Help with cleaning and maintaining vintage quilts

[katbilbrey]

Hello all,

We were cleaning out my grandmothers house after her passing we found quilts she had gotten from her mother. The notes on the quilts have them as 120-130 years old but sadly they were not always stored in the best way. We found water damage(we think), light fading (maybe) and just use grime at the edges. The notes with them warn of walnut hull dye used on some of the fabric.

We wanted to get them cleaned up(grandma didn’t always take the best care of them) and displayed but we don’t know where to start with them. I read the section on cleaning but the walnut stain scared us. I attached some photos of some of the full quilts and close ups of the wear and tear.

Thanks for any advice.
Katrina

 

[retro ruth]

I can’t advise on cleaning but just wanted to say how beautiful these are. Wonderful work.

 

[MagsRags]

They really are beautiful!

I don't have any personal experience with using natural dyes, but I do know that Orvus is highly recommended in general for use with quilts and similar antique textiles. The link takes to Amazon via the VFG Amazon shop, meaning you pay the normal Amazon charges but the VFG gets a small commission. Orvus is pH neutral, which is generally a good thing for old textiles.

There are lot of help articles online about making and using walnut hull dyes - it sounds like wool takes and holds the color better than cotton. This article on dying says: "A note on washing: Plant dyes are PH sensitive so you’ll need to use a bio soap such as Seventh Generation or Ecos. Natural dyes will fade a bit but the fabric will hold a good amount of color if cared for properly."

 

[katbilbrey]

We think she used cotton as the fabric and the notes on some of the quilts say the batting is homegrown cotton. About a third look to be machine sown but the rest are hand sown. They all looked like they were is actively used for decades.

I was looking through several online articles and I think I have found pretty much every variation of instructions for cleaning so I thought checking in with people who handle actually used garments might lead us to best ways to handle them to minimize degradation on some well loved quilts.

 

[bycinbyhand]

I clean my own quilts but VERY carefully. These with the 'walnut dye' would fall into that category as I wouldn't know how stable the dye against modern cleaners, even if the more gentle ones for vintage and antique fabrics. If there's a quilt shop in your area, I might run it over to get their assessment.