Got STains? - oxyclean to the rescue

One of my favorite things to do is to finish a vintage quilt top. There is something satisfying about taking a quilt top that was carefully pieced long ago and giving it life as a quilt. However, quilts that have been stored away often end up with stains, discoloration, and yellowing from years of being stored. But there is a way to save them, and it's actually quite simple. OxyClean.

OxyClean is a magical stain remover that is safe to use on vintage quilts, or any other washable fabrics that you may need to clean. However, you must follow a process to allow it to really work. 

I first tried this on my son's baby clothes. My son was the king of spit up and drool. All of his baby clothes had stains on them. Formula stains. Baby food stains. And if you've ever tried to get those stains out, you know that those two types of stains are some of the strongest stains out there. I had some favorite outfits I saved. They were washed and dried and put in storage. Stains and all. So, when testing a process to remove stains from vintage quilts, I decided to pull out those clothes and see what I could do. They had been stored for 13 years. I wondered. Would OxyClean make a difference in the stains? Would it be safe to use on older fabric? Would it damage the colors? What I found was that this OxyClean process works like magic. 

Here is what you do:
You'll need a large tub or your bathtub and a tub of OxyClean.

1. Begin filling the tub with hot water. Dump in 2 big scoops of OxyClean. Mix well so that it dissolves in the water.
2. Add your quilt. stir it around to make sure it gets thoroughly soaked with the OxyClean soltuion. Put a towel over the top of it to weight it down. This will keep your quilt submerged in the solution. 
3. Leave it to soak for at least 24 hours. 
4. If it is heavily stained, you can drain the tub, refill with more water and OxyClean, and allow to soak for an additional 24 hours.
5. Drain the tub.
6. Put the quilt in the washing machine with a small amount of a mild detergent. 
7. Wash on a gentle cycle.
8. Dry in the dryer just until damp. Do not fully dry in the dryer. Quilts should not be fully dried in a dryer! Air dry the quilt. Ideally it should lay flat, but you can hang it on the clothesline. 

And that's it. You will now have a quilt that has the stains removed, the color brightened, and the whites whitened. Ready to use and enjoy. 

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