The Cleaning Clothes (vintage or other) Thread

[Laura Chase]

Dress shields are seriously one of the Best Things Ever and they are SOOOO vintage. They were commonly used in the 30s and 40s! Not only do they allow you to wash your vintage less frequently, but they prevent annoying sweat staining and the fabric degradation that can be caused by the bacteria that thrive on perspiration. Slips are great for this same reason. I can't recommend enough getting a few sets of pin-in dress shields. Seriously - it's much easier to wash those dress shields than it is to wash the dresses!

Would you recommend any particular type? I've only seen the disposable ones and the ones that you sew into the clothes, like the ones on the picture, which seems a bit troublesome, compared to for example just attaching them with snaps or something else. Any tips?

 

[KittyT]

Would you recommend any particular type?

Kleinert's dress shields. They make adhesive, sew in and pin in ones. The pin-in ones are great, as they have tiny safety pins attached to them.

http://www.kleinertsshields.com/

 

[Miss 1929]

Armpit odor removing hint:

Spray them with vodka, I kid you not. It leaves no smell. Works well for things that can't be washed and shouldn't be dry cleaned often.

They had dry cleaning in the 20s, and earlier. Basically, the item would be dunked in gasoline, naptha, kerosene... all worked fine. People kept a barrel in the back yard and did it at home, Then you hang the item until dry and iron it. Kind of dangerous though, please remember not to smoke while doing the dry cleaning...

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

Does anyone have any tips on cleaning a vintage jersey dress? I don't actually know what vintage jersey is made from, so I'm off to Google, but I thought someone in here might have experience with it. I'm hoping it can be hand washed.

 

[fedoradeb]

Dry Cleaners in L.A.

Hi,

Just started to purchase some vintage clothes. Does anyone know a good dry cleaners in L.A.

Merci Beaucoup!

Fedoradeb

 

[Miss Neecerie]

For the vintage you wouldn't trust to -anyone- else...Frenchs Hand Laundry in Pasadena.

Pricey, but its where museums take theirs.

 

[Sunny]

Does anyone have any tips on cleaning a vintage jersey dress? I don't actually know what vintage jersey is made from, so I'm off to Google, but I thought someone in here might have experience with it. I'm hoping it can be hand washed.

Jersey's actually a type of knit, not a material. It can be made of wool, I know, and I believe silk or rayon as well. It can be cleaned like just about any other dress made of the same fiber, whether it's jersey or not. I'd be careful not to stretch it too much when washing and especially drying, but I don't think it needs any other special attention.

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

Thank you Sunny!

 

[StaceFace]

Spray them with vodka, I kid you not. It leaves no smell. Works well for things that can't be washed and shouldn't be dry cleaned often.

They had dry cleaning in the 20s, and earlier. Basically, the item would be dunked in gasoline, naptha, kerosene... all worked fine. People kept a barrel in the back yard and did it at home, Then you hang the item until dry and iron it. Kind of dangerous though, please remember not to smoke while doing the dry cleaning...

Really? Is there any type of fabric this would not work on? I don't clean my dresses very often and the armpit area grosses me out lol

 

[Miss 1929]

Really? Is there any type of fabric this would not work on? I don't clean my dresses very often and the armpit area grosses me out lol

I have used it on cotton, silk, wool, rayon, and no ill effects!

if it is a print silk dress though, test an inconspicuous area first as the colors might run.

 

[StaceFace]

Thanks Miss 1929! Too bad I can not yet purchase my own vodka; one more year! lol Do you think they would bend the rules if I told them I was going to spray my armpits with it?

 

[fedoradeb]

Dry Cleaning

Thanks for the dry cleaning tip Miss Neecerie. Another friend of mine who collects vintage also recommended this one too.

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

This is less a cleaning than a rescue, and not vintage as it's a Whirling Turban, but!

Does anyone have any experience with dyes leaking from one part of a garment to another? My WT has a deep blue main fabric and white accents. I handwashed it and didn't think, so left the skirt drip drying and the ble dye has run into one of the white ties. Just the one though, and all the other white bits on the other pieces are fine. How would one try and remove or fade the dye? Maybe a very small cup of oxy clean for whites and the stained bit carefully dipped in? Or bleach? I don't want anything to seep into the blue. I am silly for handwashing it, and I have learned my lesson.

 

[Sunny]

This worked once for me, although the item in question was cotton. It was seamed together with a big piece of denim, then white, then red. Somehow the red bled onto the white. My mother washed it, pretty much as normal (maybe delicate) with a color catcher sheet, and it came out fine. I've another sweater, red with white trim, and I was nervous about the red bleeding into the white. But I always wash it with a color catcher and it's fine. Perhaps that'd work with yours. If the dye bled that easily from being handwashed, I'm sure a delicate machine wash would lift it back off, while the color catcher would keep it from depositing again.

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

Thanks Sunny, I will try that. I should've washed the skirt/bolero anyway probably, it's just the boned bodice that I didn't think was wise to stick in the macine. The rayon was all preshrunk anyway so that isn't the issue.

However, the way my washing machine is designed, colour catcher sheets always, always end up stuck inside the window/rim of the front door! Maybe I could pin it to a seam or something...has anyone ever tried that?

 

[Sunny]

However, the way my washing machine is designed, colour catcher sheets always, always end up stuck inside the window/rim of the front door! Maybe I could pin it to a seam or something...has anyone ever tried that?

No, I haven't. I'd be afraid of the pin rusting, although it probably wouldn't happen that fast, or of it tearing. How about pinning, or even hand-tacking it, to a small old hand towel?

Oh, and I think the boning would be fine in the washer, especially on a delicate setting. Just keep an eye on the casings in case the stitching comes loose.

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

Ahhh, you are full of good ideas that this simpleton should have thought of! :eusa_doh:

Thanks you! I will give it a whirl tonight. Fingers crossed.

 

[Sunny]

You're welcome! I'm super lazy so I'm always coming up with ways to get around handwashing.

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

It worked brilliantly! They shrunk a tiny bit but I stretched them out gently and think an iron will sort the rest right out. There's still a hint of blue in the white, but I think it will come out on the next wash. And the pinning the colour catcher to a wash cloth was genius. Thanks Sunny. :cheers1:

 

[Sunny]

Wonderful! And a little bit of blue in the white is almost a good thing. An old-fashioned laundry help is "blueing," literally a lump of very weak blue dye that combatted the yellow that whites often get after a lot of washing. So you're dah winnah!