Last weekend, I was MQ my niece's black and white wedding quilt when my daughter fell ill enough to go to the hospital. During that time, our cat yacked all over the pieced top! She did a good job of it too. Of course, the 5 day stay means the whites are likely to be stained.

What do I do? The squares are all hand quilted (quilt-shop hop top) to highlight the pattern with machine stitching in the black sashing to make it sturdy. I can vacuum up the big chunks but can't wash it...

Suggestions? I just wanted to cry after the discovery.

Maybe you can take it to the dry cleaners and ask the experts how to get the stains out.
What a disaster. I am so sorry to hear what happened.

Can you use something like the "Tide to Go" pens or a bleach pen (controlling the bleach movement)? Or some kind of spot remover - like a carpet or furniture spot remover?

That's assuming you don't ever plan to machine wash the quilt.

If it were me, I would use the spot remover, then grab the Woolite and hand wash the quilt in the bathtub and lay it on a tablecloth to dry flat, if your washing machine and dryer can't handle that size quilt.

Let us know how it turns out, either way.

I think you're going to have to vacuum up the chunks, finish the quilt and then wash it. May have to pretreat it with something to get the stains out. I'm praying for you though, some pet food stains just don't come out. Keep me posted. We just love our furbabies don't we?

Amma has been recommending something called Awesome on a few threads recently.
http://www.awesome-cleaner.com/
But she said it's also available at the Dollar store. I haven't yet tried it but a few here have for other disasters and raved about the results.

Note to self: Stop at Dollar Tree tomorrow

remove the pieces of whatever and then try Goo begone. It has taken out alot of stuff on our clothes. We live on a dairy farm and don't have many stains. !

That's exactly what my husband said! I think it's my only option because washing it the usual way is a no-go. My Pet-Oxy will be getting a work-out once it's done. Pray no stains stay!

And yes, we do love all of our furballs. My daughter's cat, Edgar, was so happy to see her he didn't leave her side at all last night.

My cat recently stained my carpet. I used AWESOME. Need to let it soak in for 10 to 15 minutes. Has taken many stains off of my clothes.

hope all goes well.

My cat yacked all over the baby quilt I was hand quilting for my first daughter (which I had started four years before even concieving) I cleaned the big bits off, but haven't had the nerve to do anything else because it too is not completely quilted. I will try some of these recommendations myself...and silently send out a prayer for your quilt while I am at it!!!!

Try oxyclean, it is a wizard with organic stains. Just disolve a tbls in a half cup of very hot water. Pour it over the stain and watch it dissapear. I use it on all my pet stains.

my mamma cat does that to my white bedspread often. and quilts if i dare to put one on the bed.
i spray my stained area with Oxy clean and Shout and wash as usual. i sincerely hope you get it out!

I have done this several times and it worked great.

I would take it to the cleaners. My parents owned a dry cleaners when I was a kid. They had a spot remover station. With chemicals for just that protine they also should have a high pressure steamer that can get the stain out and all with out washing out. That will allow you to finish the quilt and then wash it when you are done. Hope you get it fix

Good luck and hooded is better!!

I use lemon joy alot and have nearly always been successful with stains. I don't have cats, but do have dogs and I use it when they get sick and no problem.

I'll be tackling this task today. There's no way I can make myself MQ over the stain. My plan is to Oxy-Magic then blot with clean water, and blot dry.

Oxy cleaners can totally mess up black fabric. Instead of waiting a while to clean, the worst of the mess will at least be removed for a good washing later. I'll have to look up that Awesome! cleaner. Our Dollar Store carries it too. :-)

Finish the quilt and then wash it. It will more then likely wash out. My cat has a hairball deposit every so often on the porch rugs. It's sometimes underneath a chair so I don't see it sometimes for days. The stain always comes right out with soap and water.

Best advice is to avoid the problem! Lots of brushing to take care of the hair and a diet of food without dyes and additives :-)

We feed Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance cat food so I can score on that one but Isla is getting some little mats on her hips so I'm not doing as good on the brushing LOL

Furminator time!!!

p.s. I hope you are able to get it out. Oxyclean is our preference here.

I found a groomer that does cats! It's worth the money. I have four outside cats and one inside. The inside one gets groomed once every six weeks. The outside ones, spring and fall. The inside cat with all the grooming and eating only holistic cat food still has hairballs. The vet said that was unavoidable to have at least very small hairball deposits, so it's not a matter of preventing it altogether. Hairballs usually don't smell so there could be some anywhere you can't see if you have an inside cat.

All our kitties are indoor only and eat only the "best for them" food. The yack-cat cannot tolerate being groomed. She was hurt by a car fan as a youngster so her back and hips are no-touch zones. Part Siamese, she goes from happy cat to :evil: in about 2 seconds if folks aren't careful. Her favorite place is curled in my sewing room chair. So, her deposit was logical!

I use "Nature's Miracle" for cat yack. It works great on carpet and bedding I bought at JCPenney.

I hope you can get the quilt clean.

I agree with a few other quilters, finish the quilt and pretreat with maybe (the gel) shout stuff. Good luck

I use Natures Miracle for cat stains. But my cat has to eat a special prescription cat food (CD) and it has no additives or dyes, so the stains are just a dull yellow that is easily removed when he yacks. A lot depends on the kind of cat food you use. If you feed them kibble that has been dyed to LOOk good, such as "Kit and Kaboodle" or "Whiskas" (there are many others, just cant think of them all!), then you will get very reddish brown highly staining yacks!
So better food = easier to clean yacks.

I have had real good luck with Oxyclean too. I even have a large spraybottle of it to use as pretreater.

We do use Nature's Miracle on the carpet but I don't know what that would do on a quilt top. You may want to read the description because it is an emzyme-killing product.

I would try the above mentioned ideas, if there is a stain on the fabric, use a bar of Sunlight Laundry soap. Gently cover the spots with soap while wet and leave in the sun. Continue to check it, if the fabric dries, soak it again and reapply the soap. Rinse and repeat. Recently did this with a 80 year old christening gown.

This also may work. White vinegar/water 1/2-1/2. Soak with cotton balls and rub. Vinegar odor dissipates when dry. Try it on a piece of fabric first.

Nothing worked! I used Oxi-clean and even scrubbed a bit, then let it sit for a while prior to washing. There is an orange tint and I'm scared to death to bleach it!!!

Right now, it is sitting on the side of the washing machine resprayed, soaking up more Oxi. It's all ready to be bound. I zig-zagged the edges together prior to washing to keep the parts together. At least THAT held up just fine!

I LOVE the Awesome cleaner

Oxy-clean did the job the second time around!! There is one slightly orangey spot about the size of a sesame seed right next to a seam but drying should pucker that thing invisible.

Thank you to everyone for the positive thoughts and suggestions! The Hairball Horror is through.

YAY!!

I am sooo glad to hear this!!