24 June 2010

qu'est-ce que c'est?





I found this piece of cloth at Les Puces du Canal.

It's fairly large -- 1.2m by 3.5m. Perhaps it is a tablecloth? I wonder if it's too big (too narrow and too long) to be a tablecloth? It cannot be a bedspread. What is it?









Whatever it is, I love the way it's patched up everywhere. Someone made stitches here and there to reinforce the thinning fabric. This cloth was much loved and well taken care of, I can tell.

When I picked it up at Les Puces, this cloth radiated the smell of mold. I went home and immediately washed it in the quick cycle (30 minutes), using cold water and a small amount of regular laundry detergent. That did nothing!

Undetered, I put it back in the washer with diluted bleach solution and ran it through the regular cycle (2 hours --gotta love French wash machines!) at the 30℃ setting. Still the cloth came out smelling musty. One more wash in the 2-hour/bleach/40℃ setting helped, but the musty smell is not completely gone.

Someone suggested line-drying it in the full sun, and I wish I could. There's no balcony in this apartment, and the only room that gets direct sun does not have any room whatsoever.


I'll try two more times (full cycle, hot water, and with bleach) before designating it to the role of a picnic blanket.

I'm actually having fun with this après-purchase process, and for 8€, this piece of cloth has provided better entertainment than anything else in a long time.





4 comments:

Senegal Daily said...

To be honest, I always thought line-drying in the sun was way overrated. When I moved to Africa (the first country I lived in without a dryer) it took about two weeks for me to start thinking those detergent ads in the US with a woman drying her clothes in the warm spring sun were a total marketing scam.

But that's just me :)

Beautiful fabric, in any case.

cocopuff1212 said...

I, too, think about all the polution in the air, pollen and what not.... Not a very pleasant thought. And, let's admit, it's also labor-intensive.

Nico said...

I'll answer in French if you dont mind !

Je trouve que ça ressemble fortement à ce qui entourait les matelas de lits de nos grands-parents. Ceci étant, la dimension du tissu m'interpelle : il se pourrait que cette pièce ait été coupée, ou bien qu'elle servait pour un lit pour enfant...

My 2 cents !

cocopuff1212 said...

Mattress cover? That's interesting and I think it's entirely possible! Thank you very much :)