I have not heard anything about Oxyclean either, but I have always
understood that one should never soak or submerge antique textiles in
water.  It can cause running of dyes, shrinking or stretching, and many
other problems that would be especially damaging to a pieced quilt.  I know
that occasionally antique textiles can be spot-cleaned with water and
sometimes even detergents, but that must be assesed by a conservator on a
case by case basis.  Just my two cents...
-Cass

On Thu, Feb 17, 2011 at 12:30 PM, N'Gadi, Ann <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hello -
>
> You may want to check out the following sites:
>
> MCI's Tips on How to Handle Antique Textiles and Costumes
> http://www.si.edu/mci/english/learn_more/taking_care/handletex.html
>
> MCI's Textile Stain Removal
> http://www.si.edu/mci/english/learn_more/taking_care/stains.html
>
> There are several other Textile "guidelines" there also.
>
> American Institute for Conservation (terrific section on Caring for your
> treasures)
> http://www.conservation-us.org
>
> Best wishes,
> Ann N'Gadi
> Technical Information Specialist
> MCI
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf Of Ginger Frembling
> Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2011 12:52 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Quilt/Textile Preservation
>
>  I did a presentation on textile preservation this week to a quilting
> guilde.  Afterwards a lady came up and asked me about cleaning an  antique
> quilt.  We talked about surface cleaning and hand cleaning with our old
> standby Orvus.  But she had apparently talked with an antique quilt "expert"
> (non-museum) about cleaning it earlier and that person told her the
> following:  Fill up her washer with cold water and add Oxyclean.  Soak the
> quilt without aggitation and then spin the water out.  Have to be honest.  I
> cringed.  But my question to you is....is Oxyclean safe for historic
> textiles?  Maybe I need to update my conservation knowledge, but I haven't
> heard anything about using it.  Any thoughts?
>
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