ptquilts

i had mildew spots on a vintage quilt once, never could find anything to get them out.

Bree123

Vinegar is a great, all-natural way to kill mold/mildew. On top of that, it also is wonderful for preventing some dyes from bleeding. I would not dry something that I added vinegar to, but I have washed shower curtains, indigo-dyed blue jeans & cotton bags with 1/4 C vinegar per large load of cold water wash. I would wash it (or soak & rinse) with just vinegar & water the first time & then follow up a second time in the washer with a gentle detergent. I've really seen vinegar work miracles on stuff with mildew.

And I can totally relate to your story about something growing mold very quickly. My storage locker had a pipe burst out in the hallway in the middle of winter & it flooded under the door into my unit & promptly froze everything to the floor. I had to wait 10 days for stuff to thaw enough that I could remove the items that were 5" from the floor or lower. By then, the wood was all rotted with black mold, my leather purses had green mold on them & my cotton clothes & bags had black mold/mildew on them. But other than one purse that my mom decided to "help" treat before I got to it, everything came out with that 1/4 Cup of white vinegar.

I "washed" with the vinegar water, then washed with Tide Free & then air dried and left the items to air out for a couple weeks to remove the remaining vinegar scent. Everything came out perfect with no stain & eventually, no remaining vinegar scent. Might be worth a try. So sorry you are having to deal with this though with your beautiful quilting fabrics.

Claire123

I would check the Queen on Clean website http://queenofclean.com/index.php for any unusual cleaning or laundry questions. She usually suggests something safe and inexpensive. If it doesn't work, you can always try something else later on.

lots2do

It was in a plastic bag (the kind fabric comes in from Fabric.com), unsealed, in a cardboard box. We moved on a really, rainy, get out the ark day and the box was stacked in storage for four weeks. Not the brightest thing to do by any means but we were in a rush to move out of our house and left for FL the next day.
I washed it the regular way and hung up to dry out of direct sunlight. There are still some faint dark gray marks on it. I am going to try some stain stuff next and wash it again. If worse comes to worse (or is it worst?), I can either fussy cut or reorder. Was a bummer.

Ghostrider - I am in Maine now. Will be back to the Lakes Region from time to time. Have to order a kit from Keepsake and go over and get it at some point. Nice to be missed!

Thanks for your help, everybody.

tytbody

Never realized how big and wide Maine is until I tried to go white water rafting and found it was 3 hours away from where I booked the hotel.. wow. big place but beautiful. all over.

lots2do

Bree, thank you for your suggestions. I will definitely try your vinegar remedy.
Claire, I'll check out your link as well. I'm not willing to give up yet!

Yes, Maine is big and beautiful! I'm so glad we'll still have our dose of New England!

tytbody

and that means foliage and apple pie and sea food lol