Clean up advice

You don't want the seams to shred, so a short gentle/delicate cycle would be best and using a pillow case (or something even larger) would be wise, too. I'd certainly use a Color Catcher or three, as well. The spin cycle should be limited to not beat up the top. I'd line dry it unless it was very windy- I had experience with the wind making a serious trapezoid out of a bed sized quilt top. Or- even better- dry it flat making sure it was squared up and not pulled catty-wompus by the washer.

I'm so sorry you are having to deal with all this stuff. :-/

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

What a trial for you!

I've never had to wash a quilt top or anything similar before, so all I know is what I've read and my common sense, for whatever that's worth. I would certainly bag the quilt tops before washing them. If they're bagged, you should probably spin them to get them as dry as possible, then finish drying them flat on the floor, blocked square, with bedsheets under and over, and fans blowing on them overnight.

I would be very hesitant to hang them to dry, because the weight of the wet fabric would put a lot of pressure on the seams.

Good luck! You are certainly keeping a stiff upper lip about all this. I'd be in hysterics!

ep

Hi Maureen,

When I have had to spin dry anything delicate - a baby handbknitted shawl for instance, I laid it out on a towel or single sheet, rolled it up gentle and then spin dry. I then squared it up by laying it flat on a clean sheet until dry. It's a bit messy waterwise, but helps keep the object safer. Good luck.

Whatever you decide to do, I think you'd better do it as soon as you can. You might have a better chance of getting the sour out. The bath tub method sounds safer to me but you'll have to figure out what to do after you've given it a nice bath. Rolling it in towels or a clean old blanket should keep you from sopping every floor in the house getting the quilt to a flat space for drying. Polly

I'd definitely hand-wash......

Howdy!

Flat-dry the tops. If they don't reek, go ahead & quilt before washing.

If they have to be washed first, I'd put them in the bathtub w/ some BIZ, let 'em soak; rinse, gently squeeze out the water, lay 'em flat on a couple of sheets to dry. The less agitation, the less unraveling along the seams. Press w/ a dry iron (no stretching), then quilt.

Good luck! Sorry about your basement flood.

R/Sandy - w/ a few exceptions, we don't do basements in Texas (we do floods, tho', and tornados, hurricanes, & hot-hot-heat)