stains on aida

So long story short I spilt coke on my crossstitch....

how the hell it happened is beyond me, it was on a table about a metre behind me, and somehow I managed to knock the coke backwards and it managed to fly and land right on it =\

i soaked up most of it, but yea, still stains on there. will these just come out when I wash it when I'm done? (its only on the aida, not on any sitches ive already done) or is there something speical i should put on it? do it now or wait til i finish?

Thanks in advance everyone!!


I posted this on a crossstitch fourm, and after a week I got 1 reply today and all it said was 'bleach'. yea thanks people. i'm sure you girls have some ideas or atleast a bit more help than that..
its no where near stitches, so is still possible for me to hand wash the stained bits and not touch the thread i already have done. but does anyone have any ideas??

No idea, but I have ironing marks on my aida that I want to get out :(

looking at google, shampoo apparently for coke stains?

oo shampoo eh.. i might google that. thanks Kazbah

Is it an area that's going to be covered by stitching? If so, I'd probably be inclined to leave it until you're finished and then wash the whole finished piece.

But this is your mammoth project, isn't it? Stranded cotton is meant to be colourfast so there shouldn't be issues washing it, I'd just be worried about losing the sizing in the aida and making the fabric more difficult to work with because it will be so much softer and will lose the "stiffness"... But shouldn't be a big problem if it's in a frame or hoop.

I'm not much help, am I?

BW

your the most help i've got BW!! yea this is my mamoth project. it would have to be wouldn't it =P
Some of it will be covered. some of it wont unfortuantly.

if i just leave it to wash when I'm done do you think that would be ok, i ws planning on handwashing it when i had finished... I'm just concerned it wont come out... like if i have to use a special product on it, i'm better to do it now when there isnt any stitches on it than waiting til afterward. if it doesnt come out i dont know what i would do..

My only other option is to finish the part i'm doing and somehow attach it to another piece and not make it look like i have/out of place...

have you ever had any sort of stain??

I would be inclined to hand wash the stained part if possible. Then using some spray starch and try and iron it until it's stiff again. Coke doesn't usually stain does it? I thoulikely was like beer and tends to wash out

I think I'd be spot cleaning the area that's going to be covered first, but like arcadia I don't think coke will stain like some other things (red wine, for example!) so it should come out fairly easily. Didn't think of the spray starch to stiffen the fabric again so it's easier to work with, but I think it's a great idea.

If you're really worried about staining - perhaps try spot cleaning the area that will be covered first so you've got a bit of leeway to figure out what to do with the area that won't be covered.

Better still - scrap aida, soak in coke - trial different cleaning methods to find the result you like. If you don't have any, I'm sure I can dig through boxes and send you some.

BW

Thankyou so much for your suggestions!! I do have some aida i'm not using, so might try some different things using that. and yea I'll do it now before i stitch on it.

THANKYOU!!! I'll let you know how it goes.

If you have bright threads, then they are not usually colourfast (i.e. bright red etc). You should hand wash the aida. I would wash the whole piece, being very careful around the threads already stitched. The aida itself can take a bit of tough love. This will make sure the whole fabric will loosen together (if it does). It shouldn't though. MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE IT TO DRY ON A FLAT SURFACE OUT OF THE SUN!

The other alternative is to take it to the drycleaners. They have cleaning products that can be used on the fabric.

If the fabric does loosen, I would recommend using a frame to keep the tension even during stitching.