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I've been packing over the past couple of days, and unearthed a big box of wips that I hadn't been able to take a look at since I had packed it several years back. Inside are a couple of designs I particularly enjoyed doing and are almost done. They look wonderful, and once I settle down again I'm going to start working on them again. A few of them, particularly a good-sized Sleeping Beauty design that's nearly halfway finished has mold or mildew growing on it.

A few years back, I had to keep all my boxes in a damp garage for an extended period of time, and most of my stuff shows signs of wear, but this is rather devastating. I loved this piece.

(Its not my thing, exactly, I was planning on giving it as a gift to someone who loves it, once I find this person. It was just one of the most enjoyable pieces I have ever worked on.)

The mildew is really only on the outside of the piece, none of it got on the stitching itself, from what I can tell, so it might be salvageable. Anyone know how to get it out, or should I just rework the piece later? I've tried soaking it in warm water with a mild soap, but it won't come out, and the piece has a mild damp smell I can't get rid of. Its a little disconcerting. Any ideas?

For the smell maybe leave in in a bag with some bicarbonate of soda?

Oooh, that's a good idea. I will definitely be trying that.

Can you lay it out in the sun?

I might be able to do that, too. (Provided we don't get anymore surprise rainstorms of doom. A lot of those lately.) Hadn't thought of that- I'll do it when the clouds clear up again.

My mother used to soak fabric in full cream milk to get mildew out. At least if won't hurt the stitched area if you try.

Huh, that's really interesting. I've never heard of that. Might be worth it to give it a try, if I could find some.

Would white vinegar hurt the stitching? I've used that to get rid of mildew growing n clothes before. I don't know what will/won't hurt the stitching first though.

Would I be able to smell the vinegar afterwards? I'm pretty sensitive to vinegar and would hate for it to work, then have the piece smell of it forever afterwards. :/ Although that's also really interesting- kinda wanna stitch up a small piece and see if vinegar hurts it.

Once the vinegar dries, it doesn't smell at all. I actually use vinegar all the time in place of rinse aid in my dishwasher and nothing comes out of there smelling of vinegar either.

Really? That's actually kinda neat. What kind of vinegar do you use? Just distilled white?

Yep, the plain old cheap stuff. For the dishwasher, it may not be 100% as good as the rinse aid but it is at least 90% as good and about 90% cheaper.

For your fabric, I'd probably dilute it some..Not sure of the size of your item but maybe a half cup to a cup to a sinkful of cold water?

I'm going to try it on a small piece that has some spots on it and see if it works out.

I have heard that lemon juice and salt mixed to a paste and left on the fabric for half an hour before washing gets out mildew....don't know if it works but it could be worth a try before buying any expensive chemicals.