Agreed, and from my knowlege Oxyclean is a bleaching agent/stain remover so I wouldn't suggest using that on anything that was dyed anyway - especially something that could have fugitive dyes like an historic quilt or textile. Plus it's chemical detergent and once you put chemicals on your textile, you need to be able to get them off so there is no residue which could cause long term damage. Wet cleaning is a very arduous (at times) multistep process - that doesn't usually involve a washing machine to spin out the water - and not all textiles are stable enough for wet cleaning for a multitude of reasons some mentioned below by Cass. On Thu, Feb 17, 2011 at 2:00 PM, Cass Karl <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > 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? >> >> ========================================================= >> Important Subscriber Information: >> >> The Museum-L FAQ file is located at >> http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed >> information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message >> to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read >> "help" (without the quotes). >> >> If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to >> [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read >> "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). >> >> ========================================================= >> Important Subscriber Information: >> >> The Museum-L FAQ file is located at >> http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed >> information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message >> to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read >> "help" (without the quotes). >> >> If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to >> [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read >> "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). >> > > ========================================================= Important > Subscriber Information: > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at > http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed > information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message > to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read > "help" (without the quotes). > > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to > [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read > "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). > ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).