AboutHenry Babcock Expertise I learned needlepoint from my grandmother over 30 years ago. I can answer most questions on the subject. I know about producing needlepoint as well as cleaning, repairing and restoring.
Question I have found two needlepoint kits in my mother-in-law's home that I am cleaning out. Both the canvases have yellowed a little bit and I wondered if there is a way to clean them. I would love to finish both but thought I should clean the canvases first before I stitched on them.
Thank you
Answer Sarah,
When needlepoint canvas is made, they finish it with a substance like starch to make it kind of stiff; this is called sizing. What has most likely happened is the sizing has aged and turned yellow.
You could try washing the canvases lightly with a mild soap. There are some good instructions for washing and blocking here:
You will have to block the canvases to keep them square until they dry. While the canvases are still damp, lightly spray each side with some spray starch, then go ahead and block them.
After you are done stitching the canvases, you will wash and block them again, but this time the starch, from the previous blocking, will wash out and you will block without any starch.
