Quiltingboard Forums - Question: Storing fabric in plastic

Quiltingboard Forums (https://www.quiltingboard.com/)

- Main (https://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1/)

- - Question: Storing fabric in plastic (https://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1/question-storing-fabric-plastic-t44634.html)

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

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ditter43

Quote:

Originally Posted by bearisgray

I have, too. I do give fabric a "yank" test to see if it seems more fragile in any one spot.

I do try to rotate the contents now and then.

(Translation - I root about looking for something and dump the fabric back in the container)

:lol: :lol:
You too?
Ditter

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 :))

Quote:

Originally Posted by MsEithne

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).

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

Quote:

Originally Posted by bearisgray

How about ordinary cardboard boxes?

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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bearisgray

Why/how are plastic bags and plastic totes "whole different thing"?

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.