Old Cat Pee on Antique Autograph Quilt Top ... Unsalvageable?

[antiquarienne]

About 10 years ago, I acquired a ca. 1915 autograph quilt top, made up of solid red & white blocks - the white ones have inked signatures. I think it may be a "Red Cross" quilt top since it's World War I era.

I had it folded up at the foot of a bed up in our seldom-used attic bedroom, and recently decided I wanted to list in on eBay. I was horrified to discover that it had been peed upon by our cat, who passed away 6 years ago. In researching how to possibly clean it, I've come across suggestions of using white vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, or an enzymatic pet urine cleaner, but I'm worried about the effects of these on the old solid red fabric AND the inked signatures.

Anyone have any experience with this difficult problem? I suppose I could take it apart and sell just the undamaged blocks as a last resort, but I wish I could keep the whole quilt top intact.  

[newyorkramsey]

I'm sorry this happened to you.  I would first bring it to a dry cleaner and ask for suggestions.  If you have a "French" cleaners near you, try them, too.  They tend to specialize in wet cleaning.  Did the pee go through the folds and create stains in many places?  If you see any dried pee crystals, try to gently vacuum them first.  Whatever you try, test it with a cotton swab in a tiny place first, to see how it affects the color and ink.  I don't know if the enzymatic urine cleaners work, but I would be tempted to try that.  I think one of the problems will by trying to keep the "tide lines" at bay.   I think you would have to do tiny areas at a time, with qtips. An advantage of hydrogen peroxide is that it doesn't need to be rinsed.  It breaks down into water and oxygen.  It is the active ingredient in oxiclean, but without the surfactant.  If you try hydrogen peroxide, get the 10% or 30% version (I think it's used for hair bleaching).  Regular hydrogen peroxide from the drug store is 3%.   I don't think vinegar will do much.  It's just a weak acid.  These are just ideas -- I have no experience with this problem.  I wish I could be of more help.