A Steamy Disaster

Over the weekend I was working on several projects around here including my Lilypads quilt.  I was ironing it and getting it ready to put in the quilting machine.  The white fabric was being a bit troublesome.  Spray starch wasn’t being very successful so I decided that I would steam it….BAD MOVE….
LilypadsStain-1
I filled the iron with water, let in sit a minute or so, and then started steaming….LOOK what happened!  There were rusty stains all over the section you see in the photo.  I got angry, took the quilt and hung it over the back of a chair in the dining room.  I planned to do a “Scarlet O’Hara” and think about it tomorrow.

About five minutes later, the dog I was dog sitting walked over, lifted his leg and peed on it.  (As unbelievable as that is…it’s the honest truth!)

I grabbed the quilt top and immediately rinsed the pee before it absorbed into the fabric.  That was successful, but I still….I had that rust stain. 

Hubby said I should tackle the stain before I machine quilt….Then the next day Kelli came home and said the same.  So I tried to get the stain out….Here are the results.
LilypadsStain-2
The stains came out!….I used Stain Be Gone, the product that is shown in the photo.  I LOVE that stuff.  It is my favorite stain remover.  Our Wal-Mart carries it and better yet, it’s only about $2 a bottle.

The quilt still didn’t make it to the quilt machine yet…but at least it’s stain free.

Moral of the story:  After filling the iron with water, first steam onto a old rag, just in case there is residue in the iron.

8 thoughts on “A Steamy Disaster”

  1. Not to make less of your wild quilt top mess, my husband and I had a good chuckle over your post this morning! The only reason I could laugh about it was because you were able to get the stain out! I’ve got to know though, is that dog still alive?? Is he still allowed in the house? ;-) May all the rest of the quilting you do in your life be urine-free!

  2. funny, funny story!! Glad all is once again in good condion. I’m going to get that product. I never trust my iron. I use a cloth between the iron and my good fabric.

  3. Oh, I feel your frustration! Been there, done that (NOT the dog part!). There must be some way to rinse out the iron – vinegar and water? Or something? So glad it turned out okay in the end. ~karen

  4. Not sure if Iowa has the extremely hard water that we do here in Nebraska, but I’ve had the same problem. I now use bottled water, not distilled, but the drinking water in my iron.

  5. That happened to me recently with steam and white fabric (though not quite as bad a stain). I putting that Stain be Gone on my shopping list! I did giggle a little when you got to the dog part (sorry), one of those “if it can go wrong, it will” Glad it all “washed” out in the end!

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