Stains!!

[maisie]

I have just washed my favorite ever black 1940s dress, and I couldn't believe it when I went to hang it up on the hanger under one of the underarms there is a grayish-white stain :cry: !!!! AAAHHHHH!!!
I believe it is probably deodrant ( I now where dress shields in EVERY single vintage piece to prevent this! But it must of occured before this!) is there any way of getting rid of this, without harming the dress at all?? ( It has a beaded butterfly at the collar so don't want to put it in anything too strong!)
Any help will be appriciated, or any comments on what the stain might be, as it has only showed up after washing!!!!!!!!! :cry: :cry:

Thanks in advance!

Also is there any particular washing power you use to wash vintage clothing?

 

[magneto]

(If you don't mind, where do you get dress shields??? I've been looking...)

Have you tried just gently rubbing the area with a bit of nylon stocking to get the deodorant (if that's what it is) off? If it is an actual perspiration stain you might be best off taking the dress to a cleaner who specializes in delicate/vintage/wedding dresses --not just the 99-cent-cleaner on the corner*--and ask their opinion. They have standard solvents to get those pesky underarm stains out that work great, but I would be afraid of somebody wrecking the fabric by treating like a durable modern thing.

In my (small) experience, Woolite or Eucalan (a gentle, no-rinse cleaner us knitters use on wools) are OK products to wash with.

*Do not underestimate the denseness of the avg. dry cleaner--I took a hat to a place that had a sign "we clean and block hats!" I got the hat back, a size smaller, NOT blocked--safety pinned to a wire hanger!! :cry:

 

[Kaela]

I, too, am very weary of dry cleaners, you have to make sure that you really pay attention to who you take it to. I had a cleaner recommend hand washing a dress to get the stains out, and it shrank! It was a gorgeous 1930s tragedy, and I'll never forgive them! :cry:
I had a dress that was handwashable, but there were greyish stains on that dress, too. I was able to use regular laundry detergent for that dress, and focused on the underarms. Once I got all of the deodorant off, there was still the discolouration. For some reason, I had a fabric marker in my sewing box, it worked quite well because the dress was black, and the marker matched almost perfectly, so I was able to just dye the stain away. That's lucky if your dress is black, but it leaves us all standing around scratching our heads when we've got another coloured dress with hard to match colour on our hands. Well, that's one thing that worked for me.
Also, the underarm sheilds are something that I usually just make myself out of similar fabric. Generally, my most worn dresses are ones I've made of old patterns, so I use self-fabric sheilds. I would prefer to buy mine comercially, however, because not all fabric is impermeable enough to really work well...
if you'd like a gentler detergent, i hear woolite makes some specifically for black, now! I haven't had any detrimental experiences with most detergents, except one, very heartbreaking one. I went to wash a skirt that I had begun making, and realized I hadn't shrunk the fabric, and I handn't expected it to shrink much, but I wanted to before putting in a zipper, anyway, I washed the darned thing in hot water, and the detergent mixed with hot water on this darling wool, for some reason bleached out the colour! This could have been minimized had I not used hot water, or if I just put in detergent first... painful lesson...

 

[Deleted member 259]

Apologies if this is obvious:

I don't know what to do about getting the stain out - but my only advice for any stain is don't put in in the dryer or near a heat source.
If you let it hang dry, there is always a chance at getting the stain removed - but putting through the dyer sets the stain.
(first hand experience while oilpainting in my high school uniform.)

 

[magneto]

cleaning vintage.

And sorry if you're aware of this website already, but have you looked at:
http://www.fashion-era.com/Vintage_fashion/a13_cleaning_vintage_tips.htm#Underarm Stains

Hope something helps!

 

[decodoll]

Are you certain that it's a stain and that the fabric hasn't faded? I ask only because I've seen that happen to the underarms of a blouse I had (luckily not vintage) after a trip to the dry cleaners. At least if it's faded, you're lucky it's black and you could try the fabric marker suggestion....mine was pink and black polka dots...pretty much a lost cause!

 

[maisie]

Hi

Thanks for all of your suggestions.
I'm not 100% sure it is a stain, but it only showed up after washing, and it looks light it might be deodrant, so might try and just re-wash the underarms, as this dress has the most fabulous sequined butterfly above the bust and i don't want to wash the whole of the dress again, incase of making the thread weak!
I know alway use 'dress shields' aka sweat pads!! As this has happened to another dress also but it isn't that noticeable. I just cut up a old flannal and pin it into the dress. These also prevent washing the dress after everytime you wear it and prevent the thread becoming loose,ect.

Thanks Again!

 

[The Shirt]

now inserting dress shields into everything I own....