How do I clean a cream 70 year old crepe christening shawl. It has some light shading stains.
Old stains may be impossible to remove. After decades, stains may have been set through repeated washing and drying. If your shawl is silk, do not go any further. Washing will be very detrimental to the fabric. If the shawl is cotton & in stable condition, you can wash it by hand very carefully in a mild detergent such as Orvus. Textiles are markedly weaker though when wet and therefore much easier to damage or tear. In some cases, light finger pressure when trying to manipulate or handle a wet historic textile is enough to split the fabric & many textiles also shrink and distort as they dry. For all these reasons, wet cleaning of historic textiles really should only be undertaken by a textiles conservator. Information for the care of vintage textiles:
If you are sure that your Christening shawl is crepe then please, please do some research on how to wash this material before you do any experiments.
Perhaps you have already checked this out, but here are some comments from 'experts' for you to review.
"Most crêpe needs to be dry cleaned and will shrink significantly when washed in a washing machine. In a few cases, crêpe can be washed by hand in cold water and then laid flat to dry."
"Crêpe typically wrinkles after being washed and dried. To remove any wrinkles, steam the garment for the best and safest results.
Finishing usually requires blocking the fabric to get it back to its original shape.
If you decide to try washing, baby shampoo or Woolite may be the safest solution to use. I have washed a few small crepe items but I laid the item out flat on a counter, slowly poured water that had a very small amount of Woolite over the entire piece and gently rubbed my hands over the item to cover the entire item.
This works much better if done on an outside table, as you can then slowly pour clean water over item to rinse.
Fact: This is NOT always successful as crepe comes in a blend of different materials and you can only know the blend by the tag on the item.
Crepe may be made of silk, wool, or synthetic fibers.
I found How to clean crepe:
www.thelaundress.com/
Crepe and silk
www.thelaundress.com/
1. Perform a water test.
2. Treat stains with Stain Solution or the Wash & Stain Bar.
3. Handwashing is always the safest method for cleaning silk and/or crepe pieces.
Add 2 capfuls or a squirt of Delicate Wash to a washbasin or sink filled with cool water.
4. Submerge the item. Gently agitate with your hands so the piece is sufficiently treated with the soapy mixture.
5. Let it soak for 30 minutes.
6. Rinse your piece with cool water. Gently press the water out, do not wring or overstress the item.
7. Lay your item flat in its natural shape to dry on a drying rack. Do not use a dryer.
8. Most crepe items will be wrinkled after laundering. Steaming will be the best and safest finish, but if you don't have a steamer, you can use the iron by hovering over the item and using the steam setting.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I'm trying to get my daughter's baptism dress whiter. Please help.
By Karen from Melrose, MN
Yup, I agree with Bkvander, soak it in Oxyclean. My sister did one that was 70+ years old and it came out white as can be!
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
I want to used my old baptismal dress on a grandchild, but it is 40 years old and has turned yellow. How can I get it back to white?
Christening gowns are often used for several generations. However, over time they may yellow with age. This is a page has advice about how to clean an old christening gown.
