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Another cleaning question - mildew smell in cotton fabric

Hello all!

With all of these questions on cleaning, maybe you will know some great trick for this one!

I was given a box of fabric that was stored in a damp basement. Some of the fabric has mildew stains on it which I was going to try cleaning w/ one of those oxy-cleaners. And maybe borax. But some of the fabric only smells of mildew, no visible staining. So I washed and dried one of those pieces, looked good. Used Tide detergent, warm water, regular dry cycle. Went to steam press it - wow! A whole new noseful of mildew smell!

So any tricks that I can use for this? Keep washing it and hang it out in the soon-to-be winter sun? Lemon juice rinse? Vinegar?

Any info would be appreciated as always!

Thanks loads, Cappy

p.s. The stars from Jessamy's swap were amazing! I've got them sitting next to the sewing machine waiting for a brainstorm. grin

Reply to
Cappy
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sorry I can't help with the smell but...

WOOO hoo that the stars arrived safely! and that you like them :-D

Reply to
Jessamy

Found these commercial sites.. NAYY

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Reply to
maryd

As a Project Linus coordinator, I run into this question quite often. Here is our national office response to this question:

"Fabric with a musty smell contains mold and mildew. These spores CANNOT be removed by general washing - that just makes it worse and causes the spores to spread. The only way to POSSIBLY (and that's NOT a for sure remedy) is to have them professionally fumigated.

Musty fabric or blankets can cause asthma attacks or severe respiratory problems in addition to a variety of other ailments."

Since many of the quilts we make go to hospitals where kids are already sick, we don't want to add to their problems -we're trying to make them feel better, not worse!

Also - fabric and/or quilts that have a smoky smell: the residue is not removed by washing. The smell might be gone, but NOT the tobacco residue.

I guess as long as the person using your blanket doesn't have any health problems, making them a blanket from mildewy fabric wouldn't be a problem.

Donna in Idaho Reply to daawra3553 at yahoo dot com

Reply to
Donna in Idaho

Howdy! BIZ bag! Not you: the enzyme-based bleach/cleaner or an "oxygen bleach" should do the trick. May take more than one wash. Hanging it outside in the sunshine and fresh air helps, too.

Other tips:

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Btw, "given a box" suggests it was free-- so if you can't get all the smell out of it, you may need to discard or give it to someone else to work with it, at no cost to you.

Good luck!

Ragm> Hello all!

Reply to
Sandy Ellison

I had a winter coat given to me last year. It smelled musty. I washed it three times and hung it out in the sun for days. Nothing worked. I finally had to give the beautiful coat to the garbage man for disposal. Sometimes nothing helps.

Kate T.

Reply to
Kate T.

Try washing it using some Pine Sol, or other pine "oil" cleaner. It is a deodorizer and disinfectant so it does work wonders. If it is really in the fabric though you might as well give it up. Sometimes the mildew odor is in so deep that you can't get rid of it.

Pati, > Hello all!

Reply to
Pati Cook

The fabrics with the actual mildew should be discarded. Nothing will remove the black marks, and the fabric has been weakened as well. Save yourself the time and expense by discarding them right away.

Now on to the fabrics that are merely smelly. If 20 Mule Team Borax won't remove the smell, nothing will. Debra in VA See my quilts at

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Reply to
Debra

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