Quilts:
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If you buy a guilt in a department store these days, it's almost always washable. Just check the care label and follow instructions. But often quilts are old and handmade, requiring special care. Those that have been handed down or found in flea markets or vintage stores have character that comes from having been cherished. Unfortunately, that character often appears in the form of water rings,
dye bleeds, stains of unknown origin, and tears--all of which will dictate how you wash it.
Even with meticulous care, you shouldn't expect your hand-me down or heirloom quilt to look like new. Instead, embrace the flaws, the water rings, the color bleeds, the rips and the mystery stains.
After you've tested for bleeds and deterioration (See "Test First, Wash Later"), it's time to wash. The more colorfast, your quilt is, the warmer the water you can use, but don't go much warmer than tepid. If the quilt has weak spots in the seams or fabric, put it in a mesh laundry bag and keep the washer on the lowest agitation level.
If you're leery of a machine wash, fill your bathtub with enough water to cover the quilt with 3 to 4 inches to spare.(Don't put the quilt in yet!) Add laundry detergent, 1 ounce of detergent per 1 gallon of water. To get rid of general soil and yellow rings, you can add 1 or 2 tablespoons of color-safe bleach (nonchlorine).
Swirl the water to mix. Then lay the quilt in the water, spreading it as much as possible. Plant yourself by the tub for 10 minutes, swishing, smooting, and squeezing as you go to release the soil. If you detect a bleed, drain the tub immediately and rinse the quilt with cold water. But if all goes well, you can leave the quilt in for up to an hour.
When it's time to rinse, drain the tub and push the quilt to the end away from the drain. Bunch it up in the end until all the water has drained from the tub. Then squeeze the quilt to force out the excess water. Pick it up and cradle it like a baby until you've refilled the tub with tepid water. Rinse by agitating the quilt just as you did in the washing step. If the rinse water becomes discolored, repeat the drain-and-rinse process. If you used bleach, rinse it twice. Squeeze the quilt again.
To dry the quilt, try tumbling it in the dryer with cool air, if you think the quilt can stand it. If not, hang it on a clothesline to dry.
Test First, Wash Later
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When you're dealing with a vintage or heirloom quilt, there are many uncertainties. How was it stored? Was it ever dry-cleaned? Are the fabrics colorfast? Depending on the quilt's history, there may be stains, tears, and deterioration that require special care. To avoid catastrophe, Steve Boorstein, author of the Ultimate Guide to Shopping & Caning for Clothing, recommends the following steps before washing;
Test the fabric strength. Some fabrics are so fragile that they tear like tissue paper. Depending on the quilt's age and how much it was cherished or neglected, some pieces of the fabric can deteriorate by being touched. If you have such a weak patch, baste the area with needle and thread or consider replacing the patch altogether.
Test dyes. You could have cotton, velvet, acetate, or silk, all in one patchwork quilt. Each piece of fabric and each dye need to be tested for colorfastness.
To test, mix 1 tablespoon each of ammonia and liquid laundry detergent per 3 tablespoons of water. You might have to fiddle with the proportions, depending on how hard or soft your water is. You'll want just enough soap to eliminate friction and not enough to generate lots of suds, says Boorstein.
Dampen a white towel or cloth diaper with the solution. Be sure not to wet the testing cloth too much, or you could do exactly the damage to the quilt that you're seeking to avoid. Touch--don't press--the damp cloth or towel to an obscure corner of the quilt. Leave it on for 30 seconds. Then lightly blot the spot with a dry part of the cloth. Did any of the fabric color bleed onto the cloth? If not, go for stage two, which is a slightly more aggressive version of what you just did.
Go to another part of the quilt, a colorful one that you suspect might bleed. Find a dry spot on the white cloth and dampen it in the solution. This time, press harder on the damp cloth and wait a whole minute before blotting. "Patience is very important," Boorstein warns. On the second go-round, you might see some dye or soil come off on the blot cloth. If you see any hit of dye, you'll know there will be a little bleeding when you wash. But if you just see dirt, your quilt is probably colorfast. To make sure, take a third run at it. Go to another part of the quilt, press harder with the damp cloth so that the quilt actually absorbs a little of the cleaning solution, and lightly rub. If your white cloth is still whit or has picked up no more than a trace of the color from the test spot, you're good to wash.
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If you buy a guilt in a department store these days, it's almost always washable. Just check the care label and follow instructions. But often quilts are old and handmade, requiring special care. Those that have been handed down or found in flea markets or vintage stores have character that comes from having been cherished. Unfortunately, that character often appears in the form of water rings,
dye bleeds, stains of unknown origin, and tears--all of which will dictate how you wash it.
Even with meticulous care, you shouldn't expect your hand-me down or heirloom quilt to look like new. Instead, embrace the flaws, the water rings, the color bleeds, the rips and the mystery stains.
After you've tested for bleeds and deterioration (See "Test First, Wash Later"), it's time to wash. The more colorfast, your quilt is, the warmer the water you can use, but don't go much warmer than tepid. If the quilt has weak spots in the seams or fabric, put it in a mesh laundry bag and keep the washer on the lowest agitation level.
If you're leery of a machine wash, fill your bathtub with enough water to cover the quilt with 3 to 4 inches to spare.(Don't put the quilt in yet!) Add laundry detergent, 1 ounce of detergent per 1 gallon of water. To get rid of general soil and yellow rings, you can add 1 or 2 tablespoons of color-safe bleach (nonchlorine).
Swirl the water to mix. Then lay the quilt in the water, spreading it as much as possible. Plant yourself by the tub for 10 minutes, swishing, smooting, and squeezing as you go to release the soil. If you detect a bleed, drain the tub immediately and rinse the quilt with cold water. But if all goes well, you can leave the quilt in for up to an hour.
When it's time to rinse, drain the tub and push the quilt to the end away from the drain. Bunch it up in the end until all the water has drained from the tub. Then squeeze the quilt to force out the excess water. Pick it up and cradle it like a baby until you've refilled the tub with tepid water. Rinse by agitating the quilt just as you did in the washing step. If the rinse water becomes discolored, repeat the drain-and-rinse process. If you used bleach, rinse it twice. Squeeze the quilt again.
To dry the quilt, try tumbling it in the dryer with cool air, if you think the quilt can stand it. If not, hang it on a clothesline to dry.
Test First, Wash Later
When you're dealing with a vintage or heirloom quilt, there are many uncertainties. How was it stored? Was it ever dry-cleaned? Are the fabrics colorfast? Depending on the quilt's history, there may be stains, tears, and deterioration that require special care. To avoid catastrophe, Steve Boorstein, author of the Ultimate Guide to Shopping & Caning for Clothing, recommends the following steps before washing;
Test the fabric strength. Some fabrics are so fragile that they tear like tissue paper. Depending on the quilt's age and how much it was cherished or neglected, some pieces of the fabric can deteriorate by being touched. If you have such a weak patch, baste the area with needle and thread or consider replacing the patch altogether.
Test dyes. You could have cotton, velvet, acetate, or silk, all in one patchwork quilt. Each piece of fabric and each dye need to be tested for colorfastness.
To test, mix 1 tablespoon each of ammonia and liquid laundry detergent per 3 tablespoons of water. You might have to fiddle with the proportions, depending on how hard or soft your water is. You'll want just enough soap to eliminate friction and not enough to generate lots of suds, says Boorstein.
Dampen a white towel or cloth diaper with the solution. Be sure not to wet the testing cloth too much, or you could do exactly the damage to the quilt that you're seeking to avoid. Touch--don't press--the damp cloth or towel to an obscure corner of the quilt. Leave it on for 30 seconds. Then lightly blot the spot with a dry part of the cloth. Did any of the fabric color bleed onto the cloth? If not, go for stage two, which is a slightly more aggressive version of what you just did.
Go to another part of the quilt, a colorful one that you suspect might bleed. Find a dry spot on the white cloth and dampen it in the solution. This time, press harder on the damp cloth and wait a whole minute before blotting. "Patience is very important," Boorstein warns. On the second go-round, you might see some dye or soil come off on the blot cloth. If you see any hit of dye, you'll know there will be a little bleeding when you wash. But if you just see dirt, your quilt is probably colorfast. To make sure, take a third run at it. Go to another part of the quilt, press harder with the damp cloth so that the quilt actually absorbs a little of the cleaning solution, and lightly rub. If your white cloth is still whit or has picked up no more than a trace of the color from the test spot, you're good to wash.
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