I have a cotton baby bonnet that was mine; it is 60 years old. My daughter wore it and I would like my first grandchild to wear it. It has discolored and yellowed over the years. How can I get the yellow out? I will have to hand wash it.
By carol from Staten Island, NY
My mom soaked the family christening dress in hot water and ivory soap for hours, then hung it in the sun and it took the yellow out without distressing the dress for my daughter's christening and it was about that old. See if it will work. She thought bleach was too powerful and may cause some of the delicate fabric and lace to disintegrate.
Sorry, I just called her. It wasn't Ivory soap, it was ivory snow detergent.
You don't have to use bleach. Amy's tip is excellent. I would only add that if you are lucky enough to have plain and unscented home made soap you can grate it into a pot of water brought to the boil and taken off the burner for the soap to dissolve and soak it with a bit of borax if you have it. Rinse and sun dry. Sun is a wonderful bleach because of the ozone and so much the better if you have a clean green bush to lay it on, as that also helps bleach fabric.
Vinegar can also help get rid of many organic stains like grass, wine, tomato, coffee, and perspiration! All you have to do is rub, dab, or soak the stained area in vinegar. Because vinegar is so mild, you can repeat this process as many times as necessary and then launder as usual.
Professionals use Orvus (actually a horse bath paste) Amazing stuff.
My sister soaked an old baptismal dress in Oyy-Clean and it came out snowy white.
