Hahahaha me too!! We sure are a cynical bunch lol :D:D

I had never given a 2nd thought about the fabric, yarn, stitchery, Beanie Babies etc. I have stored in plastic bins until I read this. It kind of scared me because just this week end while at a craft store another customer was looking for cardboard type boxes to store things under her bed and was all panicky because all she could find was plastic and she DID NOT want plastic - I didn't ask her why. But I think I will just leave well enough alone and keep my "junk" in the plastic bins. I have had no problems so far.

Cotton is a natural fabric and needs to "breath", which is why you aren't supposed to store clothes in plastic either. That being said I store clothes and fabric in plastic all the time and have never had an issue.

Many of these 'old wives tales' began back before modern materials were manufactured. Therefore, I think that they may have been accurate at one time, but perhaps aren't any longer, as we've change the chemistry so much.

I do believe that fabrics need to breathe, as I've seen dry-rot and molds myself plenty of times on a wide variety of things, not just fabrics. Coming from TX, were there is a constant high humidity and very high heat, this may be our contributing factor (remember, it even gets in our walls here, if not cared for).

If you haven't had a problem to date, you probably won't. But, it's a choice that we each have to make - whether to believe these tales are viable in today's market, or not. And whether we're willing to take a chance :)

Debbie in Austin

P.S. Reminds me of the tale of sun fading...it can happen if you have older windows, and most are wise to avoid it, but since I have the 'newfangled' energy windows that don't let in those harmful rays, I've never seen any fading of my fabrics, threads, carpets or draperies...so it doesn't concern me in the least.

I wonder if the people who built the pyramids worried about the effects of erosion? I am making quilts, not pyramids, and if they don't last forever, it doesn't matter!
BTW - just went out to the garage, checked my vintage crochet and embroidery - in plastic, garage gets wet, dry humid, cold and they are all just fine. Well, they smell a bit dusty, but no spots!

I have fabric that has been in plastic tubs for nearly 11 years and it is still just fine. I have on occasion looked through the tubs so they haven't been sealed in there the whole time.

I store my fabric in plastic totes and have some in zip lock bags and no problems either

I put mine in plastic too and haven't had a problem. I wonder if the brown spots were from a mouse?

I, too, had fabrics in plastic bins for 20+ years--when I sorted them this summer they were absolutely like new--no smell, no mold, no nothing. Like many of the rest, I will continue to use them. I did buy special archive storage boxes for my 2 antique quilts, but one was appraised at $2500.00 so I thought it deserved its own storage box.

I read years ago that you should not feed your dogs from a plastic dish. There is a bleaching action going on, that is why their noses lighten up over time. Also, they might have changed the way they are made and that no longer applies.
You can always line those totes before storing fabric in them.