In the last article, we looked at what to do when staining occurs and how to treat oil and grease based stains.
Continuing on from there we will now look at the next most common kind of stain that happens on quilts:
Protein Stains
Believe it or not, this is a significant one one. Many readers are interested to find out just how many protein based stains there may be. Stuff like mustard, blood, fruit juice, mud, vomit, wine, coffee, chocolate and coca are all protein based stains.
The rough guide is, if it came from a human or something humans eat, probabilities are its a protein stain.
The best way to remove a protein stain is to get rid of as much of it as practicable by blotting with cloth or paper towels to remove excess fluids or materials. Then mix up some cold water and salt using the ratio of 1 tsp of salt to 1 pint of water.
I can not emphasize the importance of cold water enough. Don't use hot water! Hot water will react with the protein and lock in the stain.
For coffee or tea, use borax and water or if you have it on hand, Club Soda works a treat too , this one really helped me when I spilled coffee on my favouirte patchwork quilt. For wine and fruit juices, you'll need an ammonia based cleaner to remove all the marking.
If the stain does not come out right away, you will need to soak the stained areas for a few hours before putting it through a regular wash.
Chemicals
There are a couple of things which cannot be removed. Things like scorch or burn marks won't wash out as these are actual changes in the fibre composition itself, not the colouring.
Permanent Marks
Hopefully this guide has given you a couple of good ideas and aids you in getting out any aggravating or stubborn stains.
Continuing on from there we will now look at the next most common kind of stain that happens on quilts:
Protein Stains
Believe it or not, this is a significant one one. Many readers are interested to find out just how many protein based stains there may be. Stuff like mustard, blood, fruit juice, mud, vomit, wine, coffee, chocolate and coca are all protein based stains.
The rough guide is, if it came from a human or something humans eat, probabilities are its a protein stain.
The best way to remove a protein stain is to get rid of as much of it as practicable by blotting with cloth or paper towels to remove excess fluids or materials. Then mix up some cold water and salt using the ratio of 1 tsp of salt to 1 pint of water.
I can not emphasize the importance of cold water enough. Don't use hot water! Hot water will react with the protein and lock in the stain.
For coffee or tea, use borax and water or if you have it on hand, Club Soda works a treat too , this one really helped me when I spilled coffee on my favouirte patchwork quilt. For wine and fruit juices, you'll need an ammonia based cleaner to remove all the marking.
If the stain does not come out right away, you will need to soak the stained areas for a few hours before putting it through a regular wash.
Chemicals
There are a couple of things which cannot be removed. Things like scorch or burn marks won't wash out as these are actual changes in the fibre composition itself, not the colouring.
Permanent Marks
Hopefully this guide has given you a couple of good ideas and aids you in getting out any aggravating or stubborn stains.
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To get some more good tips about the way to make a patchwork quilt, check out Jane Green's how to make a patchwork quilt website now!