Hand washing suits.

[Baron Kurtz]

someone touched on it above: the wool will tend to come out of a wash "hard" or brittle-feeling. It becomes difficult to press (I think this is due to a slight increase in density, though not enough to cause serious shrinkage).

bk

 

[Mid-fogey]

Once the...

...garment is cleaned, rinsed, and line dried, would it be helpful to use a hand steamer to do the initial reshaping of the garment before pressing?

Either way, do you start by pressing the garment inside out with a pressing cloth and then finish by pressing the outside, also with a cloth?

I have always been very concerned about dry cleaning my wool garments and have gone as long as possible without doing so. It would be nice to be able to save money and garment wear by doing them myself. I also tend to have some concerns with quality of work in dry cleaning establishments.

 

[dakotanorth]

Pressing issues- pun intended!

Ok, pressing.

A general concept to keep in mind- ironing versus pressing. Pressing is just that- you PRESS, but don't move the heat source left and right. Ironing you DO move back and forth- this stretches (reshapes) the material. Garment steaming is more like pressing- you may soften and relax the material, but you really don't reshape it. Garment steaming is nice to touch up an item, but if you've handwashed a suit jacket, it needs to be reshaped. I am tall and thin so I typically work a suit jacket up and down with the steam iron. To really get the pockets nice and flat, I press them.

If it's a shirt, I saw go straight to steam iron, inside out. If you need to press something on its face (say, chest pockets) use a pressing cloth.
Pants- I would say the same method. Just be careful not to stretch the material around the pleats, the fabric can easily "poof" out. Iron the pockets and waistband too!
I have to admit too, I usually ignore the settings on the iron- the "wool" setting usually doesn't press the wool, nor does it pump enough steam.

For suits- this is tougher. I usually press the back from the inside simply because I _can_. Older suits aren't lined in the back! On the face and sleeves, I press the face side, with a cloth! I also use a sleeve board to do the shoulder pad area. Old books say you should use a damp cloth for pressing, but I haven't tried it. I think my steam iron pumps out enough moisture already.

If you totally screw up, rinse the jacket and start over in a day or two!

 

[tonyb]

I'm bumping this old thread because I recently came into a pair of stained sports jackets I really, really want to make wearable again, as they had belonged to my departed brother. I was visiting his widow and daughter a few days ago and they asked if I wanted these vintage (1940s or perhaps early '50s, I'd say) garments. His wife had purchased both many years ago and he had since developed your typical middle-age spread, so the jackets no longer fit him and were relegated to hangers in the basement, where the bottom of one jacket's body and the sleeve on the other made contact with the concrete floor. Over time a water (and Lord knows what all else) stain developed. They're yellowish, dingy-looking stains. I took the jackets to a dry cleaner today who, much to my exasperation, seemed to be deliberately misunderstanding my questions. He said "no guarantee," in his best English, when I asked if he could get the stains out, but acted as though he didn't understand a word I was saying when I asked if his attempts at cleaning had the potential of making matters worse. So I scooped 'em up from his counter and took 'em home.

So far, I've tried denatured alcohol, which didn't seem to do a darned thing. And then white vinegar and water, which had little if any effect. Right now I have the stained sections soaking in a cold water and Woolite solution.

These jackets come close to being a good fit on me (nothing the alterations lady couldn't make right), they're sharp-looking garments (my sister-in-law always did have a good eye), and their sentimental value is incalculable. But those stains render them all but unusable.

Fels Naphtha and Borax, you say? Any other ideas? I'm all ears.

 

[dakotanorth]

Water Stains?

I'm throwing a BIG disclaimer on this- please confirm as much info as you can.

If it truly is a water stain, you could possibly get it out using Whink Rust Stain Remover.
This stuff is lethal though- chemical burns, etc. Plus I am not totally sure if it will work on all types of fibers.
Could you maybe post pictures??

 

[tonyb]

I'm throwing a BIG disclaimer on this- please confirm as much info as you can.

If it truly is a water stain, you could possibly get it out using Whink Rust Stain Remover.
This stuff is lethal though- chemical burns, etc. Plus I am not totally sure if it will work on all types of fibers.
Could you maybe post pictures??

Good idea, dakota. I happen to have some of that Whink stuff. I've used it on fabric before, to no apparent ill effect.

Right now the stained portions of the garments are soaking in water and Woolite. I'll head to the store in a bit and pick up some Fels Naphtha and Borax. (It would be good to have that stuff around anyway.) If there are still signs of the stains after that (it appears they are gradually going way, I'm pleased to report), I'll give it a go.

 

[dakotanorth]

Hand washing suits

Yeah, washing out stains is like painting- it's usually better to use several thin coats than one thick one. Gradually work through it.
I'm still not sure what the beauty of Fels Naptha is- I use it a lot yet it doesn't seem to do much?
Personally I'm trying to find out if Biz Double Action chemically reacts with old-formula rayon. I soaked a shirt in it, and now the shirt is just... crunchy. Remember, rayon changed around 1955 so detergents from today were formulated to work with the "newer" rayon. I wonder....

 

[tonyb]

Progress report

Spot treating presented problems, most notably that the fabric acted like a wick, drawing up all the water in the bowls in which I placed those stained sections of the jackets. This left "high-water" marks.

So I bit the bullet and filled the tub with cold water. I added liquid laundry detergent, color-safe bleach, and Borax, applying some of each directly to the stained sections of the garments. The water turned a dingy yellow color. I rinsed a couple of times and laid the jackets flat on towels in the shade to dry some.

The stains were much reduced but not entirely eliminated. I recalled my mother telling of her mother soaking her dad's bloody white shirts (he worked the kill line at a meat-packing plant) in salt water, so I filled those bowls with salty water and soaked the still-damp stained sections.

Still a hint of stain. So I got some OxiClean instant stain remover, the kind that comes in the itty-bitty (0.47 ounce) spray bottle. I don't know if or how this differs from the other type(s), but nowhere on its labeling does it warn against using it on wool, so I did. Seems to have helped some.

So, at this moment, I have a pair of still dampish jackets on wooden hangers, with a trace of stain remaining. But just a trace. I believe dakotanorth's advice -- to approach it like you would a painting project, using multiple thin coats rather than one thick one -- is quite sound. I'll keep chipping away at it. It may take a few days, but there's no urgency.

The jackets are undoubtedly cleaner and brighter, and I'm confident I can make them look sharp by turning 'em inside out and carefully pressing. And I may yet take them to the dry cleaners, once I'm satisfied that I've done all I can myself. At the very least, they'll get pressed there, and that's easily worth the price.

 

[tonyb]

Update

Took the jackets to the cleaners yesterday afternoon. Picked 'em up today. There's still a hint of the stain on the sleeve of the solid light gray jacket. On the checked jacket it's entirely gone.

Success? Yes, I'd say so.

 

[handlebar bart]

Took the jackets to the cleaners yesterday afternoon. Picked 'em up today. There's still a hint of the stain on the sleeve of the solid light gray jacket. On the checked jacket it's entirely gone.

Success? Yes, I'd say so.

Great news Tony, those jackets are wonderful and the fact that you will think of your brother each time you put them on makes them a real treasure.

 

[tonyb]

Yes, it is indeed good news.

I would like to believe that the dry cleaning diminished that still oh so slightly visible stain, but it probably didn't. Maybe I should have taken photos before and during my cleaning efforts, but it does seem that the jackets aren't actually any cleaner than they were when I brought them to the dry cleaners. But they did get nicely pressed, so I don't feel that I wasted my money there.

The lesson I've taken away from this is that you can indeed hand wash vintage suits and sports jackets in cold water and do little if any harm. You gotta be careful, of course, and it wouldn't hurt to consult the voices of experience and your own good sense.

 

[Anwen]

Glad to see that the cleaning went well! In general, I am happy to hand wash pretty much anything, and frankly prefer it to dry cleaning, as I can't really imagine that submersion in water and detergent is actually *worse* for fabrics than all that chemical stuff... I also do a lot of airing of garments, which works just as well, often, for freshening them up.

In general, it's possible to safely use either hot or cold water, the danger comes in changing the temperature of the water, particularly if this is done quickly (e.g. hot wash/cold rinse) as this is what combines with agitation to result in fulling (sometimes called felting, the process whereby woolen fibres/fabrics shrink and fuzz together into a more coherent fabric). So, it's probably best to stick to cold/lukewarm water as it's easier to make sure you don't have a sudden temp change that way. It's also best, I believe, to put the fabric into a container of water rather than to pour/run water over it (most likely to be an issue when rinsing - take the soapy garment out of the soapy water, drain the water, then refil the sink/basin with fresh water and put the garment into the water.

(Am probably repeating what someone else has said, as my memory is a bit hopeless at the moment)

 

[tonyb]

Thanks, Anwen. Yeah, common sense and asking the right questions of the right people usually does the trick, eh?

I'm happy for vintage items of attire that are all but unusable in their present condition as they present a novice with great learning material. After all, if it's unwearable, anything I might do isn't likely to make matters much worse. In the case of these jackets, there is a significant sentimental value. But I had no less faith in myself than the dry cleaner not to damage them.

 

[Dr Doran]

We just got a deluxe (I mean deluxe) washing machine. It has a cycle called "handwash." This is aside from the "slow/slow" cycle. I am assuming it is even slower. In fact, I think it moves barely or not at all.

Think I should try it on something? Has anyone else a machine with such a cycle?

 

[tonyb]

As one who will likely never own a brand-spanking-new washing machine (what with all those perfectly serviceable used ones available for next to nothing), I'm curious to know about the features I can expect to have on the machine I acquire a decade or so from now.

So, please let us know what this "handwash" cycle does. Got any thoroughly worn old delicates or even a beater "dry clean only" sport jacket to experiment with?

 

[Dr Doran]

It was only $110 used and that included delivery and installation.

Yes, I'm not sure what to try in the "handwash" cycle. Any advice from y'all? I will be happy to try a (not-deluxe) item if an argument can be made. A jacket sounds like a good idea. Is that the best item to start with?

 

[Sylvester D]

What happened to my avatar? I haven't been here in a few months but did it disappear?

 

[Dr Doran]

There were two breakdowns on the server over the past few months, I believe, but you might want to check with a bartender for the straight dope.

You can reload your avatar-picture.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

There were two breakdowns on the server over the past few months, I believe, but you might want to check with a bartender for the straight dope.

You can reload your avatar-picture.

You have it right....at least one of the database crashes was -severe-...so everyone lost avatars.

If someone has not been back since before that....

 

[tonyb]

It was only $110 used and that included delivery and installation.

Yes, I'm not sure what to try in the "handwash" cycle. Any advice from y'all? I will be happy to try a (not-deluxe) item if an argument can be made. A jacket sounds like a good idea. Is that the best item to start with?

Sounds like my kind of bargain. Any idea how that compares to what the original owner paid for it?