Saturday 14 July 2012

How do you wash your quilts?

Ok, so we had another problem with the flipping rainbow Half Moon Modern quilt - a coffee stain this time (poor cleaner was distraught - and no, I don't live in a mansion, I just don't like cleaning the toilet!)

At this point, it was basted with one line of quilting, so I rebasted in (I think the glue came unstuck with the liquid of the coffee), trimming and squared it up, decided not to wait for the walking foot which is on order, and threw it through the machine to quilt it last night. Today I've added the binding (which arrived super quick from Frumbles) and it's now finished.

So - here comes the scary bit - how should I wash it? It's made out of charm packs with bright white sashing, and obviously no prewashing, so I'm worried about the colour running. I've read some advice online, but it seems very US-orientated and not very clear. I've got a standard washing machine, no tumble drier, Persil, fabric softener and Vanish powder in the cupboard, and any advice would be incredibly gratefully received! Oh, and it's peed it down all day and probably will tomorrow too :-(

No photos today, hoping to salvage it first!

7 comments:

  1. First thing is don't panic! Stick it in the wash on a normal cycle with persil and a little vanish. I've never prewashed and have never had a problem.

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  2. Oh no! That Half Moon Modern quilt is really misbehaving isn't it!!

    As for the washing - I don't prewash either. What I do is chuck my quilt in the machine with 2 Colour Catchers (made by Punch). Not sure if you can get those but I bet you can get something similar in the laundry aisle at the supermarket. Then I put mine on the line to dry. I've only ever had colour run once, and with a couple more washes with colour catchers, it's fixed it.

    Good luck!!

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  3. I would also use color catchers and cold water in the wash. Would put stain remover on the coffee stain though and let it sit for a few hours before stick it in the washing machine. Hope it'll turn out OK!

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  4. Oh dear, it is definitely a baptism of fire for this quilt! Agree with the others on using the Colour Catchers and the Vanish powder.

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  5. same advice as every one else.. you can get the colour catches for sure in Asda and Morrisons ... so pretty sure the others have them... and they work xx

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  6. Colour catchers will do the job. On the plus side I have never experinced colour running with Moda fabrics, so hopefully there will be no problems :)

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  7. Defo colour catchers - I always put some in with mine!

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