Antique Quilt Cleaning

Preserving and restoring antique quilts for reuse or up-cycling requires a gentle cleaning process to avoid damaging the fabric and stitching. Decades of use and/or improper storage levy multiple issues such as fading, unyielding stains, fabric disintegration, and unpleasant odors from inadequate cleaning and airborne particulates.  

We begin with multiple soaks in fresh water, vinegar, and washing soda, and repeat this process until the water runs clean.  Then, the quilts are delicately hand washed in Le Blanc fine laundry washes and rinsed with fresh water and a splash of 9 Elements fabric rinse.  Finally, the quilts are bathed in the West Texas sunshine for the ultimate stain removal.  At this point, if there is any staining that remains, we consider it impossible to remove without compromising the integrity of the quilt.  

When possible & necessary, some stitching is done by hand or machine stitching to hinder further unraveling of places showing damage.  However, restoration of the seams and fabrics would require endless hours of tedious work and prove to be cost prohibitive to the buyer.  

We strive to find the best balance between quality and cost so that we can ensure the best value for our customers.