soiled embroidery fabric

by Ursula
(Chicago)

I recently received an old (25 year old) needlepoint kit and discovered that the package had been opened, exposing a central part of the design. This area is somewhat soiled and it seems to simply be dirty, not stained. I’ve been hesitant to wash the fabric for fear the printed pattern will wash out. Is there a product out there that will remove the dirt and not the printing? I’m also wondering... if I wash that area only, it may be “cleaner” than the rest of the fabric, or perhaps there would be water stain rings.

I have not yet embroidered the pattern. Any suggestions or ideas?

Thank you for your time. Ursula

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by: hockeymom

You know.. It's been a while since I've had a kit that had the design stamped on the fabric, but I do remember that some patterns are silk-screened onto the fabric and others are done with some sort of stamping of the ink.

I would think that if the design looks like it's been screened on - or placed onto the cloth in another high quality manner - it could be cleaned with a gentle fabric hand-cleaning (like so many of the hand-washing tips on here mention)

I'm wondering if you could use a damped wash-cloth and press lightly onto a tiny section of the pattern first, to make certain it doesn't bleed? Maybe use a white wash-cloth or paper towel so you can also check it and ensure nothing has transferred on to it?

If it looks like a sturdy pattern, it sure sounds like continuing on with a gentle hand-washing might do the trick?

If you're REALLY worried about doing that, I'd go with your thought of trying one of the dirty sections first to see if it cleans it without making the rest of the fabric stand out as "super clean" in comparison.

Since these posts are dated, I'm not sure if you've already figured out a solution or not.. but if you have, maybe you can let us know how it turned out! Take care!! :0)

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