Any Way To Remove Gross Stains On a Quilt?

October 28, 2017 1:17 PM

I made this quilt 25 years ago.

As you can see, it has a few horrid stains on it. I was thinking of cutting out the animal appliques and basically doing the piecing and quilting all over again, but...UGH. Also it only has a few stains like the ones in the pictures. The rest is fine and it's a sentimental thing...I made it while waiting for my son to be born, etc.

I'm looking up reviews of stain taker-outers, and there are some with good reviews, but I'd like to ask the question here as well. I don't know what the stains are from, unfortunately, but the fabric is a cotton muslin.

Thanks for any help.

posted by DMelanogaster to Home & Garden (12 answers total)

Have you gotten it dry cleaned?
posted by gregr at 1:21 PM on October 28, 2017

Fels naptha. I haven't found a strain I can't get out with this stuff.
posted by chocolatetiara at 1:25 PM on October 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

I think that looks like mouse urine, and I’d try Natures Miracle on it first.
posted by LizardBreath at 1:26 PM on October 28, 2017

Response by poster: Would it be mouse urine with no other signs of mice in the drawer where it was kept?

I just ordered fels naptha. No, I haven't had it dry cleaned. Figured the stains are too old.
posted by DMelanogaster at 1:59 PM on October 28, 2017

I'd try a bit of Natures Miracle or an enzyme cleaner like Oxyclean on it. I'd do a soak in a solution of Oxyclean if it was mine then gentle machine wash with a mild detergent, then do a second wash with just vinegar & water to get all the soap out. I didn't make it so I don't know how color fast the materials are for soaking/washing but you may want to take that into consideration.
posted by wwax at 3:08 PM on October 28, 2017

I've always heard to use Orvus (but I haven't used it myself - Oxyclean has always worked for me on stained cross-stitch).
posted by candyland at 3:43 PM on October 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

Always worth consulting a drycleaner, I had one get some 30-year-old stains out of a (very delicate, handmade) First Communion dress. This looks much sturdier! A good one should be able to tell you if they think they can do it, and if it's delicate or unusual fabrics, consult with you about how far you want to go with chemical attempts.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:44 PM on October 28, 2017

Do you have a pot big enough to hold it? Heat it to simmer for an hour or more with some Orvus paste. Or with a big squirt of Synthrapol plus a tablespoon of soda ash. Less magically effective but also easy - boil it with a big squirt of blue Dawn dish soap. The trick is a big kettle and having enough water for the textile to be free to move around.
posted by janell at 4:53 PM on October 28, 2017

Orvus paste is livestock shampoo, btw. It takes sericin off of silk to prepare it for dyeing and it takes off whatever biological ook needs removed from cattle.
posted by janell at 4:56 PM on October 28, 2017

I soak stained textiles in oxyclean overnight and get pretty good results. Use the strongest solution per the instructions on the container. Adding it to the wash doesn't seem to do much.
posted by Botanizer at 5:00 PM on October 28, 2017

I would take it to a dry cleaner. They have access to some pretty fancy and powerful stain removal chemicals.
posted by gregr at 6:58 PM on October 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

you've gotten some good answers, so i just want to say the quilt is adorable!
posted by misanthropicsarah at 1:46 PM on October 31, 2017