Keeping your embroidered items clean and properly stored will ensure a lifetime of enjoyment. Following these top 11 tips will help keep your projects looking their best. To test a piece, crinkle it gently in your hands while holding it up to your ear. On older pieces, you might hear a gentle crinkling noise as you handle the fabric, which indicates that fibers are breaking. Do not wash a piece that crinkles because this will cause further damage and the piece could disintegrate in the wash. Wool fabrics or items embroidered with wool threads (crewel bedding is most often worked in wool threads on a linen ground) should be dry cleaned by an experienced professional to avoid shrinkage or loss of fibers in the wool threads. Silks also should be dry cleaned as color fading with water bathing can be an issue. New projects, especially redwork, also should be tested for dye transfer, also known as crocking. You can easily test the piece by dipping a swab in water and gently rubbing the threads. If the tip of the swab picks up the dye, the piece should be washed in cold water and rinsed thoroughly until the excess dye is removed. Do not allow the piece to dry until all traces of rogue dye have been washed away, or it could set in the fabric permanently. Heavily soiled items might need a mild bath. Linens that need a thorough cleaning can be freshened easily in room-temperature water with a mild soap like Orvus paste or sodium borate (aka borax) dissolved in water with a ratio of 1 teaspoon per gallon. Allow the piece to soak for 15 to 20 minutes to loosen and release dirt and accumulated debris. Rinse thoroughly after soaking at least twice with clean, room-temperature water. Always avoid using bleach on your linens, as this can damage the fibers or cause yellowing or a pink tinge on fabrics (yes, even whites) that are not meant to be bleached. If gentle cleaning is not sufficient on a white-on-white piece, add just a capful of bleach to the water and swish to blend thoroughly before soaking. Never scrub the piece by rubbing the fabric together or using a brush. This can damage not only the embroidery threads and fibers but the base fabric as well, causing a furry appearance that will never go away. If the area around the embroidered motifs has bunched up around the stitching, gently stretch the piece to flatten (this works with lace edgings that have curled as well). Be sure to stretch in all four directions as well as diagonally for the best results. Stubborn pieces, or those that are skewed, can be blocked into shape by pinning them to a blocking board while they dry. Items with surface embroidery stitches, such as French knots or padded satin stitch that needs to stand out rather than be flattened by ironing, should be pressed face-down on a plush towel or velvet pressing board or needle board. Remember that pressing and ironing are two different things. When pressing, the iron is lifted from the surface of the fabric before being moved to the next spot. This prevents the weight of the iron from stretching the fabric. Ironing, on the other hand, which is done with a back-and-forth motion, can stretch the fabric and should be avoided. If you do find that the stitching has been flattened after ironing, carefully spritz the stitched area using a spray bottle filled with water (use distilled water if you have iron in your water or hard water in your area). The flattened stitches will bounce right back and the background will remain pressed. Always starch an item right before you are ready to use it. Not only will it be crease-free and fresh, but it will last for generations and remain damage-free. To avoid this problem, line your shelves with acid-free paper and wrap the items in acid-free or archival tissue to keep them safe. Another option is to purchase archival-quality boxes from scrapbooking and photography supply houses for storing your treasures. Large items, such as tablecloths or bedding, are best stored rolled rather than folded. This helps to avoid some of the permanent or hard-to-remove creasings that happen when items are stored without re-folding often. You can order acid-free tubes from shipping suppliers or just ask at your local fabric store. The rolls leftover from upholstery fabrics is the perfect size for rolling and storing larger items. Protect the outside edges of the roll by sewing a sleeve out of washed, unbleached muslin. Slip the rolled item into the sleeve and stand it up in a closet. Avoid storing your embroidered pieces in air-tight plastic boxes. Since this isn’t always feasible, especially in areas with high humidity or when storing them for prolonged periods, archival-quality waterproof boxes are available from photography supply and art supply vendors. Also, never frame a piece under glass without spacers. Spacers allow air to flow between the fabric and the glass and help prevent mold, however, your best bet is to display framed pieces without the glass.
