A few weeks ago I was in Plant City, Florida looking for antique quilts when I spotted a nice quilt draped over a blanket chest. Wow, my heart started beating faster, my mouth started to water. I picked it up. There was a ton of quilting in this nice thin quilt. Almost every inch was quilted. I didn't see any rips, worn edges or holes on the front. I saw some faded blue blocks, then some faded red blocks and then, all white blocks. Uh oh, someone had bleached this quilt until it was almost unrecognizable. About 75% of the pieced blocks were total white. On the plus side, I didn't see any stains. But as I have to say a little too often, this at one time was a fabulous quilt.
I have to wonder what the quilt was like before it was bleached to oblivion. Were there THAT many stains that it required a gallon of bleach or was it an accidental overdose? What do you do with quilts that are extremely dirty and stained? Many purists will say, do NOT wash an antique quilt. For the most part they recommend vacuuming. Which is good for the loose overall dirt but what about a quilt with a lot of stains? So you have a potentially award winning quilt - except for those darn age spots, or blood stains, or other unidentifiable stains. What would you do with that quilt?
I was originally going to blog about the "How" part of cleaning an antique quilt. But in doing my research I've found that 1) there is already a ton of information out there on cleaning quilts and 2) recommendations vary widely depending on who you consult. Museums and Quilt Societies typically recommend no cleaning and definitely no dry cleaning. Those selling or collecting offer more options, most all of which are difficult. Simply throwing your quilt in the washer dryer is typically not recommended by anyone. Although I have to say I have several feedsack quilts that have been bleached and sent through my washer and dryer just fine. But I certainly couldn't recommend this for a 19th century quilt.
I feel faced with the decision to wash or not wash more often than I like. Is the value of a nice clean, but lightly faded or tattered quilt worth more than one that's dirty and smelly? I have several currently that are quite dirty but so old that I myself don't dare clean. I think the ultimate decision to wash or not will have to be up to the owner and what value they put on the quilt. Is it worth the risk of losing the quilt entirely to get it clean is a question only the owner can answer. For most of my quilts, I feel more like a caretaker than an owner and will take the easy way out by leaving this question up to next owner.
I would love you hear your success or horror stories on cleaning antique quilts.
For detailed instructions on the actual cleaning visit one of the websites listed below or consult one of the books listed to the right.
Great Lakes Quilt Center http://museum.msu.edu/glqc/quiltcare.html
Hart Cottage Quilts http://hartcottagequilts.com/quiltcare.htm
Quilt History by Kris Driessen http://www.quilthistory.com/cleaning.htm
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