Crossstitchforum - A FREE forum for Cross Stitchers

Hey guys - I nearly put this in tips and tricks but its not REALLY tips and tricks.

Has anyone ever washed Old Stitching, that uses unknown threads?

I washed a whole load of my old pieces this morning and found some of my grandmothers mixed in. These are very grubby and stained and I would like to wash them if possible but I am worried about dyes running

Just to give some idea of what I'm working with



the rabbits have some green ribbon running through the grass - everything else looks like DMC or Anchor threads - I reckon this was one of the last pieces my grandmother did

The war celebration piece feels like the central V is some kind of silk, it feels much softer than DMC but could be a satin or a madeira, the rest I think is DMC

The white tablecloth at the top is very soft threads - I assume that could just be handwashed?



again the 2 white pieces are much softer than traditional DMC etc but are the most stained.

The green piece I think is all silks, and the fabric is some kind of linen. And I believe it was glued into frame I can clip a small piece of the fabric off to test the colour fastness but I have no way of testing the threads.

Help hive mind!

What wonderful pieces to have! I would think that hand washing them with a very gentle soap in cold water would be safe, but that is something that others will probably have better advice for you. I've not had much experience with very old fabrics. I have a tablecloth one of my grandmothers embroidered but have never washed it. All red threads on white fabric. I'm sure there are members who will have much better advice than mine, but I wanted to thank you for sharing these with us.

Carole

What a wonderful legacy to have! I'd say handwash in coldish water (not a chore on a day like this ), and wash each piece separately.

Thank you both! I'll be keeping them no matter what but I would like to clean them up a bit so they can be displayed.

I'm pretty confident about washing stitching in general (just did about 9 pieces this morning) and fairly confident with the fabrics - theyre showing no sign of wear or deterioration at all. when I say old, I suppose I'm talking 60 - 70 years at most

It's the threads that are concerning me because they dont seem to be standard DMC or anchor, and I know a lot of other brands are not colourfast. If I had the skeins I would test a small bit first but as its already stitched, I cant really do that.

Maybe spritzing it with a little cold water would test the colourfastness? before full immersion

when I washed some of my mom’s pieces, I used cold water with Blue Dawn dish soap. (Gentle enough for ducks ) Some had stains from fold lines. I used Sunlight bar soap on them. Some came clean…some not so much.

Hope that they can be freshened without the colour running.
I think you can get colour catchers that attract any lost dye but I have no experience of them at all.

Testing a bit of the darker threads using a mist-er and kitchen (paper) towel will show you if the thread will run. If it does run, then the answer is to rinse, rinse, rinse until it doesn't run any more. Cool water. Vanish bars are really handy for grimy folds, too. Also White Wizard paste if you can find it in places like Lakeland.