Sprite Stitch Board!

Hi, I'm new here, and I just purchased some DMC floss from ebay that came from an estate sale, so it is a bit dirty and therefore discolored. Is there a way to wash the entire skein before I use it or should i just stitch like normal and wash it in the end? I searched the forum and found plenty on how to wash it when I'm done, but nothing about acquiring dirty floss. Any help is very much appreciated!

Hey, I'm no expert but I would probably take a sample of the floss and give it a wash and see how that turns out before incorporating it into a project. YOu wouldn't want to have a nasty surprise after working so hard on it right?
I think applying the instructions on how to wash a completed work would apply easily to just washing floss Good luck!

Is it dusty or actually discolored? If it's from an estate sale, I imagine its just very old and has faded due to light and age. As far as I know this isn't fixable. But definitely give it a wash to see what happens!

Slipstreamed wrote:Is it dusty or actually discolored? If it's from an estate sale, I imagine its just very old and has faded due to light and age. As far as I know this isn't fixable. But definitely give it a wash to see what happens!

It has visible dirty areas as far as I can tell, here's a close up pic to show you what I mean. The seller didn't have it listed as an estate sale floss supply and their pics made it look a lot better, so I'm a bit annoyed, but that's what I get for not asking I guess.

I don't have any experience in this particular sort of situation, but if it's 100% cotton it should be fine to wash.
Stick it in some water (temp 40 - 50 C) with a gentle detergent (I use one for cottons, wools and delicates - which is what I clean my finished stitchings with) and carefully clean it. Then rinse and let it dry naturally.

I'm not sure if that really helps, but I hope it did

Thanks for the replies everyone, it's much more helpful than the knowledge I have on this >.<

They are DMC floss, so I'm hoping it will just come out with washing. Again, thanks all

Good luck!

DMC floss does not (noticeably) bleed when washed. You might want to hand wash a few in cold water with a tiny amount of detergent to see if it is discolored or just dirty.

I think that if it's just a little dirty it's fine to stitch with it and wash it afterwards as long as it is not sticky - that way it's not rubbing off onto other thread...
If it's discolored you'll have to decide if it's worth keeping... usually a small amount of discoloration is not noticeable.

Just think of it this way, if it is discoloured, then you have cheap variegated floss!

Anyways, hope it all works out for you.