Bad Odor in an Old Quilt

We retrieved an old quilt from a basement where it had been stored for many years. The house had been abandoned and was very trashy and smelled terribly. The quilt looks very good, but has the odor of the basement.

The quilt is American made and around 50 years old. Many bright colors. We tried laying it in the yard on chairs to air out, but this did nothing. Any suggestions on how to remove the stink? Soak in the tub with mild soap solution or something?

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ANSWER

Before your try to eliminate a bad odor in an old quilt, you should ask yourself if it's a good idea or not. After all, it's an antique and it needs tender loving care. So, do you clean it yourself, or do you let the professionals do it?

Professional conservators would steer you away from cleaning it at home. There are a lot of reasons for this. You see, the fabric and batting are really fragile. The fabrics could easily disintegrate if you applied the wrong chemicals or exposed them to extra agitation. And if you cleaned it yourself, you might unintentionally tear, discolor or shrink the quilt.

Do you know the actual fiber content of the fabric and batting? This is important, because the fiber content dictates how it should best be cleaned.

Even quilt conservators hesitate to clean antique quilts, not only because of damage problems, but because they want to preserve its "museum" quality. If they did decide to clean the quilt, they would turn it over to a professional textile conservator.

That's good because the professionals can identify the age and fiber content. It would help them to know where it was stored and for approximately how long. Once they gather this information, they can clean it in the most beneficial way.

If you insist on cleaning the quilt at home, be extremely gentle with it. I hope this information helps you to eliminate the bad odor in your old quilt.

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