Thrift store find today and have a question?
 

I found a sewing "Ham" at the thrift store today and it is in perfect condition, but since it comes from a thrift store I would like to know if I can toss it in my washing machine to make sure it is clean before I bring it into my sewing room.

What is inside of one of these "hams", seems pretty hard and solid? Thanks!

I would only use some suds from soapy water and a soft brush to clean it and then put it out in the sun to dry.

I think I'd use something like upholstery cleaner to clean it.

I would vacuum it and then use some serious steam to clean and sanitize it. The density of the ham would make it pretty hard to dry it if you got it that wet.

I think they are covered i wool.

Some of them have sawdust in them...It might smell if it got that soaked...

Does your dryer have a rack in it for drying shoes? If so place it on the rack inside the dryer for 30 minutes on high. The temperature will kill anything living. Throw a dryer sheet in if you want to freshen it.

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*** I think they have saw dust in them - don't wash it.
*** Vacuum & spray with Lysol.
***

I'm pretty sure they are stuffed with sawdust. I would definitely not try tossing it into a washing machine. Maybe clean the cover with sudsy water and then dry on rack in dryer, as suggested above.

Thank you for all of your cleaning suggestions. I think I may have a can of Resolve Dry cleaner. I will clean it with that and then place it in my dryer as suggested on high heat. Just another thought, would the microwave for about 2 minutes kill any germs or should I stick to the dryer? Funny to think I am going to cook a "Ham" that I need for my sewing room....LOL

Be positive it doesn't have any tacks, pins, etc (metal) inside it, or your thrifty buy might include a new microwave!

I wouldn't put anything unknown into the microwave. They usually do some sort of sanitizing at the GW so I'm pretty sure any of the suggestions above will help you make sure. The dryer seems the best bet.

If it looks like it's in perfect condition I wouldn't worry about it, actually even if it wasn't in perfect condition, I wouldn't worry about it, you will after all, be washing the clothes that you will use it for.

Since a ham is only used with fabric I would not worry about germs. Most germs do not live in the air.
If I was worried about germs I would not buy anything from thrift stores.

Just wondering -why do some people seem to have a fear of germs from items purchased at a thrift store and then seem to be okay with items purchased in a "regular" store??

Good question, Bearisgray. We humans are funny creatures :)

In my tailoring (wool) class, the first thing we had to do was make a tailor's ham. We had to use wool, go to a woodworking shop and get the sawdust. And we had to actually pound it so it would be extremely hard. So, yes, it does contain sawdust. (any may have nail pieces or metal chips in???) I would only use Lysol and set it in the sun.
Smell it. If it smells bad, I would toss it. I know I can't get in my wool suit anymore, but I sure learned a lot in class and have used the ham for a lot of things. I also used a lot of sewing methods I learned too!

What the heck is a sewing ham??????

I would not put that thing into the microwave, or wash it in a washing machine. Just hand wash the surface, as already suggested, and dry in the dryer on a rack or outside.
bearisgrey, I think the issue with germs at thrift stores is more a fear of bringing home something like bedbugs, which are a real problem and legitimate fear.

Since it is in perfect condition I wouldn't worry about it. Heat from the iron will kill germs. If worried about bedbugs, seal it in a plastic bag with cedar chips for a few days.

So glad you asked :) New "thing" to me too

Sewing ham - it's a oblong sort of ham-roast shaped thing that's made of fabric that is stuffed very firmly (apparently with sawdust, I learned something new) and it's used mostly in clothing construction to help you press curved/shaped areas of clothing, like shoulders, darted areas, etc.

Recently I was in a Domino's Pizza store. The young man had his cell phone on his shoulder, handled & processed my VISA card, found & handed me a pen to sign the receipt. I'm sure many others had handled that pen. He handled the cell phone repeatdly, never putting it down and then I watched him put his bare hands into the shreaded cheese container to make my pizza. When I told him that cell phone had to be contaminated with germs, he told me he was talking to this mother.

I believe they are only surface washable.

I wouldn't put it into a microwave - I would be worried about causing a fire. Vacuum and place in the sun would be my choice of methods

If it were mine, I'd clean it and then put it into a plastic bag and into the freezer for a day or so. I don't care for any little critters and the freezing will kill them, just in case. (I don't have a microwave.)

Spray it good with Lysol and put it in the sun until dry. Things in thrift stores alot of times come from nice houses and what you buy in stores are stored in store rooms and container ships and come from overseas factories. Unless someone in house has issues with low immunity, I would not be too worried about it. Clothes you can wash but they are usually clean too.

I would take a spray cleaner that is disinfectant and cleaner combined. The kind that comes in a concentrate and you put a little in with some water , shake thoroughly, then spray.
Then I would set in the Sun to get the benefit of the Sun's power of getting all possible gems, ect, that the cleaner missed.
I use the cleaner from the concentrate, and it works wonderfully!
Good luc!
Mariah

The sawdust will expand and almost explode of you really wet it---it's like a hairstylists head form for wigs---I have seen one explode and it's not a pretty sight and one h---of a mess to clean up---don't think the dryer would hurt much because we used to put them under a hairdryer to dry the wigs---good luck

Good find. Don't try washing it. I ruined one that way and almost ruined my washing machine. Treat the cover as you would treat an upholstered piece. Maybe now that younger girls are sewing, hams and seam rolls will become more available but for a while now they've been hard to find where I live.

Because we're just fooling ourselves into thinking that the new items are germ free, forgetting how many people touched the item getting it to the store and and in the store before we ever got our mitts on the item.

HAAAAA HAAAA .....his Mother is germ free...through the phone.
I cannot believe some of our young people.

surface clean with warm soap suds and a vegetable brush, spray with Lysol and then either freeze sealed in plastic zip lock bag for wee or bake in 250 degree oven for 30 minutes.
No microwave,no washing immersion
Tailoring hams are oblong ham shaped tailoring tool for pressing in curves in sleeve caps, shaping darts and princess seams in jackets etc.
For quilting, I have used mine to steam a nice curve on bias binding for appliqued stem, Winding Ways patterns

Thank you again my quilting friends! I used a foam upholstery cleaner and a scrubbie sponge and gave it a good foaming and scrubbing and now it is sitting out in the bright sunshine drying. I will give it a good once over with the vacumn cleaner and place it in a plastic bag to keep it dust free.

This made me laugh out loud!

The pizza store phone thing made me lol! That is good enough for Reader's Digest.