Whitening Vintage Linens

Although I have posted this several times -- I'm DEEP INTO my vintage linen stash -- getting ready for "The Exhibit" at the Bettendorf Library -- so I need to review...

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Years ago, my Sew Expo friend Bonne asked for my best advice about whitening a stash of yellowed vintage linens...I sent her this:

You LUCKY DUCK!! What a wonderful gift to have -- pieces of antique lace and embroidery from your grandmother and her mother...

Here's my best advice about whitening. The first rule is to NOT BE SO PICKY...sometimes -- you just need to settle for "good enough". Because with delicate vintage fabrics -- you cannot go all the way to bleach. It's not worth the risk...

I asked her to send pictures -- and you can see that many of the pieces are very discolored...

...here's how I'd start:

1A. SOAK the lace overnight in tepid water. It's important to rehydrate fabric that may be verging on dry-rot. Because there's no coming back from that...

1B. after this first soaking, check to see if they need repairs. Lay the fabric out and air dry. Make the repairs NOW -- before the real whitening work begins...





2. the next step is to SOAK the pieces in warm water with a double dose of Oxy-clean. Overnight is best...

3. Rinse and assess. If you're still not happy, repeat step #2 again. And again. I once Oxied a pair of pillowcases six times over a period of a week...believe it or not, they improved with every treatment..and I never let the fabric get "dry" between soakings.

4. Once you're happy -- rinse the fabric several times in cool water.

5. Lay the pieces out FLAT to dry.

• If you're working with shaped lace, form the wet pieces on a piece of glass or mirror. That's what they do in museums -- to avoid ironing -- which you NEVER want to do. When the lace is soaking wet, lay it on the glass and squeegee out the moisture. When it's dry, it will be wrinkle-free.

• If it's not lace -- think in terms of "layers". Top an absorbent bathtowel with a white cotton dishtowel (or piece of a cotton sheet), then the wet vintage pieces, then more white cotton. "Roll" it up and apply pressure to squeeze out the moisture...remove as much moisture as possible...then lay the pieces flat to dry.

• Or -- my favorite tricks -- HANG THEM OUT IN THE SUNSHINE. One of my grandmother's whitening secrets was to lay her white linen napkins on top of green shrubs...(she believed in the magic of photosynthesis) -- and I'm not sure it doesn't work.

SUNSHINE, SUNSHINE, SUNSHINE...

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You can see from the pictures that my student did an EXCELLENT JOB with her vintage lace and embroideries...

P.S. If you actually ARE a textile curator, please do not send me an email...I know you disagree with just about everything I said...and I can live with that....

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HOLY COW!!  This is gonna be a LOT of work...I'd better get started!!