Tips and Tricks Tuesday #10 - The Burlap Debate

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE DETAILS FOR ALL THREE NEW LINKY PARTIES HERE AT THE COTTAGE!

Welcome to the tenth Tips & Tricks Tuesday linky party here at the Brambleberry Cottage.

Let's take a peek at a couple of the great links from last week.

Andrea @ Willow Wisp Cottage shared her tips for "prettying up" and organizing a laundry room.  

I'd say that's the perfect way to transform the mundane to the marvelous!

It's that time of year again!  And those of us who choose to steer clear of the ghoulish decor of the season can still enjoy the fun festivities of fall with handmade treasures from Barbara Jean @ Treasures from the Heart.

And now it's time for another Brambleberry Cottage tip.

We all know the popularity of decorating and crafting with burlap today.  But, are you aware of the heated debate over whether this inexpensive decorating wonder is washable or not?

Some say, "Go for it!"  But most say, "No way!"

Not one to go by mere hearsay, I thought I would put it to the test.

When I purchased my burlap, it had a rather unpleasant, strong chemical odor.  Since the project I want to use it for involves my dining table, I knew I had to give washing a try.

I filled the washer with warm water, added my detergent–ECOS, a 100% natural brand–and baking soda and let the machine agitate on the gentle cycle for a minute or two.

Then I stopped the machine and added the whole three-yard piece of burlap and turned the washer back on.

Exactly as had been predicted by the numerous articles I had read, the burlap frayed and left quite a bit of lint in my washer.

As you can see from this close-up, the burlap itself was covered in lint, as well.  My first thought was that I had just ruined a perfectly good piece of burlap and had created quite a mess for myself in the process.

Nope, that's not pet fur you see on top of my washer.  That's the frayed ends I cut off–on the left–and the lint I pulled off the piece by hand.

I forgot to snap a shot of the inside of the washer, but take my word for it, it was not a pretty picture.

I'm not one to give up easily, so I decided to throw th piece in the dryer on medium heat and see how much more of a mess I could make whether I could salvage anything.

While the burlap was drying, I was using the Shop Vac to vacuum out my washer.  UGH!!!

I had read that drying it in a dryer would cause a lot of wrinkles.  Yep.  That part was accurate, too.

This is what it looked like when I took it out of the dryer and hung it up to get a better look.

This angle gives you the perspective of the wrinkles when it was on a flat surface.

And yes, the lint filter of my dryer was loaded!

Though the articles I read indicated that it was next to impossible to get the wrinkles out I figured I had nothing–but my piece of burlap–to loose by trying.

This is what it looks like now, after ironing it with my iron set for steam ironing on the highest possible setting.

Is it as perfectly smooth as when it was first purchased?  No.  Does it smell like chemicals–as it did when I first purchased it?  No.  Is it softer and more pliable?  Yes.

So, is burlap washable?  Well, mine was.  Is it worth the mess?  Only you can decide that one.

I would not have been happy with that horrible chemical odor in my home.  And while I didn't care for the mess that was generated to wash it, I'm glad I did.