Loves Sewing

My neighbor has a lovely quilt from the early nineteen hundreds which has brown stains. Any suggestions as to how to treat it? It is a family heirloom that she would like to display. Thank you in advance for any advice.

nativetexan

here is one discussion on this Stains on vintage quilts

francie yuhas

Soak in tub with retroclean..may take 4 or 5 days.

intoquilting

I have had good luck with soaking them in oxyclean.

GingerK

I think it would be important to first assess the viability of the fabrics and stitching-are the seams intact? Are any of the fabrics showing signs of disintegrating? If either of those is the case, I think I would turn the quilt over to a restorer instead of trying to do it myself.

quiltingshorttimer

fill bathtub with hot water, use Restoration cleaner (find on Amazon or at quilt shop) , put antique quilt into plastic laundry basket and leave in basket as you lower into bathtub. Follow the directions on Restoration and let soak, use laundry basket to swish up and down the quilt , rinse as directed. You may need to repeat (also on Restoration directions). do not pick the quilt up from tub without using the basket, you can even squeeze out the water while in the basket. And then lay flat on sheet (outside out of direct sun) or inside with fan to help dry it. using the plastic laundry basket will prevent any stitching from popping or fabric from pulling. You can also use some Granny's stain stick on the more obvious spots--but I didnt need it with the Restoration.

FWLover

I have also heard you can use a white sheet to lay in the bottom of the tub and use it to support the quilt. Had not heard of this product will keep it in mind.

sewnclog

I just recently finished a quilt I'd started some 30 years ago; life got in the way and I decided it needed to be finished; it was hand quilted and my grandmother had also worked on it. It had a Lot of yellowing and some stains on it too. So after I was all done, I put it in the tub with some retro clean and let it set for several hours; occasionally swished it around. I was able to fit in in my washer and spun and rinsed it. Came out glistening white; No stains whatsoever. I put it on my clothesline (yes I still have one) with the top down away from the sun to dry. Came out great.
Now - my neighbor had 2 really old quilts her grandmother had made; they had a lot of brown stains on them too. I gave her a package of the retro clean and the reds bled like crazy and this quilt was made of all many and types of clothing from way back when; you'd have thought that fabric would have been done fading, so just be careful. Maybe put some color catchers in with it if you had some colors that could run/bleed.

Maureen NJ

I have also used Retroclean on a vintage quilt and it worked great. Color catchers should work great too or use Syntropol. It will prevent the color from going into the fabric.

juliasb

The best luck I have ever had on antique quilts was peroxide for about 1/2 hour then soaking in oxyclean for as long as a day then wash in cold water on a gentle cycle and hang to dry.