Primitive1 Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 I bought what I thought was a bargain yesterday...it was a quilt that looked like it was made in the 1930's for $20.00 from an antique store...it was a little tattered and I thought I could just pop it into the washer and then lay it flat to dry and then repair it and add it to my pie safe full of old quilts....when it came out of the washer - it smelled really bad! No smell before it was washed but it now gives off a chemical like oder that has made my throat red and burning...I took it outside to dry and had to air out my house and just finally decided that it has to go- so into a plastic trash bag and into the trash it went...what would cause it to do this? Has anyone else ever come across this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisquilter Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 Wow, Vicki, that is really strange. I am curious if anyone else has encountered this. My sister had an antique quilt that had fabric that glowed in the dark! You just never know what you will find with these old fabrics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queenanne Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 Did it still smell bad after it dried? I've worked with antique silk fabric (beautiful stuff from the 30s) but when I wetted it, it had a horrible chemical smell that disappeared when dry. I found out that they used to treat fabric with nasty chemicals like DDT as an insecticidal agent (now banned). Moths love silk. As mine was only for christening and then stored, I did keep it. There are strong concerns right now with chemicals being used in modern clothing, like formaldehyde to reduce mold while shipping. Some export clothing from China were found 900 times higher than safety levels in a New Zealand study. Other chemicals in our clothing used by some big name clothing manufacturers (like NPEs present in restricted detergents and PPD used in black dyed clothing) are scary stuff. See Dirty Laundry 2 report by Greenpeace. And did you know that the phthalates used to make plastic shoes and Tshirt logos flexible are linked to low sperm counts and hormone disruption, to say nothing of the flame retardant chems that showed effects on rat brain capacity!!! I'm sorry you had to ditch the old quilt, hope it wasn't too painful. If it was just a 'vintage' smell, laundry suggestions have been 2 cups of vinegar/1 cup baking soda in wash or baking soda in wash/vinegar in rinse. Or spray with vodka and dry in the sun! Washing with teatree oil is another. Trick seems to be to get the smell out of the wet washed fabric before drying which can set the smell. If all fails, drink the vodka and start a new quilt! Anne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primitive1 Posted January 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2015 Thanks Anne and Chris....the smell was so strong that I did go ahead and get rid of the quilt because of my reaction to whatever it was....at least is wasn't expensive...in thinking about it, I wonder if it may have had mothballs in it or something.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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