I've stored fabric every which way you can think of. In plastic tubs, plastic bags, cardboard boxes, shelves of every kind of material. The only things I've ever had a problem with has been plastic bags. I guess they don't breathe. After revisiting them, there was moisture in the bags. Fortunately I caught it in time, washed the fabric and all is good. It probably has to do with location and humidity too. Anyway, just thought I'd share my 2 cents.

All wood products, including cedar, contain acid that will slowly discolor and then actually eat through fabric. That is one reason why so many antique quilts that were stored folded in cedar chests have brown stains in spots.

If you have to store in a cedar chest, I would wrap the quilt in a large pillowcase or sheet so the quilt is not in direct contact with the wood.

Incidentally, cardboard and tissue paper have the same problem. For long-term storage, it's best to use archival-quality cardboard and tissue paper. This applies to storage of photographs too. They should be mounted on archival-quality paper, not regular paper.

I don't pretend to be an expert on the topic.. however.. I have sewn for over a half of a century and I've got fabrics that have been stored in plastic "bins" for as much as 20 years.. some for up to 4 years without being opened. I have had NO problem with foul odors or deterioration. I have gone into fabric shops and been overwhelmed by the smell of formaldehyde used in processing the fabric.. it's used for setting color and in a process for making the fabric "permanent press". I frequently give the "sniff test" to fabrics.. especially the cheap stuff and if I catch a chemical whiff it stays on the shelf. This is one reason I've been a long time "prewasher" of fabrics.

Plastic bags are know to let of toxic gases. I ws told to never store my quilts in them. That's why I always use pillow cases to store things in.Then they can be put in the large tubes or totes.My mother stored material and quilts between layers of muslin. Alot of thah was stored in cedar chests or blanket boxes.Just avoid thin plastic,like the store shopping bags and garment bags.

Hi again, I went to a class for this Reversible Quilt---this is the teacher E-mail add, if anyone has any questions
[email protected]
About those bags--they have a pocket on the outside,for information

It probably can effect the fabric if you keep it in a very damp or hot area. I had yarn in those vaccuum bags and in another plastic bin in the garage and it had to air out for several days to rid the musty smell.

I heard that rumor too on Fons and Porter! I had been storing some finished quilts in space bags - which I heard is a no no. I now store them in cotton pillowcase covers (with zippers) and place them in plastic tubs out of sunlight. But I have many fabrics in plastic tubs - they look fine to me!

Never a problem here. Had some of them since about 2002.

I have fabrics in long flat plastic bine that has been there for about 10yrs. they are stacked on the top shelf of what was my spare bedroom/craft/sewing room before my son and his two kids moved in in may 2004. I haven't even opened them and i guess now that i've started thinking of sewing again, i will check them.......i'm sure they will be fine as no sun gets in there..... : -)!

Fay

My mother sent me a box of fabric (cardboard) that I had packed in an ordinary products box from the grocery store? As near as I could figure, it had been in that box for more than 25 years :shock: and the fabric was fine.
Sometimes, we get sold a bill of goods because someone wants us to buy something, I think.
The difference between plastic containers and plastic bags is a difference in the permeability ... that being said, even our plastic bottles are permeable, hence the reason my Pepsi goes flat if it has been opened for more than four days. As long as there is permeability in the container, then there is air circulation, which is one of the reasons one should never store or display natural fibers in a sealed glass container ..
the plastic container is manufactured differently than a plastic bag, so that could account for the difference in what the plastic gives on in micro fumes of gasoline.
I would think that a container with a snap on lid is still far from air tight (she says as she prays that is the case since she has YARDS of fabric that has been stored in YEARS!)
And, on that note ... consider that clear thread ... that is a very fine fishing line - - plastic ... I would be more concerned with that thread breaking down and coming apart before I would worry about containers causing problems for fabric. <wave>
I haven't read this complete thread, so if I have been redundant in my musings, I apologize ... but storage is always something we are aware of.

thank you all for the information, so when I have enough to actuly worry about storage, the plastic bins are OK, right. God bless. Penny

i think one of the things is ventilation. most of the tubs have lids that are NOT airtight and in this case i think that's better. when Noah dropped off the last load of my plastic tubs (when the waters went down) the fabric was still good and i think it's because the lids offer ventilation.

I have a hand make quilt that was stored in a plastic bag. I just inherited the quilt. It does have a gassey smell to it.I have the quilt now displayed on my spare bed.Will the gassey smell disappear? Or have do I get rid of the gassey smell?
Laura

The solution to pollution is dilution.
By getting the quilt out of the bag, you have begun the process - - stored in unbreathable plastic, removed out into the fresh air.
Time should help dissipate the odor - - if you have a garage that has some fresh air movement to set it out overnight, so much the better. I would NOT spray it with Febreeze or other deoderants ... time and fresh air - - cant beat it! <wave>

Thank you so much for your reply and I will not use febreeze.
Thanks Laura :thumbup:

I had been storing fabric in plastic bins. Then when another post was started on this topic, I took everything out and put it in drawers. I learned this to be a no-no. So back in bins it went. I have a lot of fabric pieces I had cut for another project I had done, and put these into a plastic bag which went into the storage tub. I've had everything stored around 3 years, all my fabric seems ok. I live in a low humidity area, so that may have something to do with it. But, now that plastic bags are no adviseable, I will take them out and just have all the fabric in totes in a closet.

That is a beautiful quilt! It will air out quickly, I am sure. <wave>

Oh, my!
I have fabric in all sorts of places (one of the joys of being a hoarder, I guess - - we are very creative).
As I explained a bit earlier, the plastic in bags are created differently than a plastic tote, plus that air tight thing if the bag gets closed ... the air tight problem is not nice to natural fibers. But, just the process of making the bags, they are heated differently, the formulas and chemicals are different, and all those variables creates a different product which responds to its contents in a variety of ways.
The totes are not air tight - - one point. Different formula in creation - - natural products respond differently to a tote. They stack nicer than bags BIG + ! <g> more stacks = more fabric.
Now! the drawers - - depending on how the wood is processed in the drawers the effects on fabric will differ. Not all wood is toxic to cotton or wool (cedar) ... but, cedar press board may have cedar, but a manmade formula in the glue used to create the chip/press board turns the cedar into a possible trauma to fabric.
Oh, and don't forget! cardboard boxes are DEADLY to fabric - - NOT SO FAST!
My mother sent me a box that we dated back at least 25 years - - when I didn't complete that project either (lots of UFOs in my life! LOL)
she found it stored in the corner of an upstairs bedroom that is rarely heated at sea level ... I was a bit surprised to find the fabric just fine after all those years!
Of course, I was a bit sad to find those silly stuffed clown panels that I thought I had gotten rid of at least ten years ago! LOL
Y'all get lots of stars for keeping the economy going with all the purchases of totes, plastic bags, acid free paper, etc ... but, now that you know you can do more with less <g> ... you will have to find something else to buy, right? LOL <wave>

I can't remember not knowing how to sew (or embroider or knit). As I graduated from doll clothes to making clothes for myself, my mother taught me to always get a half yard to full yard more fabric than the pattern called for (if I used a pattern--she taught me how to draft patterns, too). Just in case I made a mistake. Of course, fabric was way less than a dollar a yard back then!

I never intended to build a stash and I never bought a fabric without a purpose in mind but when the project was done, there was usually just too much scrap left for me to feel comfortable throwing away. So now I have a stash and some of the fabrics are over 40 years old.

It has been stored various ways over the years, from a cardboard box, wrapped in a plastic garbage bag inside the cardboard box, in a wooden slatted crate and in plastic bins.

I've been going through all these old scraps with my husband, who wrote a database to catalog them. None of them are damaged, all of them look as new as the day I rolled each set up neatly and tied it with a scrap of the same fabric.

The only precaution I ever took with my scraps was to keep it in the main part of whatever house I was living in, away from basements (too humid in the summer) or attics (too hot and too humid).

VIOLA! The beauty of The Board! Centuries of experience, all varied, but very much valid. I think this testimony is the best assurance of the durability of fabric and its ability to survive some seemingly harsh treatment.
Should you happen to come across some fabric you are unsure of, try putting a finger through it - - right through the center.
I do know that fabric can become rotten, though I have only found one or two pieces in many years of stashing it and gathering from other stashes. If you can put your finger through it with slight pressure, use it for a doggie bed stuffing. <wave>

I have spent the last 5 years packing fabric back to Canada.It is so much cheaper in the US.Now that I have a park model in yuma I now have to start packing it back. It is the only time I get to sew. I just started quilting the last 5 years. 5 years ago I started hand stitching a grandmas flower garden quilt top. I pick up fabric all the way down to Yuma. I am from Kamloops BC. I have the top done now so time to put it together. I bought a Grace quilt frame and it is sitting on it right now. I am hoping that I will get most of it done this winter when I am south.That is if I can leave my embroidery machine alone. I think everyone has a stash now I have to get the fabric out of the bags when I get south in November.I thought putting it in plastic bags would keep out the summer dust. :-P

me three! except it gets rotated every few days, even when I'm not in need of anything. more because I'm thinking of a new project and want to know how much of something I have (my brain seems to remember more that there is :))

I only have one thing to add here, y'all have covered so much and so well. HOWEVER, we most of us have walk in closets. IF your walk in closet doesn't have an AC outlet in it, don't store fabrics in it. They will mold, especially if you live here in the south. I make sure I open my walkin closet door every time I leave the house for an hour or more. The air circulates and I don't have things mildew, mold, or pictures that will stick together by doing this. I haven't found this habit to cause even a penny more to my electric bill but it sure makes me feel better about some of my ancient fabrics on the shelves in there.

When I win the lottery (do I have to buy a ticket to win?) I would like to add room the length of my house and 16 ft. wide to have all my sewing machines in, set up, my cutting table, etc. For now, I move one pile to another pile to finish the things I work on. God alone knows that I don't really mind moving anything as long as I can sew.... 8-)

Well-said, MimiSharon, well-said!
The south is warmer than my childhood home, but the humidity was still a problem because of the temperate temperature.
It sure helps to have someone from different climates helping us understand all the different environments we quilters struggle to save our fabric from <wave>
and, like you - - I do not mind moving my piles <g> I have gotten used to what happens with my scraps when I let them get fresh air <sigh>
LOL at least I know what I have to do the next time I wonder what to do next, eh? LOL

Moths can get into cardbaord boxes. I know this because I found one in mine the other day. Most of mine is stored in rubbermaid drawers and tubs. These have never given me a problem.

Plastic bags hold in a lot more moisture than plastic boxes; the moisture cannot evaporate and starts to discolor, mildew, rot, etc. the fabric. I have many years worth of stash in Rubbermaid containers but wouldn't store a quilt in a plastic bag. I use pillowcases, sometimes from Goodwill.