The storm last week broke a branch off my oak and it messed up my roof, then we had 3 days of constant rain. Didn't know there was any damage to the roof until I got home (from family funeral ) and found 2 - 4x8 ' sections fallen in my sewing room. Insurance company said they would not pay anything for the fabric because I don't have receipts.
So the fabric on the shelves and in cardboard boxes are wet and stinky.
I have wanshed and washed them but still can't get the smell out. Used Fabreeze and then Boraxo.
Any other suggestions?? Oh forgot to mention that the insulation in this old house was the paper blown in stuff so yes, that's all over too.
I just want to cry.

Try putting vinegar in the wash. I used to work in an assisted living home with incontinent patients and that's what they used to get rid of odors.

Sorry about the damage to your house. Not a happy thing to come home to.

That doesn't make sense about the fabric.

Would they not pay for a piece of antique furniture if you did not have a receipt?

Can you take photos and try again?

There are some detergents that say they are super-good for removing odors. I don't know if they will damage the fabrics, but it might be worth a try.

Maybe soaking the fabric in baking soda and possibly rinse with some vinegar.
Can you air dry your fabric outside or on a covered porch?

You could try soaking it in bicarb soda and then line drying. Be careful handling anything with that wet paper insulation stuff, it could have been treated with pesticides or chemicals.

So sorry....I know how you feel, but at least it was only 1 room and not the whole house.

Try using clowdy amonia in the wash with you detergent. It always workd for me and doesn't fade anything.

:cry: :cry: :cry:
I hope that you can get the smell out and can still use your fabrics!!!

thanks for all the suggestions. I will try them one by one. I just can't believe the mess here.
I guess this really ends a crappy week.
Thanks to all my new quilting friends.

try shampoo, but not if you are using a front loader, I have used it to get the smell of fire and damp out of fabric.

I use baking soda and vinegar---lots! Just dissolve the baking soda in the washer and add vinegar and a little detergent.

I live in Fl. and we have one of the old pharmacies that carry a product called Tap-A-Drop and this stuff really works. It is cheap several friends I have bought it for has really liked it also. My DIL dumped a gallon of milk,in the summer time,in the back of her car and left it overnight and it brought all the smell out by the next morning. Let me know if this is something you would like to try.

I am sorry to hear about the damage to your home. I had a house fire years ago, so I understand the frustration with the insurance company on top of all the damage.

My insurance company paid "replacement value" for items that was ruined. I needed to re-purchase the items and supply them with the receipts in order to get paid. I know I did not get everything back that was lost. How do you get back your child's first hand print!, etc.


I agree about trying the vinager. I never tried the Tap-A-Drop so have no opinion on that. Hey, I would use anything that works.

Good luck and sorry to hear about your home. I'm glad everyone is alright though!

Hugs!

That is so sad about your home and sewing room. I hate insurance companies!!! Good luck with your fabric!

Aw, Hugs! I would try the amonia, like Honey said. Once one of my kids left wet clothes in there backpack, and by the time I found them, they smelled so bad of mildew. Tried everything, but amonia worked and didnt fade anything. Good luck!

So does that mean I need to have receipts for all the furniture, pictures, towels, bedding, pots and pans, glasses, etc for my home if 'something' were to happen? :shock: :shock: :shock:

Some of that stuff is well over 30 years old...almost antique :lol:

I'll have to check with my insurance today. I can't imagine needing every receipt for everything in my house. . . and probably needing a safety deposit box 'outside the house' to keep them. Stupid! :thumbdown:

Here is what I have found over the years washing stinky things. My mom ownes a laundry business need I say more?

Wash liquid/soap makes some smells WORSE. What I do is set the washer to small or medium load and let it fill up with COLD water, then dump in a fair amount of vinigar. Then add in your items to be washed. Let the water agitate a few seconds and check the items to make sure nothing is sticking out. if you still have room fill till full but nothing sticking out of the water. agitate again to make sure everything is down in the water. then let it set to soak. after it soaks awhile then run the rest of the cycle. Then you can run another normal cycle with washing detergent in the water.

Good luck. I agree that its crazy that the insurance wont pay for your fabric because you don't have a recipt. I asked my insurance guy the other day how I go about listing things for replacement he said take pictures of everything NOW and if something has jumped in price they will pay the NOW price for the item. So it doesn't matter what I paid for it then.

I am so sorry to hear about all you have gone through. Sending huge ((HUGS)) your way.

I would also vote on the vinegar, just from previous experience. Insurance co. have gotten very persnickity as to what they cover anymore. My sewing area is in my basement, however my policy specifies that only the furnace, water heater, stuff like that is covered. I had to get an endorsement to cover my quilting stuff, including my machines. Of course, it cost extra for the endorsement. I would highly recommend contacting the Insurance co. to find out about your antique items.

I'm so sorry to hear about this!
I agree with using vinegar to get the smell out. My kids would go to their Grandma's (DH's Mom, she smokes) she would wash their clothes before sending them home (I know she was trying to be helpful) but the detergent or fabric softener that she used made me ill, it smelled SO STRONG! Anyways!! :oops: I always re-washed the kids clothes in vinegar added to the water (sometimes had to do it twice) to get the smell of detergent/fabric softener and smoke out. It always worked for me!

I work for an insurance company, not in claims, but I still hear the stories. If you reported directly to the company and talked to an adjuster, try calling your agent to intervene for you. You'll want to make a list of what was lost as they have to start somewhere. I'd list the color, size of the piece, the producer of that fabric and expected replacement cost. You might be able to go online and find some of the newer ones and print it off to show the price. They may not realize what an investment it was. You can also include the cost of the soaps, rinses and all that you used trying to get them cleaned. I don't know what is covered, but the more info you give them, the better your chances.

If the agent can't help, call the claims office and ask to speak to a supervisor and if you still have no luck and figure you've lost a lot, try calling your state's Insurance Office. They will review the claim and make the company explain to them why they aren't paying. And... if you get the run-around too much, switch carriers! Some are cheaper, but when you don't get covered for a loss, how much is it worth ?

I don"t understand why the insurance guy said you needed receipts. We had a basement flooded last fall ( sump pump failed). The only thing I had recipts for was the new carpet that we had put down the year before. I had books. record albums, wall pictures ( they were sitting on the floor) clothing in containers that leaked, , etc. Our adjuster took pictures of everything and then he worked up the estimate. He was able to find prices for most everything that was ruined by searching online, in books and EBAY!! Your adjuster is able to see that you have the fabric, yardage can be measured, and names can be found on selvages and he can certainly find comparable fabrics online . Hold your guns with him ( or on him, LOL) Take your own pictures before you wash and iron, or throw away. Document everything you can. And my suggestion to you, if your adjuster didn't take photos of your sewing things, call your company office and report him. My reason for saying this, my son and I have the same insurance company and agent. Less than 5 weeks after our basement flood, a bathroom pipe in his upstairs at a vacant home broke and major mess and damage. The adjuster that came to his house was not the one we had, and he didn't do his job properly, he was too lazy. Sons ex-wife wanted to handle everything ( greedy and bad situation there), so she just agreed to everything her adjuster said. They lost out big time on value replaced.

So sorry to hear about the damage to your house. Hope these suggestions work for you.

Vinegar does work...but you can also try ODO-BAN. I buy it at Sam' Club, but I'm sure it's available elsewhere.
I doesn't have chemicals, it is all naturalproducts. Smells like flowers. I works very well. In the past we had an elderly relative with bladdar problems, and I had to use it on linens, rugs, floors...
I have used it on mildew smells also and it really worked...

So sorry about the damage to your home & sewing room. I hate insurance companies. They're just trying to not pay and keep what should be yours.
On another note, I DO have EVERY receipt for all my fabric, patterns, books, notions and anything else that is sewing related,lol! I guess I have a problem with insurance companies, right!!! (Personal experience has taught me to do this!)

If you contact a company like Service Masters, (that does cleanup after disasters) they have products you can buy that are made especially for this problem :D:D:D

Whatever you do, don't throw it away. If you can't get the small out, as long as it is clean, the fabric can be used to create blankets for shelter dogs.

Put some vanilla extract in the wash water. This works great for clothes forgotten in the washer for a week during the summer! You can put a vanilla bean or two in any size bottle of very cheap vodka and use that instead of pure vanilla that costs a fortune.

I just looked up the Tap-a-Drop. Amazon carries it and so do some pet places. I am going to have to look for it locally.I want to try it.

I have bought wet fabric in the past and it had a nasty smell that went away when I washed the fabric with my detergent, warm water and 20 Mule Team Borax. It's a natural deodorizing agent that works wonders. It is also good to whiten whites. I used cloth diapers for my kids (youngest is now 16) and those diapers were always white. Good luck with your fabric. Insurance companies are great at collecting the premiums but not so great at paying when they should!

Baking Soda?

Sorry about the damage and problems. I agree your insurance person is being a butt head. We had a fire in basement several years ago. They told me to document all damage, give estimate of what I paid, and they compensated me for the cleanup as I did not want a stranger in my home pawing through my stuff ands cleaning it. I kept a log of my hours, cleaning supplies, and such. Ine month later, you did not know we had a fire down there.

White vinegar works, cold water, HANG outside to dry. The sun will help odors dissipate. Soaking, rinsing, soaking, rinsing and then hang drying. Now is not the time for your normal wash steps.

I use Oxyclean in all my really dirty loads of laundry. Takes out odors, too. Using something like Fabreeze only covers the odor it does not eliminate it. You need a product that will KILL the odors and the bacteria/fungus/molds in the fabrics. It can be done without throwing out the fabric. DO not put through the dryer until all smells are gone. Hang dry. I also use CLoros 2 in all loads of laundry. We live in the xcountry with well water and have a high iron content in the water.

Fabreeze does not, as far as I know, KILL the germs causing the problem it only masks the odors by making it smell good for a short time.

Read the Simply Green container and see if it will KILL the germs and is safe for fabrics. They make a product called D-2 which will kill the germs, but it comes in a gal. size container and is special order. It is safe for humans, plants, animals, bio-degradeable, etc. but do not know about fabric.

One day at a time. Be patient. Don't throw things away until you have exhausted all resources. Been there.

You need to make a video inventory of everything in your house. I kid you not. You must have date stamped proof of your stuff. Put it in the safe deposit box at the bank when you are done. They cannont argue with photographic proof.

I just purchased a box of fabric at a garage sale and really didn't go thru the box when I got it home. Well when I did go thru it the fabric had that real bad musty smell to it. I had some oxyclean so decided to try it and it worked great.

do you have replacement insurance on your contents and if so they will pay for your fabric

you may need to contact the Insurance Commissioner in your state.

I was an Insurance agent for over 25 years!

sounds like that adjuster doesn't know about contents coverage

Good Luck!

I use Oxyclean.

So sorry to hear about your home. I would ask for the insurance adjuster to come out to your home and review the damages to the fabric and the entire room again. You should be able to recoop something for the fabric and whatever was damaged; especially when they see it first hand. Review your policy line for line. See if there is anything that will state coverage for the room. It doesn't make sense that they will only replace certain things damaged in the room and not the fabric or other items. Try again and don't give up. Adjusters don't always want to replace everything, but when you start asking questions, they have no choice but to give you a justification why it wouldn't be covered. Keep asking questions.