I wanted to add that any textile benefits from a regular airing and refolding. My thing is specifically quilts and it's recommended that stored quilts be taken out once a year, examined for bugs or other damage, then laid flat for at least a day or two to air out and allow the creases to relax and then refolded in a different pattern to prevent permanent creasing. Many quilt collectors make it a habit to change the quilt on their guest bed once or twice a month to display each quilt in turn, killing two birds with one stone. For new quilts we are seeing the "crumple" method of storing recommended. You gently stuff the unfolded quilt into a large cotton bag, willy-nilly. This method prevents permanent crease lines from forming over time. If you want to try this on vintage or antique quilts, you must carefully assess the condition of the fabrics in the quilt as it will damage brittle fabrics--but such quilts should be stored flat anyway. Even rolling them on tubes will cause brittle fabrics to shatter. Annie

The musty smell can probably be removed with washing. Bleach is pretty tough on fabric. The older the fabric, the more chance that bleaching can hurt the fabric. Try to avoid using chlorine bleach on delicate fabrics. There are special cleaners out there for vintage fabrics. But mostly, I use either OxyClean or Clorox 2--both have no chlorine bleach in them. That's for general stains. And Dawn for oily stains. What I do is soak the item in a dishpan full of warm water and either OxyClean or Dawn. It frequently takes several soakings to completely remove a stain. So I'll start soaking in the morning and change out the water in the evening and let the item soak all night. This could go on for several days. Unless there's delicate thread work or lace on the linens, I'd start by washing in a machine on the delicate cycle. Or handwashing with a long soak. Then line dry the linens out in the sunshine, as sun is also a good bleaching agent. But do not put the linens in the dryer, as that will only set stains. If the linens need more help, start soaking them in OxyClean or Dawn. This would be safe even for the colored linens. If the cross-stitch work is in color, do test the item for colorfastness first. You may have to do only cold water washes/soaks for those items. Chlorine bleach will remove the color from the stitchery, so avoid that.

linda--you make me laugh! i started to write you a note about this before i posted and deleted it because i thought "oh here you go asking her some cleaning thing again--don't you know there's a forum for that?" tee hee, tee hee! i think the reasoning behind not too much agitating the metallic stuff is because the threads are more brittle. the linen will last half of forever as long as you aren't pressing creases into the fabric but not those other threads... i ran out of oxiclean last weekend and certainly could get some but figured the borax might do...the shout is good for stain removal and thanx but no, it doesn't contain chlorine. it's surfactants and enzymes but i always worry about anything that is good at removing stains and what it might do to things--just feeling cautious. i think i'll experiment on the metallic piece that already has a significant stain on it as i won't cry if my hoped-for solution isn't a good one.

Hi, I had the same problem with an old frame I found. Sorry to report, I had no luck. Nothing I did could clean it. In fact, I think it just ground the dirt into the fibers. I am going to go to my local craft/fabric store to get some of their by-the-yard ribbon. I know they have one their that is natural with a faint linen-like weave to it. I am going to glue mine right over the top of the old stuff. I know my mom has used deep blue velvet ribbon on frames too.