Sunday, September 19, 2010

Quilty Sundays

I've spent way, way, way too much time hunched over my bathtub in the last two weeks, breathing in OxiClean and vinegar fumes. It's rather horrifying what kinds of colors and smells will seep out of your lovely, but bedraggled vintage textiles.


But after much soaking and scrubbing and spot cleaning (and some rending of hair), they're finally Milkshake-tested, anxious-kitty-mama-approved.
Yours, As Ever, Jay at 12:20 PM
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8 comments:

  1. Oh my, I'm absolutely smitten with that quilt!

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  2. Beautiful quilts!! I always shy away from buying vintage textiles but I did not know of the Oxiclean trick. Looks like it works!

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  3. Sigh. I've been bugging myself to start buying quilts for years now, but can never justify spending the money. This is the final push, you've completely convinced me.

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  4. These quilts are gorgeous. And perfect for curling up on the couch with a book and a cup of tea, which is all I've been wanting to do lately.

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  6. It is a lovely quilt, and you are so lucky that your kittie approves. :)

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  7. oh please please
    tell us your routine for cleaning vintage textiles
    i'm drowning in rust spots!!

    thanks a lot
    Antonella

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  8. Antonella,

    I soak all my cotton textiles in lukewarm water with a generous scoop of OxiClean and an also generous splash of vinegar. Depending on how soiled they are, I'll leave them in anywhere from 1-12 hours. If they're relatively fragile, I'll first towel-dry them by laying them flat on a big fluffy towel, then rolling the towel and item up and gently applying pressure throughout; then letting it air-dry. If they're more robust, I'll send them through my washing machine on the gentle cycle with more OxiClean and a bit of Tide Ultra.

    I have had very delicate textiles completely disintegrate during the soak, or right after I tried to lift them out of the tub, though. If your textiles are super old, I might just spot clean with any of the above cleaners.

    For rust, I've had good luck using the old lemon juice trick: dabbing on a good amount of fresh lemon juice onto the stains, then letting the fabric dry in the sun. If that doesn't do it, you can find commercial rust removers for fabric--I think Rit (the dye company) makes one that people like.

    I hope this is helpful! Good luck!

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