Wintersewer

Deb,
Either they DON'T think, or they don't care. I am a clean freak and it is hard for me to comprehend that some folks just don't see/notice dirt and smell, ( I have friends like this and my husband is also.) or they just don't care about anyone else and just give items to get them out of their house without paying for trash removal. I guess I am cynical.

quiltingcandy

When I had to clean out my mother's home after she passed I was throwing away so mcc stuff, then the estate people came (the ones that hold the estate sales you see all over) and were horrified that I threw out certain items because some people collect things we would never consider. Some folks wanted my dad's old designs he was working on for Boeing. I wouldn't let them sell it - that went to be shred. I didn't know who the real owner was (My dad or Boeing) and didn't care to find out. Bit my point is, not knowing why these items are dirty, smelly or moldy - how they came to you in the first place would be interesting to know. But I certainly would not speak ill of the party donating it, because they probably have no idea if it worth saving or not and erring on the part of caution and let someone else make the decision.

Good luck saving what you can. And don't worry about what cannot be saved.

ManiacQuilter2

This is what I would do. If this is a guild, I would mention to the members that dirty quilts will not be accepted anymore. I do a lot of charity quilts and my philosophy has always been to make something I would enjoy receiving as a gift.

Up North

I am sadly a smoker, so I quit doing swaps even tho I washed the fabric I felt a non smoker would be able to tell. It is a bad habit but sure is a hard one to kick! If it was moldy I would try washing with vinegar and baking soda if I could still smell the mold I guess make it for a dog bed. or maybe if it was a nice quilt or top try a few more times to wash it.

kidhauler1948

Personally I would wash them in the washing machine with a good detergent, what have you got to lose, they aren't usable as they are.

cjsews

My DH is a smoker so like Up North I don't do swaps. I do make donation quilts. They are washed well with vinegar in the wash. So far no comments so they must be ok. If I do get comments I will just stop donating.

Michelekolt

I have thought about this thread all day. I feel the quilt police are out in force here, if the smells clug up your machine wont the fragrance from soap do the same? Have have my machine serviced as scheduled and I never heard anything like this before. I'm sorry but I feel most of these posts are passing judgement on people who may have gave from there heart.

joe'smom

I don't think anyone was suggesting that smells would clog the machine, but rather, the dirt and the mold.

quiltingshorttimer

As a long armer that quilts for others professionally, I don't want a smokey or dirty top going on my frame--because I don't want my next customer to have a quilt that smells or is dirty (what if it was white!). As far as moldy--I don't want that passed on to the next customer OR me! Also, there's plenty of lint kicked up to clog the machine, the tracks and ME--I don't need to add in dirt.
The way I understand this thread is the OP was asking what to do with donated tops that are dirty, moldy, smokey as she did not want to hand them off to a long armer. While I think we all agree that no one wants to deal with "tainted" tops, it would seem that going ahead and washing them---either they will hold togther and be quiltable, or they will fall apart and no bigger loss than if quilted and smells not able to wash out.

Why would someone donate a smelly, dirty top? I think that people realize that making quilts is a special skill, but don't understand the process (even those that make quilts may not understand the long arm process), Which makes them want to salvage a "found" quilt but not understand that an unquilted top is hard to clean. Or maybe they are just too lazy to toss it themselves---LOL!

Also--unfortunately, for non-smokers, the smoke smell is always noticeable. When one of those comes to me to be quilted, I first bag it with a bar of Irish Spring soap to absorb the odor before I quilt it. And I usually end up putting the bag it came in straight into the trash.

purplefiend

The 2 charity quilt groups I make quilts for, insist that the quilts be clean and well made. If its not good enough for our own use, then its rejected.
Some people are under the impression that charity quilts aren't good enough for their best efforts. It just wrong to have that attitude!
Sharon in Texas