Expert: Patricia - 4/18/2010

Question
I just brought home some beautiful crochet Thread Hexagons from a co-worker.. His mom didnt finish the bed cover before she passed away and i offered to put them all together. When I was laying them out I noticed that most of the 45 are yellowing (alot toward the edges). there are only a few that are still bright white. Im nervous about trying to whiten them, is there any safe way to do it without ruining them? also, 5 of them look like they have dime size rust stains on them... how should i go about treating those?

I would reallllly appreciate any help and advice you could provide.. Thank you!

Brittany

Answer
Brittany,
I've had similar situations with old crochet.  I've had good luck with soaking in a Clorox bleach solution.  I guess about a half cup of bleach to a gallon of water.  Just make sure that the solution is well mixed and soak the pieces overnight.  If you're not sure, try soaking just one, just to see if it'll make a difference.  I don't know if that'll take care of the rust or not though. Maybe you can treat those areas first with the bleach solution and baking soda, oxyclean or something you've had luck with.  Use a toothbrush and make sure it gets in between the threads.  Then put it down in the bleach solution.

Afterwards, rinse it really, really well and  block the pieces.  Leaving the bleach solution in the piece is what causes damage.

Good luck.  Let me know if I can be of any further help.

-Patricia