Do Not Use Elastic For Long Term Fabric Storage - The Elastic Wrapped Bolt

About three years ago, there was a massive garage sale, a Bernina teacher, had decided to declutter.  I purchased all sorts of attachments and thread, and could not leave without some white flannel that I thought could be useful.  The sales area was set up with metal garage shelving, each bolt of fabric, neatly stacked and wrapped in plastic, two pieces of elastic holding the fabric in place.




Fast forward, today, the bolt was unwrapped, the elastic, which still had memory was taken off the bolt.   On it's surface, the elastic looked like a good idea, no pin holes or rust, but for long term storage, I wouldn't recommend it.

The marks went straight through to the backside of the fabric, and through layers.

Across the first 2 yards of the bolt.

The tape left less of a mark, but I wouldn't recommend it either.

There are more stains throughout the bolt, not happy.

Actually not sure how to tackle this, googling how to remove set in stains, the first Google result  recommends the following:

Soak set-in stains. If the stain has been there for a while, soak it overnight in a bowl filled with 2 cups warm water, 1 tablespoon liquid dish detergent, and 2 tablespoons Oxiclean. Wring the cloth out and rinse it well under warm water, then inspect it for any remaining stain before laundering.

Here goes.

I didn't follow the exact ratio here, this is more like 5 gallons, 2 tablespoons liquid dish detergent, and 3/4 cup of Oxiclean.  

Oxiclean was worked into the stains with a toothbrush.

Ugh, what are you stairng at?

This was left in the bin, with the lid overnight.

The following day, the stains had lessened but were still visibile.  I decided to stop working on it here, and just throw it into the washing machine.

I did not throw it in the dryer, and just let it air dry, the stains have lessened to a degree, there were some stains on the edges that I didn't see until now.  I had hoped to leave it in direct sunlight to lighten it some more, but it is overcast.  My mother, who could get any stain out, would leave white fabrics in the sun to dry, and mostly it took out those last little shadows..  She also used diluted bleach and would tackle the stain over days some times.

I'm not sure if it would have been better to just by pass the garage sale find and purchase a nice clean piece of flannel from Joann's.  During their February sale,  it was $2.00 a yard.  I'm saying I'm not sure which is better, because, I don't know how the two qualities compare to one another.  I've just recently found out, some flannel shrinks more than others, and if you are using it as batting or in a garment, I would like to find the one that shrinks the least, that looks best longest.  Once the flannel is washed, it loses that brushed quality, and forms pills.  If you look at an old flannel sheet, you'll see what I mean.

I may have to do a test on the different qualities of flannel available at Joann's.