old batting

[jj49]

My aunt gave me some very old batting, made from the Taylor Co. in Taylor TX. Not sure how old it is but maybe 40's or 50's. Its made of 70% cotton combers and 30% cotton linters. Would this be okay to use for my quilt?

[sewbug]

Cotton batting has lasted longer then the fabric in many old quilts. I don't know of any reason not to use it. It's probably better then any you could buy today.

[CaroleJ]

You might want to pre-shrink it by washing and drying it, if you are going to use it in a finished project that will be washed. Maybe hand wash, swish through some warm water with a TEENY bit of detergent, rinse completely, then hang to dry. It also might be kinda musty; washing it will remove any odors or bugs that might be lurking around.

The cotton battings made today are bound to a synthetic matrix, and shrinkage is minimal (like around 2-3%).

[jj49]

Thanks for the input ladies. The batting has been in plastic bags all these years and when I opened them the plastic practically falls apart. So I don't think there's a problem with dust or anything. One of the things I worried about is that it seems more like cotton balls that will pull apart. It has the look of the cotton batting that you buy today but just seems more fragile. I wondered if that was the different cottons or if it had something to do with the age. I may not chance using it because I'm finally finishing my two year long project of a grandmother's flower garden quilt and don't want to chance something happening to it five years down the road. I just wondered maybe if it was actually a better quality batting because of the "linters" (whatever that might be). All I could find online was that it maybe gives the cotton a silky texture which would might be good for hand quilting which is what I do. Maybe I should try washing and drying it like you suggested Carol, to see how it holds up. This is only my third quilt so I guess I'm not feeling very expert right about now. Sorry to go so long and thanks again for your input.

[CaroleJ]

You are wise to proceed with caution! The last thing you want is the batting coming apart inside the quilt, or bunching up...YUCK! Especially a big project you have put a lot of time and energy into.

If you don't want to waste it...maybe it could be used to stuff pillows or toys? (I hate wasting stuff, but sometimes things are just too far gone to use, ya know what I mean?)

[Quilter7]

I read your question yesterday and did not have any experience or comments, then today received an e-mail that discussed how closely to quilt. Hobbs Batting has a discussion about it. Older batting requires quilting to be much closer (1-inch) apart than the new battings so that is something to consider. The link to Hobbs discussion is: http://how-to-quilt.com:80/articles/500 ... -quilt.php

[jj49]

Thanks for the website Quilter7! It was interesting and shed a little more light on my mystery. I think I'll call the Hobbs manufacturer tomorrow and see if they can tell me anything at all about "linters" and "combers". I'm just curious. I'm definitely leaning toward just not using the batting but I want to find out more. Thanks again for all of your input. It's my first time on the wesite--actually my first time to chat anywhere so it's been a really nice experience. I'll let you know what I find out!

[jj49]

Okay ladies, I don't know if you're even interested in what I found out but I ended up corresponding with a guy from Texas Tech who apparently knows about cotton. He said that since my batting contains mostly "combers" he didn't think it would be very resiliant and wouldn't recover very well when pressure is put on it. He also suggested to use a high micronaire cotton for quilting but said that if I wanted a really good natural fiber batting then I'd have to get it from PAKISTAN!!! He didn't think we could buy that kind of thing here. I thought that was interesting. Anyway, there it is for what it's worth. I guess I'll be purchasing new batting for my quilt.
Thanks again for your input and including me in the forum!
Jeanne

[Quilter7]

This was the first site I chatted on as well and I stayed. I am glad we could help. Please come back and chat with us some more!

[katier825]

I probably would hesitate on using it too. You could try it in a wall hanging, or doll quilts that rather than not use it at all.