Swapping the heavy wool throws for linen in spring, and back again in autumn, is one of the small rituals that makes a home feel cared for. It only works if the pieces you put away come out the same way they went in, rather than creased, faded or smelling faintly of the back of a cupboard.
Clean before you store
Never put a textile away dirty. Skin oils, crumbs and the faint residue of a spilled drink are food for moths and for mould, and both find stored fabric in the dark. Wash cushion covers and cotton throws according to their labels and let them dry completely, ideally outdoors on a breezy day. Wool and macramé pieces usually need only a shake, an airing and a gentle brush, with spot-cleaning where needed.
Fold loosely and let it breathe
Cotton and jute need air. Plastic boxes with tight lids and vacuum bags trap any moisture left in the fibre and are the most common reason a throw comes out spotted. Choose cotton storage bags, an old pillowcase, or a lidded basket lined with a clean sheet. Fold loosely, and roll larger macramé pieces around a cardboard tube rather than creasing the knots.
When the smell is in the room
If everything stored in one place comes out musty, or the cupboard itself smells stale with the door open, the problem is the space rather than the textiles. Look for dark spotting on the back wall, on the underside of shelves and along the skirting. Light surface marks can be cleaned and the space dried with a dehumidifier. Growth that returns, spreads behind boards, or comes with a damp basement wall is a building problem. Readers in the older terraced streets of the American east coast, where summer humidity soaks into brick basements, have told us that getting mold specialists in Baltimore to look at the space was what finally stopped the smell.
Choose the cupboard carefully
The worst places for stored textiles are the ones we use most: under-stair cupboards on an outside wall, the space under the eaves, a garage, or a basement. All of them run colder than the rest of the house, and cold air carries damp into anything stored against it.
Before filling a cupboard, leave a cheap hygrometer in it for a week. Anything regularly above sixty per cent is too damp for fibre. A few cedar blocks or lavender bags help with moths, though they do nothing about damp.
Bringing pieces back out
Air everything for a day before use. Wash anything that smells even slightly, and check the backs of cushion covers and the knots of hangings for spots. A season in the right cupboard should leave them ready to use straight away.
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