I purchased some clothing locally last year and there were some items stained and I have not figured out yet if removing was possible or if I just need to toss. Any advice?
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Very cute items, do not toss!! They are perfect like they are for Alternatives! Hope you clean them up though because they look like rare items!
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Try soaking in oxy clean. For whites, I soak in a oxy clean and bleach mixture and rub stains with a toothbrush.
You just have to be careful because vintage fabric is really thin.
Really cute outfits though!
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Yes she said they were worn anywhere from 1948 to 1958. They were baby clothes for her and her siblings. That’s why I’ve hung on to them for so long, but I don’t want to ruin them n can’t figure out for the life of me what to do to get the staining out
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If you want to send them to me with the Caleb kit I can work on them for you. I can then mail them back to you with your stuff.
I work with vintage fabrics a lot.
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Lol this was after oxyclean.
I’m really nervous bc they are really thin. I packed them back up, but keep looking at them like you need to do something.
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Baking soda works well too. If you have Pinterest, search methods for cleaning vintage fabric. You should find more advice there.
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They will never be like they were. Some stains never come out. You can just make them brighter.
I have a bunch of vintage pillowcases. I pulled them out the other day and they have yellowing on the folds. Ugh, I hate that. I need to work on them too. They are all beautifully hand embroidered.
Yes I definitely can do that. There’s actually only three items I want out of there. You can keep the rest of them if you want. It’s 3 of the gowns.
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Sounds good! I’ll do what I can for you. I actually like doing stuff like that. It’s so satisfying getting stains out. Lol.
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It’s actually just two I wanted, I sent the pics of those, thank you so much I really appreciate it.
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You’re welcome!
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We removed milk stains from all of my old baby clothing by putting Dawn on the stain mixed with baking soda. You could also do Dawn and OxiClean. Roll the Garment up and let it sit that way for a day or two. We also used a product called Stain Devils for the tougher spots.
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I’ve used the Dawn and Oxickean mixture too and it works well!
My phone refuses to spell that word correctly lol.
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I know milk works on ink stains, lol! That is all I know and Awesome is a miracle worker on all types of fabrics but don’t know about vintage.
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I love awesome but would be deathly afraid to put it on vintage lol
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At an auction I found a couple pieces similar to some of yours. I used this and soaked them for a while, then rinsed well and hung them to dry.
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I love vintage baby clothes and have a nice collection. I have used the Forever New and another product that I think I got from Twin Pines of Maine.
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That is neat. I’ve never heard of that. Now I’m wondering if it would work on my daughter’s baby outfit. Brought her home from the hospital in it and she never wore it again.
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OK. Here is a recipe for the Biz Bucket Soak. From Martha Pullen, who collected vintage baby clothes from everywhere! I will share it here:
Stain Removal
I got these stain removal hints from three different Martha Pullen (Sew Beautiful Magazine) email newsletters. I found that I personally like this formula:
HOT WATER ( enough to fill a big, clear plastic tub ) , equal parts(about a cup of each) BIZ and the blue DAWN LIQUID DISH DETERGENT. I use a wooden spoon to mix the clothes around .
I throw all the stained clothes into the tub of hot water ( make sure the clothes are all the same color, don’t mix colors and whites) and let it sit for a couple days. if the stains are still there, I leave them in the water up to a week. then I dump the entire tub of clothes and soapy water into the washer. If there’s still stains, I repeat the process. (THIS FORMULA IS VERY SLIMY SO WEAR GLOVES)
I have used this method on yellowed heirloom pieces, and the heirloom clothes that I make. the only difference is that after I soak the item, I rinse it well and then I lay the item on a big towel, roll it up like a long snake, and then wring the excess water out. I hang it to dry.
Oh! and I just want to add that I accidentally washed an off-white piece of fabric with some red which turned it pink (ugh) and after soaking it in biz and hot water for a couple of days, it’s as good as new! The fabric was still wet from the washer when I started soaking it, and I agitated it and rinsed it out a couple of times and changed the water at least 2 or 3 times. To any of you who aren’t sure about it, all I can say is it’s worth a try, the fabric/clothes are ruined anyway so why not try it out!
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