Bleaching 30s collars?

[J. Brisbin]

I picked up a set of detachable collars on the bay a while back and while I've got a shirt at the seamstress to have the collar taken off, I thought I'd clean the collars, which are probably early '30s numbers.

I've searched all through the forum here and found varying advice on taking care of these little boogers, but not a lot of concrete information.

Can I bleach these collars? They've got decades of storage discoloration on them. It's not bad, by any means, given their age, but they're not the crisp white they once were. I want to bring that back, so I thought I'd hand-wash them first, then I was wondering about bleach? Will it harm the fabric, or will it work just like modern cotton shirts?

There is some great info here on getting things starched, so I'll probably take that route to get them back to their stiff, former days (they're not soft collars, just pointed stiff linen).

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Depending 'pon what they're made of, you could clean them. Can you get Borax in your neck of the woods? I've had stupendous success with using borax to remove the age discolouration from 30s/40s white shirt collars/cuffs.

bk

 

[shindeco]

I use oxyclean with great success. I sometimes have to soak them for three or four days but they come out bright and white.

 

[Tomasso]

Oxyclean rocks!

I use oxyclean with great success........ they come out bright and white.

ooooooooooo

 

[Miss Sis]

I third the Oxi - clean AND Borax.

You can put Borax in with Oxi - clean and it will be fine. Sometimes you just have to do it a number of times to lift the dingyness out.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Let me get this straight: Oxy-clean eats away at animal fibres, right, so should be okay on fabrics made from plant protein, correct?

bk

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

Personally, I'd be careful with those detergents that use optical brighteners, the substances that make a white shirt "glue" in UV light. ("Blueing" would more traditional and less bad for the environment, though I don't like it much either.)

 

[timo]

OK, I've just acquired some very old starched linen detachable collars, I'll give Oxy-clean a try. Someone please tell me if this will have adverse side affects to linen collars (like removing the starch or destroying them somehow). Otherwise, I'll operate under the presumption that it is completely safe.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Someone please tell me if this will have adverse side affects to linen collars (like removing the starch ...).

Oxyclean will remove the old starch, but that's not an adverse thing at all. You should remove the old starch, because that is precisely what has turned the collar yellow. Once the collar is clean and white again, you will have to re-starch it yourself.

.

 

[timo]

Oxyclean will remove the old starch, but that's not an adverse thing at all. You should remove the old starch, because that is precisely what has turned the collar yellow. Once the collar is clean and white again, you will have to re-starch it yourself.

.

I'm glad I posted here.

OK, that makes sense. How would I go about re-starching them then? I've skimmed over the guide by scotrace, but I'm confused because of the shape of the collars--after starching, do I iron them flat first, then curve both ends so it forms a circle?

edit: he also says it's hard on the shirts, and these are basically antiques. Would spray starch work?

 

[Orgetorix]

Forget the spray starch.

These instructions were posted on the Yahoo group Stiffcollarmen:

One of the most common requests for information we receive is for addresses of laundries which do stiff collars. Unfortunately these are becoming harder and harder to find while at the same time the quality of the laundering itself is declining. It seems that few laundries these days will launder stiff collars to a suitably rigid and glossy finish and those that do still provide a collar laundering service charge almost as much for laundering as it does to buy a new collar.

For many of us, particularly those of us who live outside the U.K. the difficulties involved in getting collars laundered means we are forced to wear modern shirts while being left looking disconsolately at a pile of dirty stiff collars we are unable to get cleaned.

Old fashioned laundries used to have a special type of iron which consisted of heated metal rollers through which the collar was forced. This process apparently both ironed the collar in the round and left the surface with a glossy bright finish. Very few laundries have this equipment any more.

At one time of course, collars were mainly laundered at home, but the knowledge of the methods used to attain the best result has been almost completly lost. You do not need the special equipment found in traditional laundries to get a perfect finish to your collars, but it is a labour intensive process which takes time and more than a little patience. Perhaps it ought to be a required skill for anyone who seeks to join the Guild as a manservant!

The following information was kindly posted on a group message board on the Internet by a gentleman using the nickname collartight who states that he habitually launders all his own collars at home according to a method taught to him by a retired laundress who used to specialise in laundering stiff collars.

“Wash collars in normal way and leave damp. Mix 2 tablespoons of starch powder with a pint of COLD water. Stir well and leave for a few mins. Put damp collars in one at a time and knead the starch mixture into the collar.

Squeeze out lightly and put to dry- top of radiator or similiar. The collars MUST dry completely. Leave them for at least 24 hours before going onto the next stage.

Now roll the collars into a fairly damp towel and allow to dampen all the way through.

On a well padded surface put the collar face down having sprayed with 'Easiron' or similiar. Press firmly with a hot iron until almost dry. Turn it over and repeat being careful not to scorch. Iron carefully until the collar is perfectly smooth and flat.

If you want a polished surface this can be acheived by wiping over the surface of the freshly ironed collar with a damp cloth lightly rubbed onto a bar of white soap and then gently polish the collar with the tip of a hot iron.

The collar can now be folded into shape, held with a peg and put somewhere warm to harden off. Practice makes perfect but some failures are inevitable.”

With a little trepidation, I attempted to follow these instructions. I have a large (and growing) pile of collars which I have been unable to get laundered on my occasional trips to the UK. In case of major disaster, I chose a couple of my least favourite style of collar - a style still commercially available, took a deep breath, and took the plunge.

My first surprise was how thin and watery the starch mixture was. It had the appearance and consistency of milk. On my previous failed attempts at home collar laundry, I had followed the instructions on the starch packet and used boiling water. This had usually left me with a mixture with the consistency and appearance of wallpaper paste which caused a terrible mess and which clung to the collars in gobby lumps which then burned as soon as you tried to iron them. This time, the collars were simply soaked in the mixture, and I put them to dry in the airing cupboard.

I left the collars to dry completely, which took some 24 hours. Most of them dried fairly stiff and rigid, but I found some were rather soft - these were new collars that had never been washed before. I simply put these back into the starch mixture, and let them dry again.

The collars were then rolled up into a damp towel and after leaving them to dampen for a few minutes, I sprayed one with an easy-iron spray.

I had placed a dry towel on the ironing board to further pad it, and started ironing the first collar. In order to avoid scorching, I used a low heat on the iron thinking I could increase the heat if it was not effective. I used the setting for wool and to my surprise found that the collar ironed smooth very easily and without any scorching at all. I was soon able to iron the collar perfectly flat and smooth without any trace of creases or wrinkles.

I discovered it is easier to simply lightly run a bar of white soap over the still damp surface of the collar than to mess about with damp cloths. I also discovered that collars scorch very easily when you iron them after putting soap on them. I managed to scorch two of the four collars I was experimenting with. On the other two however, by dint of lightly running the iron over the soaped collar, I was able to produce a beautiful sheen.

I used paperclips to hold the collars into a round shape, and put them back into the airing cupboard overnight.

The end result is quite acceptable. With a little practice I am sure that I will master the technique, but on my first attempt I was able to produce two collars that are perfectly serviceable and with a satisfying shine to their stiff surfaces. It will be necessary to experiment with the process a little, perhaps altering the proportion of starch to water slightly in order to produce the sharpest and stiffest finish. I felt the collars I did today could be a little stiffer - but then is that not a constant refrain? I was using a rice starch, other types of starch powder may require a different proportion of water. I assume the original instructions were given with a corn starch in mind. This may also have been the reason why some of the collars were so soft on being first starched and had to be starched again.

Disclaimer: I have not tried this method (yet). My first stiff collars are on their way from the UK at the moment.