As careful as you might be over the course of a year of stitching on the same piece of fabric, you may start to notice the build up of grime and oils from your hands. Luckily for you, fixing this problem is easier than you expect. I’ve written this guide in order to take you through the steps of cleaning your embroidery journal or other embroidery pieces. If your journal just needs a quick touch up, I also have steps for that process towards the end of this guide.
If you look to where my finger is pointing, you can see a line of grime that is a few inches long.
This happens from time to time and is completely normal.
Supplies List
- Your Embroidery Journal or another embroidery piece
- A large bowl
- Dish soap
- Warm water
- A towel
- Iron & Ironing Board
Cleaning Your Journal Made Easy
First things first, remove your embroidery journal from its hoop. Set your hoop to the side.
Next, grab a large bowl and fill it with warm, soapy water. I typically use about a teaspoon of dish soap for this step.
Take your piece of fabric and place it in the warm, soapy water. If there are any specific spots that you’d like to focus on removing, gently rub at the fabric using your fingers.
Once you’re satisfied with how your embroidery journal is looking, rinse it under a tap until there are no soap bubbles on your fabric. Be careful not to wring out your fabric as this has a chance of causing wrinkles or damaging your stitches.
Grab a towel and place your embroidery journal on it and set it out to dry.
This last step isn’t necessary, but I always love the way it makes my embroidery journal look. So if I’m taking mine out of the hoop anyways, I typically give it a good touch up. So, grab an ironing board and an iron. Give your embroidery journal a quick iron, I tend to avoid ironing my embroidered sections, but that’s up to you.
How Often Should You Do This?
This isn’t something that needs to be done particularly often, but it all depends on how careful you are with your embroidery journal. I tend to make sure that my hands are clean before touching mine and I don’t eat food when handling it. I do recommend cleaning your embroidery journal as soon as you start to notice the build up of dirt and oils on it.
Typically, I clean my journal every three to four months and once at the end of the year.
What if it Doesn’t Need a Full Clean?
I give my embroidery journal a quick touch up about once a week. This is due to the fact that I sketch on my icons before I embroider them by using a water soluble marker.
For this process, it’s a lot less intensive. I don’t even remove my journal from the hoop!
All I do is dab a small amount of water onto the areas that need marker removed. Once I’ve finished doing this, I place my embroidery journal in my windowsill to dry. Typically, it only takes a couple of hours to dry.
Cleaning your embroidery journal doesn’t have to be difficult. Hopefully this post makes it a bit easier on you.
What is an Embroidery Journal?
An Embroidery Journal is a project that lasts over the course of a year. By the end of the year, you’ll have 365 icons that in some way represents every day of your year. This is my third year working on one and I’ve loved every moment. If you’re considering starting your own, then check out the Create Your Own Embroidery Journal Guide.
Enjoyed this post? Then check out some of my other blog posts or purchase the in-depth embroidery journal guide. You can also join the free Embroidery Journaling Facebook group to chat with others working on Embroidery Journals. Follow me on any of the following social media websites: