Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Treasures

I have been given some things from my Grandma. Among them, this beautiful crocheted bedspread and also a crocheted table cloth.  Both made with her loving hands.  I treasure them both so much, knowing she touched every stitch. 
They are both in perfect condition, the only problem being, they are dirty.  Does anyone know how to clean them?   I imagine they need to be hand washed, but will be very heavy and fragile when wet. The last thing I want to do is ruin them.  How would I go about drying them?  What do I wash them with? meaning the type of cleaner, or detergent. Would I use detergent?
Even though the beds were smaller in the past, the spread fits my queen size bed.  Although I would like to keep it out, as I am sure it is meant to be seen, I probably will just put in on the blanket chest and not use it as a spread.

This is the bedspread. I can only imagine the time it took to make this.



This is the tablecloth.  The color seems to be ecru, so I don't think it is meant to be white at all.  Won't the holiday table to pretty when the table is decorated using this tablecloth?   I also was given silver napkin rings, with grandma's children's names on them. So I am just thrilled to have my fathers napkin ring.  The laundry was only done once a week, so each family member had their own napkin, which had to last them all week.  Putting your name on the napkin ring made sure you always used your own napkin.
Other treasures I was given, are dishes, tea pots and tea cups.  Oh what fun, it will be to once again use these treasures.

6 comments:

  1. I would probably take it to a dry cleaners that specializes in vintage cleaning services if it was me. I would nervous of hurting it personally.

    Hugs

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  2. I saw a post somewhere the other day, and I thought I bookmarked it, but I can't find it. Someone had an old matelasse bedspread that had really bad stains on it.
    She put it in the bathtub, and soaked it in Oxy clean. It came out perfect. It was also heavy, and she went through the whole process of how she did it because the water got so nasty that she let the water out, and then ran clean water in the tub, but she left the comforter in there the whole time.
    If I run across the post, I will send it to you. I think it was on a blog.
    I have washed old things on the delicate cycle in my washing machine. I just never let it agitate a whole lot, but the spin dry part really got the excess water out, and made the things easier to dry.

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  3. Ditto to Shirley. Oxy Clean is what I use on my old things. I learned to use it because my sil's aunt owns an antique linens store and that's what she uses. These truly are treasures. The table cloth can be used over different colors of solid cloths to make it usable all year round.

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  5. Ok, that didn't work - trying again - Go read this blog post - http://bit.ly/9shhuH

    It will give you all the info you need! I was AMAZED!

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  6. Thank you all for your help. I decided to start with the tablecloth and let it soak in oxiclean. Some think oxiclean will be to harsh, but in reading blog it seems to be used a lot, with no side effects.

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