stains on Grandmother's flower garden quilt

I have been the lucky recipient of a vintage GFG quilt top. I had it
hand quilted by some ladies at a church near my mothers, and now that
it is done, I am unsure how to go about dealing with the stains. Do I
try to hand wash, and with what product, gentle machine wash, or just
let them be? It also needs to be bound, so should I bind it first and
then wash?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Nancy

It absolutely MUST have binding applied prior to any attempt to wash
it! If you don't, it will fray, the batting will shred, and you will
have a mess that you may never be able to rescue. As to what to use
and how to do it, I defer to the experts who visit this newsgroup.
Best of luck to you!

http://laundry.about.com/od/laundryb...antiquilts.htm
Some good advice here. Especially the bit about testing for color
fastness first! (Although I apologise for sending you to a site with
so many spelling and grammar errors :-)

Bind before washing, absolutely.
Roberta in D

On Mon, 30 May 2011 19:21:53 -0700 (PDT), Sewgirl
wrote:

I have been the lucky recipient of a vintage GFG quilt top. I had it
hand quilted by some ladies at a church near my mothers, and now that
it is done, I am unsure how to go about dealing with the stains. Do I
try to hand wash, and with what product, gentle machine wash, or just
let them be? It also needs to be bound, so should I bind it first and
then wash?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Nancy

Sewgirl wrote:
I have been the lucky recipient of a vintage GFG quilt top. I had it
hand quilted by some ladies at a church near my mothers, and now that
it is done, I am unsure how to go about dealing with the stains. Do I
try to hand wash, and with what product, gentle machine wash, or just
let them be? It also needs to be bound, so should I bind it first and
then wash?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Nancy

I have a quilt that the top was done by my maternal great grandmother
and then hand quilted and finished by my dad's maternal aunt (my great
aunt). It has some minimal stains. I just let them be. It hangs on a
wall in my sewing room.

Howdy!

Here's what I do, & I've done this dozens of times:

Finish the quilt, binding & all.

Soak in a tub of cool water w/ some BIZ.

(BIZ is an enzyme cleaner; don't use it on silk.)

The tops I quilt are cotton, quite often 50-80 yrs old. Cotton.
W/ Hobbs Heirloom batting, cotton backing.
Many of the old tops have spots & stains from starch, which the BIZ
does a good job of lifting off the fabric. Body oils & dust are usually
the other culprits. BIZ works for me; YMMV.

Usually, I can slip one of the old/new FINISHED quilts into the
washing machine, gentle cycle, w/ a Dye Magnet or Color Catcher.
Rinse thoroughly, gently, pop it in the dryer, or if it's delicate,
I'll spread it out on towels on the vinyl floor, blow it dry w/
the electric fans.

Handquilting means my quilts are just about as tough/durable as any other
quilt. ;-)
I treat them all w/ respect, which includes cleaning & handling.

That's my routine, w/ good results. Haven't lost a quilt, yet! ;-)
Again, your mileage may vary.

Good luck!
And Congratulations on your new treasure.

Ragmop/Sandy

On 5/30/11 9:21 PM, in article
, "Sewgirl"
wrote:

I have been the lucky recipient of a vintage GFG quilt top. I had it
hand quilted by some ladies at a church near my mothers, and now that
it is done, I am unsure how to go about dealing with the stains. Do I
try to hand wash, and with what product, gentle machine wash, or just
let them be? It also needs to be bound, so should I bind it first and
then wash?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Nancy

Thanks for all the input. Sandy, where do you get Biz? At my local grocery
store? I remember using it many years ago, but didn't know it still
existed. I will look for it next time I go shopping.
Thanks, Nancy
"Sandy E" wrote in message
...
Howdy!

Here's what I do, & I've done this dozens of times:

Finish the quilt, binding & all.

Soak in a tub of cool water w/ some BIZ.

(BIZ is an enzyme cleaner; don't use it on silk.)

The tops I quilt are cotton, quite often 50-80 yrs old. Cotton.
W/ Hobbs Heirloom batting, cotton backing.
Many of the old tops have spots & stains from starch, which the BIZ
does a good job of lifting off the fabric. Body oils & dust are usually
the other culprits. BIZ works for me; YMMV.

Usually, I can slip one of the old/new FINISHED quilts into the
washing machine, gentle cycle, w/ a Dye Magnet or Color Catcher.
Rinse thoroughly, gently, pop it in the dryer, or if it's delicate,
I'll spread it out on towels on the vinyl floor, blow it dry w/
the electric fans.

Handquilting means my quilts are just about as tough/durable as any other
quilt. ;-)
I treat them all w/ respect, which includes cleaning & handling.

That's my routine, w/ good results. Haven't lost a quilt, yet! ;-)
Again, your mileage may vary.

Good luck!
And Congratulations on your new treasure.

Ragmop/Sandy

On 5/30/11 9:21 PM, in article
,
"Sewgirl"
wrote:

I have been the lucky recipient of a vintage GFG quilt top. I had it
hand quilted by some ladies at a church near my mothers, and now that
it is done, I am unsure how to go about dealing with the stains. Do I
try to hand wash, and with what product, gentle machine wash, or just
let them be? It also needs to be bound, so should I bind it first and
then wash?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Nancy

Howdy!

Yep, the BIZ is next to the all-color bleach, the oxyclean, etc,
usually on the top shelf. I use it in this HE machine, too.

http://www.bizstainfighter.com/

Good luck!

R/Sandy

On 6/6/11 10:57 PM, in article , "Nancy"
wrote:

Thanks for all the input. Sandy, where do you get Biz? At my local grocery
store? I remember using it many years ago, but didn't know it still
existed. I will look for it next time I go shopping.
Thanks, Nancy
"Sandy E" wrote in message
...
Howdy!

Here's what I do, & I've done this dozens of times:

Finish the quilt, binding & all.

Soak in a tub of cool water w/ some BIZ.

(BIZ is an enzyme cleaner; don't use it on silk.)

The tops I quilt are cotton, quite often 50-80 yrs old. Cotton.
W/ Hobbs Heirloom batting, cotton backing.
Many of the old tops have spots & stains from starch, which the BIZ
does a good job of lifting off the fabric. Body oils & dust are usually
the other culprits. BIZ works for me; YMMV.

Usually, I can slip one of the old/new FINISHED quilts into the
washing machine, gentle cycle, w/ a Dye Magnet or Color Catcher.
Rinse thoroughly, gently, pop it in the dryer, or if it's delicate,
I'll spread it out on towels on the vinyl floor, blow it dry w/
the electric fans.

Handquilting means my quilts are just about as tough/durable as any other
quilt. ;-)
I treat them all w/ respect, which includes cleaning & handling.

That's my routine, w/ good results. Haven't lost a quilt, yet! ;-)
Again, your mileage may vary.

Good luck!
And Congratulations on your new treasure.

Ragmop/Sandy

On 5/30/11 9:21 PM, in article
,
"Sewgirl"
wrote:

I have been the lucky recipient of a vintage GFG quilt top. I had it
hand quilted by some ladies at a church near my mothers, and now that
it is done, I am unsure how to go about dealing with the stains. Do I
try to hand wash, and with what product, gentle machine wash, or just
let them be? It also needs to be bound, so should I bind it first and
then wash?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Nancy