Trying to save this blanket!

[lovepiggie]

Hello!

I work at a baby shop, and we've had this blanket lying around forever... It was in our display, with crayons on it, and the crayon melted on the blanket...

It's a beautiful cotton knitted blanket (Piccolo Bambino). My boss gave it to me, because obviously we can no longer sell it...

How can I save it? It's not so much of an issue of wax on it - it was a soy crayon, so it melted pretty much into nothing, right into the fibers.

I've scrubbed it with Hydrox, put some Tide to Go on it and left it to dry.. Hopefully that will help. Any other tips?

(It's a white blanket...vs a blue crayon)

[ElliesMomma]

dye it blue to match the crayon??

[Chamomile Girl]

People use soy wax to batik so even if it has melted into the fibers you still need to get it out to be able to wash the blanket normally. Otherwise you run the risk of the wax melting in the wash.

When I batik, to get out the wax I pour boiling water through the fabric which I have stretched over a pot with clothes pins. Soy wax melts at a cooler temp so you wouldn't need the water to be boiling, which is good as the blue stain is less likely to set that way. If you can get your hands on some synthrapol detergent it might totally take out the blue stain. It is a detergent specifically made to take unwanted dye out of fabric. It will also remove any residual wax. Heck I'll bet soy wax will come out with just synthrapol alone. You can probably find it at a craft store (or if you can't find it locally you can get it through Dharma Trading Company).

[zebra15]

well if your gonna use it for your kids, i wouldn't worry about it and just 'use the blanket as is'.    a white blanket is bound to get dirty.

[lovepiggie]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

I considered just dying it blue, but we live in an apartment and aren't allowed to use dyes in the washing machine! Also, the white would kind of match.

And I know it will never be perfectly white, which is fine, because as a pp said - it will be for my kids, haha. I just didn't want this big lump of blue wax in it. (The wax had kind of soaked into the fibers, making the threads really stiff).
 

Originally Posted by Chamomile Girl 

People use soy wax to batik so even if it has melted into the fibers you still need to get it out to be able to wash the blanket normally. Otherwise you run the risk of the wax melting in the wash.

When I batik, to get out the wax I pour boiling water through the fabric which I have stretched over a pot with clothes pins. Soy wax melts at a cooler temp so you wouldn't need the water to be boiling, which is good as the blue stain is less likely to set that way. If you can get your hands on some synthrapol detergent it might totally take out the blue stain. It is a detergent specifically made to take unwanted dye out of fabric. It will also remove any residual wax. Heck I'll bet soy wax will come out with just synthrapol alone. You can probably find it at a craft store (or if you can't find it locally you can get it through Dharma Trading Company).

This is a great suggestion! Thank you very much.. And good to know about running the risk of the wax melting! I wouldn't have even thought of that, and probably would have washed it with our other quilts... Yikes. I will look for synthrapol!
 

[LeighPF]

You can also do a die bath in a bucket or on the stove.

[Chamomile Girl]

If your sink is stainless you can just use that to dye in too.