PO'd about stains

[Jingo Mastapone]

Does anyone know if there's a way to remove the yellowing that nasty vintage dudes have left on the suit trousers we find?

 

[Bugsy]

Does anyone know if there's a way to remove the yellowing that nasty vintage dudes have left on the suit trousers we find?

I would recommend a very good dry cleaner.

 

[Creeping Past]

It's just age in most cases. Don't confuse yellowed cotton with yellow snow.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Wet clean.

I was talking to Benstephens about this the other day, and we've both independently come to the conclusion that the vast majority of the suits we find have never been near soap and water. I have successfully washed many pairs of suit trousers, and the yellow urine stains come out nicely with even only a small amount of agitation. I use a generic oxy-clean style boraxy stuff, and wool wash detergent … in cold water of course. And hand-washed, of course. Nowhere near a machine, please. ESPECIALLY not a typical American washing machine with that destructive central agitator!

Miss Sis can probably give you good advice.

bk

 

[tonyb]

I can add my own anecdotal support to BK's observation, having quite successfully wet cleaned numerous old wool garments (suits, jackets, pants) -- garments with stains the dry cleaners just shook their heads at, and which, for that reason, would have been all but unwearable had I not wet cleaned them myself.

It can be a slow go -- the stains fade ever so slightly with each attempt, especially after the initial one, which usually gets out the bulk of the funk -- but it can often produce very satisfactory results.

However, my research has turned up several sources saying NOT to use OxyClean on protein fibers. I have used borax along with laundry soap and/or dish soap and/or bar soap. The difference between these compounds is largely wasted on me (I must have been smoking in the parking lot when they went over this stuff at school), so I don't know if any or all of these cleaning agents harm the fabric. I see no outward sign of it.

While I've always done this by hand, in cold water, I wonder if this new(ish) washing machine that came with my new abode might work. Yes, it has a "destructive ******* central agitator," but it also has a "hand washables" cycle, which has intermittent agitation. It soaks for lengthy periods interrupted by agitation for just a second or two or five at a time. I typically wash my wife's work attire on that cycle, and then hang it to dry. Works pretty well. Perhaps I'll try it on some "dry clean only" garment that I wouldn't cry over should it be harmed by it.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Follow this at your own (suit's) risk.

I thrifted a beautiful, but very soiled and crusty, 1957 Hickey-Freeman three-piece a while back. I don't know if it had 'pp' in it but it looked like it had hung for several decades in an environment of settling dust and tobacco smoke. I have a can of professional dry cleaning fluid and I tried a spot clean with that. Didn't cut the mustard. The only hope was to wet wash and see what would happen to the fabric (not sure if it's raw silk or, more likely, wool/cotton blend).

Here I am being brave; trying on the suit while it was initially in its crusty state:

1) I got a big bin, heated a large pot of water on the stove and poured a cup of Oxy-Clean into the hot water, mixing thouroughly to fully dissolve it.

2) I used the garden hose to put several gallons of cool water into the bin and added the Oxy mixture. This way you get the cleaner to dissolve but you aren't washing the item in hot or even warm water. It comes out to a weak solution of cleaner in cool water.

3) I courageously immersed the jacket first and agitated by hand, concentrating on the shoulders and lapels where the highest concentration of 'gunk' had collected. NOTE: The cotton thread on this suit was weak to begin with and the washing process caused buttons to drop off left and right. Be careful not to dump them out in the rinse if this happens to your suit.

4) I rinsed in cool water several times and then hung the garment to dry, making an effort to 'form' it into a proper drape at sleeves and lapel roll area. Plastic or possibly wood hanger would be the way to go here - no metal that could rust and stain.

5) Did the pants same way.

IT WORKED, and it did no damage to the material. No shrinkage either. Perhaps I got lucky. It's possible that a different suit of different material/weave could have shrunk or deformed. I don't know...

I haven't taken real 'after' shots because I do need to take the suit for minor alterations and button reattachment but I consider the wet-cleaning to have been a success.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I actually repaired/cleaned my Magnoli Adventure pants just last week. I took them to the dry cleaners to have them remove a coule of very noticible spots. When I got them back they were still there. The cleaners ran them thru again for no charge. Still, they were there.

Everytime I come acroos a stain on my clothes that is too noticible for me to actually want to wear them I get into the mindset that if I am not going to wear them in their current state, then I cannot make them any worse. That is what you have to remember. If you can't or won't wear an artice of clothing in it's current state, then no matter what you do or don't do, it is not going to get any worse.

Thanx!!!
Charlie

P.S.: I ended up getting the stains out of my pants

 

[tonyb]

...

IT WORKED, and it did no damage to the material. No shrinkage either. Perhaps I got lucky. It's possible that a different suit of different material/weave could have shrunk or deformed. I don't know...

So it appears.

While I'd still advise washing in cold water only, I've come to believe that it isn't the higher temperatures that do the damage so much as the sudden change from cold (or room temperature) to hot and back again. I've heard this referred to as "shocking" the fiber, which causes shrinking and (gasp) felting.

I can testify to this, having successfully dyed all-wool garments on the stovetop. The trick is to gradually increase the temperature and then gradually bring it back down again. Even doing it this way, though, is risky. I'd try it only on a garment that is beyond salvation through any measures short of such a drastic one.

 

[J.J. Gittes]

I had a 1930s green Gab shirt with a back pleat and a awesome curved collar that got a nasty brown/yellow stain under the arms after I sprayed it with a solution of water and baking soda to fight the dreaded under-arm BO. I vacuumed out the baking soda and sent it to the dry cleaners to get the nasty stains out. Didn't do anything and the label specifically said don't wash. It being my favorite shirt I was desperate, I got a sink full of cold water and a bit of detergent, agitated and rubbed the stains and they were gone. It looked cleaner than ever after that too, I feel like dry cleaning leaves a residue sometimes and just misses things.
So I say a careful wet cleaning is the way to go if all else fails.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Dude, this pic is like the absolute. This is just about exactly how I do it. The dirty colour of the water afterwards is really very satisfying, ain't it?

bk

 

[tonyb]

... The dirty colour of the water afterwards is really very satisfying, ain't it?

bk

That it is. Makes you realize just how much ick has attached itself to those fibers over the decades.

I've used a bath tub and gone so far as to walk on the wet garments, and then pull the drain plug and rinse 'em with a cold-water shower. And then do it again. The wash water gets progressively less funky each time through, of course.

 

[J.J. Gittes]

That it is. Makes you realize just how much ick has attached itself to those fibers over the decades.
course.

That suprised me when I cleaned my shirt how dirty the water got. Shows what dry cleaning skips and what collects over time and just sticks. Pretty gross...

 

[Boodles]

What did you do about pressing this suit?

Say HPG, after the successful washing what did you do about pressing the suit? Is taking it to the dry cleaners for pressing only the thing to do?

IT WORKED, and it did no damage to the material. No shrinkage either. Perhaps I got lucky. It's possible that a different suit of different material/weave could have shrunk or deformed. I don't know...

I haven't taken real 'after' shots because I do need to take the suit for minor alterations and button reattachment but I consider the wet-cleaning to have been a success.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

The dirty colour of the water afterwards is really very satisfying, ain't it?

Yup. *yucky*

 

[Tomasso]

I've had these two Seersuckers hanging in the closet going unworn for the last couple years due to spotting/soiling that the cleaners could not get out after repeated tries. After reading this thread I decided to soak a pair of the trousers in Oxyclean overnight and I must say that I'm very happy with the results. Not perfect, mind you, but eminently wearable. And yes, the color of that water was like.....VICTORY.

Though, I'm still a bit reluctant to try it with the suit coats.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Re the title, shouldn't that be "P'd O. about stains"?

Ever the pedant.

bk

 

[Orgetorix]

Yes, it should, but "PO'd" has come to be a slang term in its own right, at least here in the US.

 

[Jingo Mastapone]

Last night I put my pants through three oxyclean hand washings and the unsightly yellow marks of you-know-what remain. Time for the Biz, I guess.

 

[Derek WC]

Is it possible to wash a 1940's completely wool jacket with a silk lining in it like the previously described way? And if so, should I use regular detergent with bleach in it, or the Oxy-Clean to keep the colors the same?

 

[reetpleat]

Wool can get wet without shrinkage. But the hot or change in tepmerature messes wool up. You may find that it never looks quite as crisp. But ironing or dry cleaner pressing will make it look pretty good.

Dry cleaners only can get at oil soluble stains. Not quite the right phrase. Water and soap gett out water soluble stains. They are different. So soap and water will get out a lot that dry cleaning won't and vica versa.

As for the pee stains, I think it is from men getting older and wearing the same suit as they get incontinent.

I have been able to get some out with soap and water, and some not. I think it has to do with tanins depending on the persons diet.

IF a stain will not come out with soap and water, then try a dry cleaning solution or spray on carpet cleaner that is designed for tanins. Maybe the stain remover they sell at pet stores too.

I have tried this and I seemed to notice some lightening.

But i have tried it on a recent pair and not been able to get any progress any method i tried.

My next step though, is to use hydrogen peroxide. I removed some mildew stains I could not get out any other way. I feared it would bleach the colors in the wool fabric but it did not. Repeated putting it in the sun with peroxide lightened them slowly and made them gone.

I also did this, believe it or not, with a brown spot I maade with an iron on a sportcoat. I thought it was ruined. It was a burn. But weeks of daily applying eventlually lightened them enough to not be noticable. It lightened the colors in the tweedy fabric ever so slightly. i did not use sun though as it was winter. Anyway, I will try this on this current pants because I have nothing to lose if they get ruined. part of a suit though, so more of a bummer than just pants. But it is only a skinny tallish 50s suit, so nothing special.

this is the one stain I think long and hard about before buying in a thrift store.