how to remove mildew from cloth?

I rescued some bedding that was sitting in a trash can open to the weather for a month...so sun and rain...warm temps.

The organic cotton sheets came out perfect with washing soda and a little bleach (the only time those sheets will see bleach)...a cotton blanket had not mildewed so looks like new after washing....hung all in the sun.

But the bamboo/cotton throw has two large areas in the middle with mildew and rust.
The rust I could live with...maybe even use some natural dyes to disguise but the mildew?

The tag on the throw says not to use bleach or peroxide or vinegar, just a mild detergent, so I mixed up some pretty concentrated washing soda and ran it through the machine a couple times, hanging in the sun to dry in between washes.

second photo is of the rust and mildewed areas...first photo shows the good area.

That is a pretty throw so I hope you find something that works.

There are several things to.

Maybe start by soaking in vinegar, and then soaking baking soda aka bicarbonate of soda.

Looking forward to other suggestions.

Please let us know what worked.

Thank you Anne!
The tag on the throw says not to use bleach, vinegar or peroxide...including any detergent that contains them.
I'm about to try one of them though since repeated washes with washing soda and lots drying in direct sun have not worked.

What is the fabric content that cannot handle vinegar or hydrogen peroxide?

Anne Miller wrote:What is the fabric content that cannot handle vinegar or hydrogen peroxide?

I guess it must be the bamboo since cotton should be ok with those?
either that or the manufacture is being extra cautious.

I'll try the peroxide next week and report back

we have a lot of mildew issues here (she says on the 3rd straight day of rain....) and I have a lot of luck with peroxide. I might use normal liquid first aid kit, peroxide oxy-bleach detergent, or (more likely) hair peroxide, which my daughter often has around and it's sort of creamy, easy to spread and keep it focused on the spots that need treatment.

I also recently discovered sodium percarbonate, which breaks down to peroxide and washing soda. It has gotten rid of real horrible things for me, without all the associated added nasties of the oxy bleach or other cleaning products. It needs to be activated in warm or hot water and used before it breaks down, then you soak your stained clothing, but I had a pillowcase that looked a lot like your photo there and it got it all out.

I would be concerned about getting out the rust stain first, I haven't had a lot of experience with rust and i think that requires an acid.


(I have used peroxide on almost all kinds of clothing, except for wool and silk, and i've never had a problem. i wonder if the throw cautions against just for colorfast purposes.)

I would just dye it. If you have washed it thoroughly, it is clean. Just hide the color.

There are also color removers that you can use before dyeing. Sometimes I got tid of stains using those.

thanks everyone!
I'm planning to try something more drastic this week...then maybe a dye as I have a lot of bodark that should mask the rust? and onion skin and weld.  A bunch of dye stuff I need to use up or give away.