OK here I am posting. I just bought an old quilt at a garage sale and when I got home I found spots with mold on them. (spots or mildew? Guess I don't know the difference.) Anyway is there any way I can get rid of it? I put it out in the sun but sun with any warmth in it is now gone for the year. I washed it with bated breath as it looks quite old and I'd sure hate to wash it again unless necessary. Can I save it?
Yes you can save it, Twila. My choice would be sunshine and ours is year-round always. Stay calm. Someone here will know what else works. Lemon juice, 'very' diluted bleach... there is a solution; I just don't know what it is. Once upon a time, DD splashed a hand smocked red dress. It got rolled up in the diaper bag in an emergency change and forgotten. I had to rinse it in very mild bleach solution - expecting the very worst. It came out just perfectly fine - but I'm reluctant to recommend such for an old quilt. Polly
Sunshine is good, but the main thing is to make sure it is completely and thoroughly dry and well aired. If you are having humid weather this is going to be a problem. It needs to be spread out, preferably on open side up boxes or something similar that will ensure good airing while still supporting it. Air and dryness are the enemies of mold and mildew.
That said, look at your spots, if they are dark, you probably are looking at some variety of mold. If they are rusty looking it is probably foxing which is a completely different thing.
If it is mold, then after the quilt is dry you can try brushing it off very gently and then seeing how much damage it has caused the fabric. The amount of damage will determine how you proceed. Though if it has lived through a washing already I would have good hope for it.
If it is foxing you are going to have to treat for it and just accept whatever damage occurs. Foxing is not a mold it is caused by a cellulose loving bacteria, if you do not treat for it it will just keep spreading and causing more damage. The standard treatment for it is peroxide, which will very likely at least damage your color. Nowdays you could try one of the antibacterial soaps, not the hand gels for they contain great quantities of assorted alcohols which are bad for delicate fabrics. I can't say that one of these modern soaps would work to kill the bacteria or eliminate the foxing, but they would probably be easier on your dyes, and possibly your fabric. It might be worth the experiment on lightly damaged fabric.
I generally recommend washing old textiles as you would fine woolens. Soak in a light solution of gentle detergent, drain, and roll in absorbent sheeting, do not rinse. Dry flat, well aired, and completely. To be avoided if you can, but when you have to you have to.
NightMist
That's an interesting! I had another idea: During my cabinetmaker's apprenticeship one of our teachers at vocational school told us about a trick to cure antique furniture from woodworms without chemicals. You'd put the thing into a cool sauna and then heat the room slowly. Mind you, here in Germany, many folks have a private sauna, so those who have the dough to buy antique furniture will either have one themselves or know somebody with one. The sauna heats up to maybe 90 or 100 ° C, not enough to harm the glue or the finish of the piece of furniture but it's hot enough to kill the woodworms and their other insects since they can't adapt to the temperature and their proteins will clot.
For a quilt and in case the bacteria aren't heat-resistant, perhaps the heat treatment might work, too. I'm sure a sauna won't be necessary; a dry iron should do the trick. If you are sure the quilt doesn't contain any synthetics, you could try heating the afflicted spots for a while, perhaps through a dry cloth, and from the back of the quilt.
Mind you, I never tried either method since I don't collect antique furniture and never had the good luck to find an antique quilt in a garage sale. However, the heat method sounds just convincing from a scientific point of view. If you want to try, I'm sure there there is a less visible spot near the edge you can try it on. But of that, I'm sure, you have thought yourself.
Just my 2 c. Hope you can save your quilt.
U.
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