Well, our move is/has gone fairly well. This weekend we FINALLY unearthed the other end of the house - i.e. we rented a small moving truck and took stuff to the storage unit. I guess that is what happens whenyou move from a 1,200 sf house with four outbuildings to an 1,800 sf house with a small working shed in the backyard.

Anyway, now that we have discovered that there is still living room furniture, we also brought out my cedar chest. This is the first time is 7 years that I have been able to have it out.

So I unpack the boxes that contained the items from the chest. Baby clothes, baby books, toys, etc. Included in this was the first quilt that I ever made. I made it when I was pregnant - before I found out that there was more than one!!!!

I also found the quilt that my husband's grandmother handmade for my first pregnancy. So here is the advice request - When I took it out of the box, I found a couple of stains on it. I pretreated all of them with Orvus and washed it in good water on gentle. It is not 'antique' just 23 years old (as of the 2ndof this month) so I knew that there was not a real 'delicacy' issue with it. Well, turns out a couple of the stains look like they are rust. I do not know how they got there or when but I really want to get them out if possible.

So what is my next step - I am going to try lemon juice and sunshine this week. But does anyone else have any ideas? I have such a different attitude about quilts now, so much more so than then. Then it was a blanket for my baby that GrandmaGreat made. Now it is a handmade heirloom from the matriach of our family who lived to be 105. And I want to take the best care possible. HELP!!!

The staining could be from the cedar chest. Fabric should never be stored in direct contact with wood because wood contains acid. Many old quilts were stained along the folds in cedar chests.

I would try RetroClean: http://www.retroclean.com . It may be that the staining is simply from the wood and there has not yet been permanent damage from the acid.

Incidentally, for the same reason you do not want to store fabrics in tissue paper or cardboard unless they are "archival" quality -- that is, have been treated to remove the wood acid. The same applies to photograph albums; you really want to mount photographs on archival quality paper.

Hi Jane,

One of my first recommendations is Grandma's Secret Spot Remover. I have seen it at Hancock Fabrics and JoAnn Fabrics.

Rust is just one item on the list of stains it says it can remove.

Their website is: www.grandmassoap.com

You might try making a paste of Oxyclean type product and working the stain with a washcloth. Another product to try would be Dawn dish soap again working with a washcloth.

I would test any thing that you try by using it first in a very small area. You might have some results with the lemon juice but I would avoid sunlight.

Good luck with task of getting the stains removed. Please keep us updated as you progress through this challenge.

Pam M

Cream of tartar works on rust

there is also a product called Whink for rust stains, or try Barkeepers Friend (make paste)

I wouldn't expose it to heat or sun until you get the stain out. Good luck! Don't blame yourself, it couldve happened at any point. Or it could have been loved to tatters by now. Do your best, but then just love it.