Washing Old Quilts
 

A friend of mine has a box of quilts that her husbands grandmother made. I guess they would be at least 50 years old. They need to be cleaned as they have been in the garage for a long time. I quickly looked at then and some were falling apart. She doesn't want to use them, only display on an old ladder. Any tips to give her on how to clean them without totally destroying them?

The ones falling apart would need to be repaired before cleaning. Often people put tepid water in the bathtub, with Mild soap ( there are some made specifically for quilts/ textiles) or ones like dreft or woolite. Place the quilt in the water gently push down, allow to soak, can push down over the surface a few times. Drain the tub while the quilt is still in it, push down to remove as much as possible. Put clean water in to rinse, doing the same. Drain, push quilt against bottom of tub to remove water. Carefully remove the quilkt, lay it out on a clean sheet to dry, ( if outside cover with another clean sheet to protect it from sunlight & critters/ birds. When one side is close to dry turn over & let the other side dry.

ckcowl gave you excellent advice. The only thing I would add is to put a clean white cotton sheet in the tub first, then the quilt on top. When you remove the wet quilt, pick up the sheet, not the quilt. This will support it as a wet quilt, even one that has been drained, can be very heavy and put lots of strain on the fibers.

don't forget to rinse, rinse, rinse! Some soap remaining can cause brown stains (reversible) as the quilt dries. Ask me how I know this!

Thanks everyone, I will pass it along to her (and probably help)

Along with these suggestions, may I add my neighbor put an old quilt on a bedsize platform. With help she spread the sheet out, placed another on top then used a sprinkler bucket (large plastic with the holes in the spout) filled with water and went over the sheet to give it another good rinse. She did this a couple times. Took a large piece of pvc and rolled it like a rolling pin across to push water through the bottom.

My suggestion is for the display of the quilts: Go get a couple of pool noodles quick, before they disappear from the stores for the season. Cut them into lengths to fit on the ladder rungs, then cut one lengthwise so you can slide it onto the rung. Lay the quilts on top of the noodle sections. This will protect the quilts from stain/varnish, wood slivers, and fold lines.

There was a great post here on how to wash quilts in a bath tub. You want to use a mild soap made especially for old quilts and linen.

I have washed a few quilts in the bathtub, and it really takes a toll on my body. It helps to use knee pads or a garden cushion. I also wear the back support brace that you see workers in the big box stores use to help in lifting. I am able-bodied, but washing a quilt in a bathtub is very heavy work!