Washing old quilts

[spacepig]

I have some old hand me down family quilts, and I just bought a couple of old quilts at an estate sale today. They are all hand sewn and are filled with real cotton, not cotton batting. I've looked online about how to clean these, and so far it seems the consensus is:

--prefer hand washing to machine
--if a machine is used, it should be a front loader on handwash cycle and medium spin
--use cold water
--use a "color catcher" or old towel to prevent color bleeding
--use a mild detergent and no fabric softener
--air dry flat but can use a low dryer setting, but remove before completely dry to finish by air drying

I'm curious if anyone has additional suggestions or has epxeriences they'd like to share?

Jeannine

 

[ea56]

You have some beautiful handmade quilts there Jeannine!

My paternal grandma made several quilts like these, and I used to love sleeping under them when I stayed at her house when I was little. I know she washed hers in whatever washing machine she had at the time and dried them on the clothesline.

In the early-mid 50’s she had a Bendix Economat that she washed them in, and she must have used warm water, because those machines didn't have a cold setting. In 59’ my Dad bought her a Montgomery Wards FL, which was made by Westinghouse and she also washed them in it too. Before she had an automatic, I’m certain she used a wringer washer. Trying to hand wash a quilt would be very difficult, and probably not get it very clean, and it would be next to impossible the wring it out by hand, due to how heavy it would be when fully soaked.

I inherited one of Grandma’s Log Cabin design quilts when she passed away and I washed it in both my Whirlpool Portable washer and my Maytag A50 twin tub. And I dried them in my portable Whirlpool dryer, it was all I had and I was in my 20’s and maybe a little more reckless than I would be now. The only damage was a small area one time where some stitching came loose and I carefully repaired the area by hand with needle and thread and the repair wasn’t noticeable.

These handmade quilts were sewn by women that had to use whatever equipment they had available to wash them, so they sewed then with that in mind. They sure didn’t have modern FL’s with gentle cycles.

That being said, I would use a minimal amount of a mild detergent, and lukewarm water, rinse with cold and use the gentle cycle. If using a TL fill the machine, agitate briefly, like 1 to 3 mins, let it soak for about 10 mins, then spin, rinse and spin again. I wouldn’t use any fabric softener, but a color catcher sheet wouldn’t be a bad idea. If you use a FL, use the gentle cycle, with the shortest wash time possible. To dry use a clothes line (avoid full sun to prevent fading) if available to you, or tumble dry on the lowest heat setting your dryer has until damp dry and then finish drying by placing over the backs of your dining room chairs so that the air can circulate.

If when you’re finished there are any loosened areas, repair them right away, carefully with needle and thread.

Enjoy these heirlooms. When our grandma’s made these they were meant to be used and enjoyed.

HTH,
Eddie[this post was last edited: 11/1/2019-17:59]

 

[spacepig]

Eddie, thanks so much for your thoughtful reply.

I, too, have fond memories of going to my grandmother's house to spend the night and sleeping under the old quilts. They had no a/c and the only heat was gas space heaters in the living and dining room, so the bedrooms would get very cold in the winter. I remember barely being able to move due to the weight of those quilts. "Weighted blankets" seem to be popular now, but perhaps buying an old quilt would have the same effect!

The quilt in the photo in my first post is from one I bought today, and the pix in this post are quilts assumed to be made by my maternal grandmother. The story behind these is that no one knew they existed until it was time to move her out of her house and into a senior living apartment. When her bed was dismantled, these two quilts were in between the mattress and the box spring. So, they could have been made by someone else in her family, but we're not sure. One is in really bad shape with a fair amount of dry rot and rust stains, and the other has some tears, so I won't trust them to a washing machine, even a front loader, to be safe. My aunts were going to toss them since they were in such bad shape, but I've held onto them for all these years and have kept them packed away.

My grandparents were farmers and my grandmother told many stories of picking cotton, so I imagine the cotton used in these quilts was also picked by them. I also have memories of several of her friends coming over to work on quilting squares and sewing them together, but definitely not the ones I have. As for washing them, I don't recall her ever washing them, but that doesn't mean she didn't. They had an old wringer washer that I thought was quite fun, but later went to a new toploader I'm guessing in the late '60's.

Anyway, thanks so much for the trip down memory lane. I'll inspect the quilts I bought today for damage and give them a go in the front loader and see what happens.

 

[askolover]

When my grandmother broke up housekeeping she had a closet full of quilts made by her mother and grandmother.  No one wanted them!  I love quilts so I took all but one...which my niece wanted.  I brought them all home and washed them one by one in Tide with bleach...you should have seen the yellow/brown water in the washer.  But they all survived very well and were dried in my gas dryer.  I have all of them but one packed safely away.  The one is on my water bed.  When I look at them I can see my great-grandmother assembling them. 

 

[frigilux]

I washed the grandmother-made quilt of a friend with great results in the Maytag front-loader. He'd never washed it and used it quite a bit, so it was stinky and fairly dirty.

I recall washing it in warm water with the steam option and an extra rinse. My go-to detergent was Tide with Bleach Alternative. No softener or anything. Filthy wash water!

No problem with tearing or color-bleeding. Dried it in the dryer on medium heat.

Eddie, I agree: These quilts were meant to be used. No grandma wanted their heirs to put these in a closet forever. They knew very well--as askolover mentioned--that you'd think of them for a moment every time you used it. But for God's sake people: Wash them occasionally.

 

[DADoES]

 
AquaSmart's Bulky/Quilt cycle is 50°C, more aggressive agitation that I expected, 30-mins soak included, two rinses, low spin.

 

[twintubdexter]

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">Occasionally on Saturday mornings I watch a few programs on PBS on quilting and sewing (part of my exciting life). I have 3 machines and can't even thread them. These programs really make you appreciate the skill and expertise that goes into making a quilt. Even with electronic sewing machines designed for quilting they still require a great deal of work. I can only imagine the amount of time it takes to sew one by hand. The shows talk about the time during the Great Depression and before when women (mostly) used things like feed sacks for fabric. The results were very beautiful. A nice quilt, especially one sewn by hand, is really something to be valued.</span>

 

[ea56]

Re: Reply #2

You are so welcome Jeannine, and thanks for your story about sleeping over at your Grandma’s house!

Your experience was not unlike my own. My grandparents home had a floor furnace in the hall, so when the bedroom doors were closed at night the bedrooms were freezing cold at night. Those wonderful, heavy quilts of Grandma’s just caressed you to sleep, made me feel so secure. The train tracks ran behind their house and I so vividly recall the comforting sound of the trains as they would pass by, one of my best childhood memories.

My parental Grandma had a large quilting frame in a spare bedroom that was set up most of the time. There were many bags of fabric scraps that she used to piece together the quilt tops. And I also remember the large rolls of cotton batting for the quilts. It was unbleached and still had a few cotton seeds visible here and there. My Grandma did all her quilting by hand, both the tops, and the actual attachment of the batting and quilt backing, as well as the actual stitching to quilt both the top and bottom together. She did have a sewing machine, but it wasn’t used for quilting.

I have two of her quilts, but they are stored away for safe keeping, as they are double bed size and not large enough for our king size bed. Also, the red, white and blue log cabin design quilt that I have suffered some sun damage, as I used it for about 2-3 years over 40 years ago as my bedspread, and I foolishly used to leave the drapes open during the day and the sun bleached the color out a little.

If I ever managed to unearth these treasures from the back of the closet I’ll post some photos. My aunt told me that the log cabin quilt top was actually made by my great, great grandma during the Civil War, and purportedly won a prize at a county fair in Missouri. My Grandma replaced the back and batting in about 1958 and re quilted it, because it had worn out from use and washing for almost 100 years.

Eddie

 

[bendix5]

My wife has been a quilter for years and we have some from her family which are 3rd generation vintage. You can wash your quilts in your machine on very gentle cycle. She said looking at your photos your quilts are most likely 1930's. We have to remember most fabrics used in quilting back then were used clothing. Were washed seldom with lye soaps and boiled. JoEllen suggests woolite letting quilt soak for awhile after water enters machine and detergent is mixed. Our front loader has a hand was cycle which tumbles a couple of times and then rests. It works well. Spin cycle should be medium to prevent splits in fabric. Mend torn or bad seams before washing. Realizing these are very old quilts all stains will not come out. What we may thing is blood stain or rust is actually from bugs. Those stains are almost impossible to remove. Do not store in plastic tubs or vinyl bags as it deteriorates the fabric. Do not try and hand wash. They are very heavy full of water and can tear or rip easily.
New quilts with more modern fabrics you can completely machine wash and dry. Thank your aunt Eddie for restoring the quilt from the civil war. My wife is learning restoration work from a 80 year old who has done it for the quilt group museum here for years. It is hard work. Also remember what could be washed in a machine 50 0r 60 years ago may not work today because of deterioration. With carefull planning your can preserve. Have fun and thanks to all for your good tips and quilt stories

 

[mrboilwash]

I wouldn`t worry too much about things like color transfer when washing an old quilt.
Those women who sewed them were not stupid, they`ve washed the donor clothes time and again in a wringer washer or maybe even by hand so they knew exactly what fabrics would bleed in the wash and what could be combined to a quilt.

Residual stains or dirt could even accelerate fabric deterioration so it might be good advice to find a compromise between getting those quilts as clean as possible with least mechanical stress. The Aquasmart cycle mentioned above seems to be a good compromise of thoroughness and gentleness.

[this post was last edited: 11/3/2019-08:45]

 

[combo52]

Washing old quilts

I often wash the quilts that my grandmother and my Mother left me.

 

Definitely a FL washer, Warm wash [ you want to clean it without using tons of detergent ] and the fastest spin available and unless it is falling apart use a large dryer on at least medium heat and remove before completely dry.

 

John L.

 

[spacepig]

Thanks to everyone with their suggestions about washing quilts. I did wash one of them (not the one pictured earlier), and it turned out ok. I used a FL washer on the handwash cycle, warm/cold, medium spin, and when I saw that it survived the wash, I spun it again for another 10 minutes. I put it in the dryer for about 20 minutes on low, and then brought it outside in the sun for a couple of hours, and then back in the dryer to make sure it was completely dry. I don't see much of a difference by sight, but there was quite a bit of discoloration on a color catcher I threw in there. Weather permitting, I'll do the other one next weekend.

 

[mrboilwash]

You never know but color isn`t the only thing these color catchers attract.
Good to see you didn`t opt for a cold water wash.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

This is a bedspread and pillow case surprisingly in stunning condition, so clean, as though never used and, yes, from my late-in-laws which I hope to always keep in this immaculate shape...

I want to be buried in/on/under this stuff, (it’s that comfy!) at that!

— Dave