilted into a quilt. Shrinkage distortion from pre-washing may or may not be fully recoverable; in other words, some distortion may not block out. Quilting will prevent distortion from shrinkage, and Synthrapol will prevent dye bleeds from settling.

I would not use Biz or Oxy-clean, much as I love those products. I would use RetroClean: http://retroclean.com/

I've had good luck with Oxy-Clean on stains like that. I mixed up a strong solution in a plastic dish pan and let the item soak. It took a couple of days, along with making some fresh solution on the second day, but the stains came out and the colors were intact. I then ran cool water into the dish pan until it was rinsed.

Good luck with your blocks - they're really pretty!

I agree with SheryIM. I have done this method also; small vintage items that were badly stained and I soaked them in a Oxy-Clean solution in a plastic bowl, refreshing the solution after a day. I used lukewarm water. It was effective.

good luck.. they are a treasure

Retro clean, that is what I've heard does wonders with stains!

I concur; Prism always has the best succinct, smart, helpful responses. I count on her wisdom a lot! :)

Jan in VA

Those are such pretty blocks. I have no suggestions but am glad to hear what others have had success with. That's another note in my quilt folder. "smile"

I had some vintage blocks that I didn't want to bother quilting if I couldn't get the stains out. So I pieced together, ran a seam of stitches around the outside edge, then SOAKed in either RetroClean or Restoration (have used both successfully with older quilts/linen) in my top load washer tub. Spun out the water once soaking done (when hot water cooled), did it again a 2nd time, and then quilted. Worked great and these all had white backgrounds.

I used Retro Clean for some stained Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks I bought at a tag sale. I could not have been happier with the results. There were about 30 blocks and I soaked maybe half a dozen or so at a time in a small tub.
They came out so clean
I wanted to tea dye them to make them look more vintage again.
No heavy odors either.