Cleaning precious wall hangings

I've been visiting with family on and off for almost a month. Did ya miss me? I
missed you ;-)

After settling back home, I had several rooms painted. One room that didn't get
any TLC is chock full of things taken off the walls. I'm not a clean or neat
freak but figured since I had to take 'em down, I'd clean sutff before putting
it back on the walls. I know how to polish frames and clean glass but need some
help figuring out what to do to wall hangings.

One is a heavily embellished, not very large quilt that can be seen at
http://home.comcast.net/~frugalfingers/old_friends.html.

The other is a rug http://home.comcast.net/~frugalfingers/rug.html; the
ground and a few areas are natural fibers (not wool); the rest was done with
synthetics.

Let the discussion begin g

--
another Anne, add ingers to frugalf to reply

On 10/15/06 10:24 AM, "anne" wrote:

I've been visiting with family on and off for almost a month. Did ya miss me?
I
missed you ;-)

After settling back home, I had several rooms painted. One room that didn't
get
any TLC is chock full of things taken off the walls. I'm not a clean or neat
freak but figured since I had to take 'em down, I'd clean sutff before putting
it back on the walls. I know how to polish frames and clean glass but need
some
help figuring out what to do to wall hangings.

One is a heavily embellished, not very large quilt that can be seen at
http://home.comcast.net/~frugalfingers/old_friends.html.

This is a hoot - really nice!

Good questions. Obviously you've tried vacuuming with some pantyhose over
the nozzle? And you could do Brenda's trick of blowing through from the
back with a hairblower.

I don't know if you pre-washed any of the fabric on this - if so, you could,
could, if you're sure about your beadwork & embellishment - do a very gentle
wash with Orvus or some other quilt cleaner (Fairfield makes one - it's a
non-soap thing). Then lay it out and let it dry. I wouldn't tumble it
(we're lucky enough to have one of those Maytag Drying centers - so I can
just lay sweaters, quilty things, etc out on one of the shelves and then dry
with low or extra low heat).

The other is a rug http://home.comcast.net/~frugalfingers/rug.html; the
ground and a few areas are natural fibers (not wool); the rest was done with
synthetics.

This you could definitely vacuum, then ought to be able to wash with
something like Orvus or Eucalan (knitter use for wool - it's non-soap, but
cleans, and apparently moisturized the natural fibers - doesn't get rinsed
out). Just the gentle swishing. Or you could wash with plain Ivory dish
soap, and a touch of white vinegar in cool water. Swish, and then squeeze,
don't wring. Then wrap in towels to blot it out, and eventually lay it out
to block back into shape. But, if the vacuuming does the trick - you could
stop there.

Have fun.

ellice

Let the discussion begin g

ellice wrote:
... then ought to be able to wash with
something like Orvus or Eucalan (knitter use for wool - it's non-soap, but
cleans, and apparently moisturized the natural fibers - doesn't get rinsed
out). Just the gentle swishing. .........

If you do decide to wash the item(s), do so in the bathtub. Here's
how I wash this type of stuff. First prepare the soapy water and lay
the item in the tub and then gently sort of press it into the water
several times and then let it soak a bit. Once I'm sure it is clean
enough, I drain the tub and press on the item several time to squish
water out. Then I loosely roll it up lengthwise and press on it again
to squish out the water. I unroll and reroll in the opposite direction
to squish out more water. Now I rinse the item in the tub using the
same process.
Once I am sure all of the soapy water has been removed, the item is
thoroughly rinsed and I have rolled and squished as much water out of
the piece while still in the tub, I will lay the piece on several large
towels and lay it on the counter. Now I *lean* on it (as heavily as I
feel the item can endure) to make the towel absorb as much of the
moisture still present in the item. If the item is wrinkled, I will
press it as dry as possible but this might not be possible with the
heavily embellished piece! I also always lay things flat to dry --
usually on the ironing board or the washer/dryer.
Keep us posted on what you decide to do, OK? CiaoMeow ^;;^

PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^ (RCTQ Queen of Kitties)
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about
their whiskers!
Visit my Photo albums at http://community.webshots.com/user/tiamary

Much thanks for the advice, ellice and Tia Mary.

It is probably a good thing that Joann's and Hancock Fabrics didn't have Orvus
when I ran out to get some yesterday as discussions about fibers and beads that
may or may not be colorfast slowly rose to the surface of my neural network. I
don't want to take the chance that the grounds of either piece may become
discolored after washing and have decided to try the vacuuming method. Neither
piece looks dirty so removing surface dust with my dust buster should work.

--
another Anne, add ingers to frugalf to reply

My question on this - I have some old pieces my Grandfather did (he died
almost 41 years ago)...will the hair dryer on low work on that too? I'm
kind of afraid that the mesh (they are needlepoint...) will disintegrate
on me. Any ideas for cleaning precious OLD wall hangings? (One is
probably closer to 60 years old...)

Louise

anne wrote:
Much thanks for the advice, ellice and Tia Mary.

It is probably a good thing that Joann's and Hancock Fabrics didn't have Orvus
when I ran out to get some yesterday as discussions about fibers and beads that
may or may not be colorfast slowly rose to the surface of my neural network. I
don't want to take the chance that the grounds of either piece may become
discolored after washing and have decided to try the vacuuming method. Neither
piece looks dirty so removing surface dust with my dust buster should work.

I have washed very old ones , after taking them out of their cardboard
frames on which they were glued [brrrr] in a very luke water with some
baby hair shampoo.... let it soak a bit , threw the water out, took
out the xst, put in new clean luke water , put xst in to soak , third
bath was with tap water ,,, came out as NEW , no harm to any thing.
mirjam [mine were about same age and were hidden and carried bad
conditions.]
My question on this - I have some old pieces my Grandfather did (he died
almost 41 years ago)...will the hair dryer on low work on that too? I'm
kind of afraid that the mesh (they are needlepoint...) will disintegrate
on me. Any ideas for cleaning precious OLD wall hangings? (One is
probably closer to 60 years old...)

Louise

anne wrote:
Much thanks for the advice, ellice and Tia Mary.

It is probably a good thing that Joann's and Hancock Fabrics didn't have Orvus
when I ran out to get some yesterday as discussions about fibers and beads that
may or may not be colorfast slowly rose to the surface of my neural network. I
don't want to take the chance that the grounds of either piece may become
discolored after washing and have decided to try the vacuuming method. Neither
piece looks dirty so removing surface dust with my dust buster should work.

Thanks! I'll try it. I certainly have enough baby shampoo around here
with two little ones...

Louise

Mirjam Bruck-Cohen wrote:
I have washed very old ones , after taking them out of their cardboard
frames on which they were glued [brrrr] in a very luke water with some
baby hair shampoo.... let it soak a bit , threw the water out, took
out the xst, put in new clean luke water , put xst in to soak , third
bath was with tap water ,,, came out as NEW , no harm to any thing.
mirjam [mine were about same age and were hidden and carried bad
conditions.]
My question on this - I have some old pieces my Grandfather did (he died
almost 41 years ago)...will the hair dryer on low work on that too? I'm
kind of afraid that the mesh (they are needlepoint...) will disintegrate
on me. Any ideas for cleaning precious OLD wall hangings? (One is
probably closer to 60 years old...)

Louise

anne wrote:
Much thanks for the advice, ellice and Tia Mary.

It is probably a good thing that Joann's and Hancock Fabrics didn't have Orvus
when I ran out to get some yesterday as discussions about fibers and beads that
may or may not be colorfast slowly rose to the surface of my neural network. I
don't want to take the chance that the grounds of either piece may become
discolored after washing and have decided to try the vacuuming method. Neither
piece looks dirty so removing surface dust with my dust buster should work.