Quilt Stains
 

Hi, I have a quilt that I made for my mom in the 90's. It now has many stains on it, not sure what made them. I have washed it many times but stains remain. Any suggestions to safely remove the stains?

Have you tried soaking in oxiclean like you would do for diapers back in the day...

I just bought RetroClean, but haven't used it yet. My favorite quilt is finally unpacked and had some yellow stains. Oxyclean and Tide combined did not remove everything. So on to Plan B, which is RetroClean. Maybe others will have some ideas.

Try fresh lemon juice. I know it removes mildew and rust like stains.

What do the stains look like, how was the quilt stored? There are some things that you won't be able to fix, such as yellow streaks from light exposure (which is actually fading, not a stain) because the quilt was folded and stored on an open shelf. Rust spots because the quilt was in a trunk with exposed nail heads that rusted. Those are the only two I've not been able to fix.

In an inconspicuous spot try a little "IRON-OUT". Dilute it (1/4 tsp) in a small cup or bowl of warm water. use a cotton ball or Q-Tip and dab it. Let it sit for a minute or so and keep an eye on it. Then flip that small area over and run water over it to rinse. By doing it this way (flipping it over) when you rinse it won't run into the other side of the quilt. My grandmother used to use Cascade dishwasher soap. She would use the same measures.

Try some "Grandma' Stain Remover". It is sold at Hancock Fabrics. This stuff is fabulous!!!!!

Those 'stains' are like the brown spots on our own hands and arms -- a sign of age. They can be somewhat relieved by limiting exposure to body oils, pollution and natural toxin exposure, dampness, and bug/critter debris, etc.

Vintage Soak, RetroClean, and other similar products are designed to removed these stains as much as possible.

Sew Clean is another product you can check out. I once dropped a dry eraser board on a pale carpet and it left an ugly black mark, ugh. Sew Clean sure came to the rescue.

A product called Wink which can be found in the cleaning aisle at Walmart has been used by linens and textile antique dealers to remove rust or brown stains in cotton fabric.