The Cleaning Clothes (vintage or other) Thread

[Tatum]

Cleaning Vintage Clothing

Hi Ladies, I searched through the threads and didn't find much pertaining to the subject, at least all in one place...bartenders, please merge or direct if needed.

I am finally branching out into adding vintage clothing to my wardrobe, and I was wondering how everyone cleans their vintage finds? I picked up a few things this last month, and one of the pieces is an adorable late '30s day dress that has that lovely been-in-an-attic smell. I want to wear it, it fits beautifully, but have to get that smell out and I have been a little apprehensive about cleaning it. I did some online research, but I want to know: How do you all clean your vintage clothes?

 

[moonmatrix]

What I find works best is to wash in oxy clean and line dry the clothing. hanging outside seems to nock the smell out for me.

 

[annet]

i've heard that vodka an help remove the smell out of an old garment (something that can't just be washed, but after a while it can start smelling like sweat and you can't wash it out...

i learnt this at a theatre costume store and rental service where i worked. a lot of the costumes were made out of delicate fabrics or had all kinds of plastic and unwashable things in them, or were just big balls of fur and stuffing so you couldn't put them in a washing machine. after being used on stage for a while the things would smell pretty bad, and airing out didn't work anymore... so the ladies there used a spray bottle filled half with water, half with the cheapest vodka they could find (the cheapies are filtered with charcoal and this is what does the trick). they would spray this onto the armpits and other smelly areas and let it dry, then repeat until all the stink was gone. it seemed to work pretty well but i don't know how it would go on delicate fabrics...

 

[Miss Golightly]

I was just wondering if anyone here has handwashed a felt circle skirt? The drycleaners across the way again won't touch it as it has velvet cutout roses stuck on it and they said that the solvent would make the roses fall off. I'm afraid if I got to wash it in the bath that I might ruin the skirt - if the flowers fall off so be it - the skirt will still be beautiful without them.....

 

[~Kate~]

If it is a sturdy fabric I normally just gently handwash it with an all natural laundry detergent. If the fabric seems delicate or not the kind of thing you can wash, I get out my moms clothing steamer and use that. It removes smells very well and doesn't tend to be as damaging to the fabric. I have only ever had one dress that I have had to dry clean. After washing it (first by itself, and then with vinegar) and hanging it out in the sun, it still reeked of what I think was cigarette smoke. Washing actually made the smell worse! The dry cleaner got most of the smell out luckily.

 

[Foofoogal]

Can you easily take the roses off and sew them back on yourself? Not knowing how many?

sorry. maybe they are glued on. I mean if they are tacked or sewn on.

 

[Tatum]

Thanks, ladies (and thanks to our bartenders, this thread didn't come up when I searched). I will try Woolite and OxyClean first. I have used baking soda in the past to remove mildew smells (it happens a lot here in Florida, especially when you forget and leave towels on the boat), so I will give that a try if the Oxy doesn't do the trick! Yay for clawfoot bathtubs.

 

[Miss Golightly]

Can you easily take the roses off and sew them back on yourself? Not knowing how many?

sorry. maybe they are glued on. I mean if they are tacked or sewn on.

They're glued on and have some glitter on them too - maybe just handwashing it would be a lot gentler than dry cleaning. The skirt doesn't need to be washed just yet (did the tumble dryer sheets trick on it!) so I'll leave washing it for as long as I can.

 

[klara]

Hi!
Do anyone know how you can wash bakelite buttons? Handwash? Washing machine? Dry clean?
Thanks.

 

[Gracie Lee]

Sorry, Klara, I'm not clear on your question. Do you mean you have a handful of buttons you'd like to clean up, or are they on a garment? If it's just buttons, then I would think a soft toothbrush and some dish soap would do it (I only use the all natural bio-degradable type, which is much more gentle than the standard type). If they're on a garment, it will depend heavily on what the garment is made of.

 

[klara]

Sorry for the confusing message and thanks for your fast reply. I was thinking of replacing buttons and buckle on a modern dress that I can either throw in the wash machine or send to the drycleaners.

 

[Katue]

How to clean your clothes at home?

Ladies,

I'd like you to give me some advice on cleaning clothes. I have lots of white cothes and sometimes collars and cuffs get dirty. I don't want to wash them very often, I'm afraid I can destroy them by doing so. So my question is...
Do you know any recipes that will help me to remove this dirt (produced by my skin I guess) from my clothes? There should be some preatty good vitage cleaning recipes. dry-cleaner's just wasn't available at that time.

Thanks a lot,
Kathy

 

[Romy Overdorp]

I have a book called: Vraag het oma (ask grandma)
It says if you have a lipstick stain rub it in with glycerin and when it comes off wash it well.
Actually this book has a solution to pretty much every household problem!

 

[Katue]

So are you saying I should rub my white clothes with glycerin? Please find something suitable for me in this book. I really need help. Thanks

 

[Romy Overdorp]

No not all your clothes, just rub it on when there is a lipstick stain
Going to read some more now.

 

[Katue]

Romy, thanks a lot. Does your book have any information about Cleaning Ring Around The Collar?

 

[Romy Overdorp]

You can clean them with a sponge soaked in hot soda water, then rub it dry with a towel.

 

[Miss sofia]

yes i'd be interested to know about that one too!

For woollens and cashmere that are past their best, i.e may have become stiff or a bit 'crunchy' as i call it, or just for reviving any woollens that have been stored and look and feel a bit tired. Soak in a basin of cheap hair conditioner, (literally use the whole bottle, pound shop conditioner will do) and cold water, then rinse out the excess and dry. My Mum always used to do this and it does work.

 

[Lily Powers]

yes i'd be interested to know about that one too!

For woollens and cashmere that are past their best, i.e may have become stiff or a bit 'crunchy' as i call it, or just for reviving any woollens that have been stored and look and feel a bit tired. Soak in a basin of cheap hair conditioner, (literally use the whole bottle, pound shop conditioner will do) and cold water, then rinse out the excess and dry. My Mum always used to do this and it does work.

I hand wash my cashmere in a sink basin with a capful of Redken Smooth Down Shampoo. Made to keep wild and woolly hair tame, it was too heavy on my hair and left it lifeless, but I really liked the scent so I began to use it for handwashables and discovered it made my cashmere fluffy and almost thicker feeling.

 

[Miss sofia]

I hand wash my cashmere in a sink basin with a capful of Redken Smooth Down Shampoo. Made to keep wild and woolly hair tame, it was too heavy on my hair and left it lifeless, but I really liked the scent so I began to use it for handwashables and discovered it made my cashmere fluffy and almost thicker feeling.

Great minds think alike!