I have decided to start a blog about my antique finds, sewing, fabrics and much more! WWW.SEWINGMENDSTHESOUL.TYPEPAD.COM
First let me start out by thanking you for visiting my "me" page! My name is Donna and I just have such a passion for primitives! I love to takes items from times gone by and re-invent them into primitive treasures!
If you are a primitive crafter, please be sure to bookmark me under your favorites because I always list great supplies that you will need such as vintage cutter quilts, old textile bobbins, grain scoops, hog scrapers, and all kinds of goodies! You never know what I will find on my adventures to the flea markets so PLEASE CHECK BACK OFTEN!!
A good friend of mine who is a vintage textile dealer gave me her cleaning recipe for antique linens and it works wonders! Here is a copy of it for you to use with your vintage linens!
I do this for a number of articles in the bathtub!!! If you only have one article, you can use a large plastic tub and sit it in the bathtub.
You can also find vintage linen soaks in antique stores which can be a little pricey. The recipe below works really well but if it doesn't get everything out, then I will use the soaks from the antique stores to try to get the rest out! This recipe can be adjusted for your needs. I make a big batch up and store it and just use it as I need it!
This recipe is for a large bathtub full of water!***
RECIPE FOR CLEANING VINTAGE LINENS
2 CUPS OF BIZ
2 CUPS OF CLOROX II (color safe)
2 CUPS OF CASCADE (dishwashing detergent)
Mix all the ingredients inside the bathtub.
I take my plunger (a new one that I bought for this purpose) and mix it all up really good!
Let the water run and make it bubble up!
Depending on your colors, choose warm (whites) or cold (colors). If the colors are dark,I usually run hot to get the mixture to dissapate and then let the water cool down before putting the fabrics in. Some folks tell me that they go ahead and put it in the hot water , but I am afraid to do that!
You can now add 3-5 quilts inside the tub and let them soak for about a week, depending on how clean you need to get them!
I run the water out and fill it up a couple of times more to get all the soap out! It is too hard to swirl them around when they are wet because they weigh a ton!! I just kind of push them down with a rubber plunger (that is only used for quilt cleaning!) Now you can let the water run out and lay there until they are not so heavy! Pull your quilts out an put them inside the large plastic tub and take them out in your yard and thay them out in the sun on your grass.
You will be amazed at how much dirt and debris comes out of these quilts! The longer you leave them in the soaking solution, the better your results will be because Clorox 2 is slow acting bleach for colors. I have not hurt any of my linens as of to date and have been using this recipe for years!
