Cleaning a Vintage Tie

[High Pockets]

After doing a "search" using the words necktie cleaning and realizing that those two words must have been used in over 75% of past threads, I figured I'd just ask outright;
Now that I have a half dozen ties of various material from the 1930s and 40s, most of which look very much like I thought a 70 year old necktie would,.....filthy, I'd like to ask those of you who have a collection yourselves; how have you cleaned them?

I tried Woolite and cool water followed by a cool rinse on the first two. Not bad results, but I tried to iron them on the silk/synthetic setting without leaving shiny spots on the face of the tie and failed miserably. I took them to be dry cleaned hoping this would yield better results and again; wong-a-rooski! They looked worse! I think they ironed the ties on the same long thing they use to put a knife-edge crease in my starched Wranglers!

After I got them home I was disgusted and wet them with cool water and hung them out on the deck to dry,....now they have a slight twist to them caused by the anigogle weave of the material, which is either silk or rayon, the fabric it too old for me to tell.

Can you help me?

 

[Guttersnipe]

You might try having them repressed...

But, honestly past experience has taught me to avoid most vintage ties with anything but very minor issues. They are generally hard to get clean and fresh looking again, and even if you can, if you pay $10-15 bucks to get them looking right, ya might as well have just paid the extra dough for one in that condition in the first place and saved yourself the hassle to boot!

 

[John in Covina]

http://tiecrafters.com/cleaning.html

 

[High Pockets]

But, honestly past experience has taught me to avoid most vintage ties with anything but very minor issues. They are generally hard to get clean and fresh looking again, and even if you can, if you pay $10-15 bucks to get them looking right, ya might as well have just paid the extra dough for one in that condition in the first place and saved yourself the hassle to boot!

Great advice indeed!

Part of the problem is the only place I've found offering ties like these are Ebay,....where a twenty dollar tie can be perfect, and a sixty dollar tie ends up being nothing but a piece of trash. I would love to find a supplier of (for lack of a better term), "reproduction" 1940's ties, brand new neckties that are as shiney and as beautiful as the ones my father and grandfather unboxed 65 years ago.

Thanks for the link John,...I'll be checking that out!

 

[High Pockets]

Wow!!! I figured out how to post pics!!!

Here are the ties I'm talking about.

 

[Feraud]

I've used Oxyclean with good results and allow to drip dry. Also, I believe the ties were rayon and not silk.

 

[tonyb]

I've used Oxyclean with good results and allow to drip dry. Also, I believe the ties were rayon and not silk.

I've read numerous sources advising against using Oxiclean (fare thee well, Billy Mays, by the way) on protein fiber, so yes, it sounds like it would be safe on rayon but best avoided on silk.

I happen to have firsthand experience (going back quite some number of years, before I joined the online world, where one can read up on such things without expending a great deal of effort) with some other things you just plain should NOT to do with silk, one of which is subject it to bleach.

 

[Guttersnipe]

Great advice indeed!

Part of the problem is the only place I've found offering ties like these are Ebay,....where a twenty dollar tie can be perfect, and a sixty dollar tie ends up being nothing but a piece of trash. I would love to find a supplier of (for lack of a better term), "reproduction" 1940's ties, brand new neckties that are as shiney and as beautiful as the ones my father and grandfather unboxed 65 years ago.

Thanks for the link John,...I'll be checking that out!

There really aren't any companies that reproduce the bold look 40's ties like you posted that I've ever seen (or at least were any good IMHO). Magnoli Clothiers makes a few 30's ties look great - check their site.

Search the term dead-stock and NOS (new old stock) in combination with your regular e-bay search. Also, if you're getting $60.00 ties that turn out to be in awful condition, you do have recourse as an e-bay buyer and you do not have to stand for that.

But better than e-bay is antique malls. Often times dealers will put ties out as an after though and you can get them for a song. I know I once paid less than $20 for 7-8 completely condition mint ties from the 30's and 40's at one of those places...

Good luck and happy hunting!

 

[tonyb]

Guttersnipe has it right. In recent months I've purchased quite a few 1930s-'50s ties, several of which are comparable to the printed ones you posted photos of above, for five bucks a pop at a local antique/vintage/old junk peddler's shop.

In general, the more removed from the "hipper" precincts, the better the prices on such things. At least that's the case out here. The shop where I've scored so many ties (and lots of other great stuff cheap) is a solid 60 miles or more from the big city.

Cleaning and pressing ties was apparently done frequently back a half century and more ago. I've bought a few that were pressed kinda crookedly. I just hand washed 'em and laid 'em out flat to dry, in a shape more closely approximating the correct one, and then pressed 'em. Be careful with the iron's temperature setting and take the other usual precautions, such as using a press cloth (if the situation calls for it) and pressing from the BACK side, and you oughta be okay.

Those ties of yours look pretty good to me, by the way.

 

[John in Covina]

http://thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=5680

 

[Widebrim]

But careful with that iron!

I use Wool 'n Care, Cold Water Wash (available at the 99cent store), the poor man's alternative to Woolite. Two quarts of cool water with one capfull of Wool 'n Care, soaked for three minutes does the job for most ties. Rinse with cool or lukewarm water, shape to the best of your ability, then hang up to dry (I fold mine in half). Now, as far as pressing is concerned, that is something you do not want to do, unless you have some type of tie press. By this, I don't mean the real old device with two, hinged halves into which you insert the tie and then press together (sort of like an "iron maiden" for neckties). Rather, it is usually a piece of wire which is sort of shaped like a tie, and which is inserted into the tie itself. A damp cloth is placed over the area to be ironed, and because the wire is (ideally) pressing out and against the perimeter of the necktie, the material is not flattened, but rather retains the edge roll which makes a necktie a necktie. Hang up again until thouroughly dry, then remove and enjoy! (Caveat: I wouldn't suggest trying this with "hand-painted" and/or bright silk ties; there's a good chance that the colors will run.)

 

[Marc Chevalier]

There really aren't any companies that reproduce the bold look 40's ties like you posted that I've ever seen (or at least were any good IMHO).

Not anymore, that's true. In the late '80s and early to mid '90s, two silk tie lines were produced with excellent repro '40s designs: "Format" and "Modules". Long gone, but they can still be found on eBay and in thrift stores. In the '90s, "Polo Ralph Lauren" also reproduced 1940s designs on its ties.


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[J. M. Stovall]

I've cleaned many ties with excellent results using Fels Naptha. It's a bar soap to pre-treat stains that's been made for more than a hundred years. I use it to clean many different items too. Most often I just make a lather and treat the spot, but I've also grated it and let things soak overnight. It's not too hard to find online. I read about it here on the lounge several years ago.

 

[Widebrim]

I've cleaned many ties with excellent results using Fels Naptha. It's a bar soap to pre-treat stains that's been made for more than a hundred years. I use it to clean many different items too. Most often I just make a lather and treat the spot, but I've also grated it and let things soak overnight. It's not too hard to find online. I read about it here on the lounge several years ago.

Have you ever found that soaking for too long has adversely affected a tie, and have you ever used it on silk?

 

[Guttersnipe]

Not anymore, that's true. In the late '80s and early to mid '90s, two silk tie lines were produced with excellent repro '40s designs: "Format" and "Modules". Long gone, but they can still be found on eBay and in thrift stores. In the '90s, "Polo Ralph Lauren" also reproduced 1940s designs on its ties.


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Yeah "Modules" were great. Although, the ones I've seen always been longer than vintage ties.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

I've never had a problem with any type of tie. After the soak I gently rinse them in cool water and lay them flat between towels and would place a couple of light books on top to hold it all flat. I've never needed to iron any of the ties.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Yeah "Modules" were great. Although, the ones I've seen always been longer than vintage ties.

Yes, both "Format" and "Modules" ties were of modern length (about 56", perhaps a tad shorter).


Not surprisingly, "Format" and "Modules" ties were made in Japan.


Here's a "Modules" tie from the 1990s:

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