Destinkifying

     Not sure if the title is a word, but it describes what I had to do. I had received a boatload of fabric from a woman, but it all had that basement musty smell. I usually do not wash fabric until the quilt is made, and then wash the whole quilt. Like the way that looks. However, I was afraid if I washed it then and the smell did not come out, I could not give the quilt.
     I did a test run with some fabric and washed it, but after the dryer it still smelled. I googled musty smell in fabric and took some suggestions there. I laid the fabric in my yard in the sun. It took 4 rounds to get it all done. My neighbors were puzzled by this crazy display four different times. I tried to explain. The sunshine did a lot to remove the smell. Then I put the fabric in the wash, filled with hot water and detergent. I let the machine agitate for a while and then put a cup of white vinegar and let it sit for about half an hour and then resumed the machine. After drying the fabric, absolutely no smell. The extra work was well worth it because now I have backing for a lot of comfort quilts. Yay!

Not high tech, but 4 times later, it was smelling sweet