My daughter brought over a beautiful hand crocheted table runner
and asked if I had anything that would remove the nasty stain. It appeared to
have been something close to a black mold on one end and she did say that it
had gotten wet and then sat in her basement a bit before she noticed it.
NOTE: the above photo is AFTER it was cleaned! I unfortunately did not take a BEFORE picture.SEW Sorry.
Having just cleaned a beautiful wedding dress that was worn
by two brides (and not cleaned) but had been balled up and stored in a large Rubbermaid container
in the basement for close to 10 years, I was willing to try something.
First – a soaking in borax and warm water overnight. Second –
soaking in borax and warm water overnight. Third – another soaking in borax and
warm water with a little bit of OxiClean overnight. That seemed to help a bit.
The stain was moving slightly.
SEW – I knew that oxygen was good for removing mold and was great for removing stains, maybe just OxiClean? After soaking three more times in OxiClean
and warm water, and the stain was still visible, I decided to try another
method.
Out came the crock pot. I love my crock pots!
Filling it half full of water and set on low, I waited until
the water was heated and then added one scoop of OxiClean whisking it until
dissolved. Once dissolved the table runner was submerged in the hot water and the lid went on.
Several hours later – as in overnight and yes the crock pot was on low – the stain had lifted
quite a bit! There were only two small spots that were hardly visibly but I
could still see them.
SEW I repeated with fresh hot water and OxiClean and a
second soaking overnight and that did it, NO STAIN!
I rinsed the table runner three times in warm and cool water and then rinsed again with a vinegar and water rinse – to remove any residues left.
Amazing! I wish I had taken a picture of the table runner
before my first attempt to clean this delicate hand crocheted table runner, but
I didn’t. SEW trust me – it was nasty.
And now to gather up my vintage hankies and doilies and give
them all a good soaking in the Crock Pot with an OxiClean soak!
