crewel, before & after washing

Here are the before and after photos of the crewel work from Hilo, Hawaii. I washed it last night and it is almost dry.

It was a little grungy before washing, especially the light areas such as the sky. A light washing with Dawn and a good soak in cold water did the trick.

Much better! It will need some repair, conservation and possibly some restoration. The color of the sky was once blue, and there may be a way of restoring it. For now, I'm happy with how well it cleaned up with a bath.