I went to some yard sales over the weekend and bought some very old hand done table runners, tea towels, and hand crocheted doilies and some have stains on them and i was wondering if it would be ok to launder them and if so what can i use? Any suggestions are appreciated. :( :D 8)

don't know about some of the items . . .but i have a doily my mother made about -egads- 50+ years ago and i just throw it in the washer with the rest of the laundry. . . it comes out just fine.

I would maybe try a really gentle detergent and handwash a corner of each piece to see how it goes, though.

I would soak them in OxyClean and then wash with Orvis soap. Can you post a picture of what you got? I would like to see them

Last week, I posted a similar question only mine was very old quilt blocks. I was told to try 1 part of vinegar to 4 parts of warm water. It really brightened those blocks up. They really were dirty! Much more so than I would have thought, but they really look much nicer now! If you are concerned about colors running maybe use cool water and a Shout Color Catcher.

i've also heard that lemon juice works. Never tried it but just heard

All of the above suggestions sound great. Just soak in the sink, though, no agitation like in a washing machine. Most old fabric things I've accumulated come out great. :lol: (I always wonder what stories they could tell......beging a collector, I just like old stuff too much, I guess)

peroide is really good for getting out stains too, especially blood stains.

I watched a show many years ago and this lady cleaned wedding gowns that had stains...she used equal parts of Ivory dish soap and Biz to a wash basin of hot water and let it soak....no rubbing needed if it didn't come out repeat as needed...I did this on old stains and it worked for me...good luck :roll:

The trick is soaking long enough - some rough stains take days of soaking to release. If they're white, I throw some dishwasher soap in with them. It breaks down both food and grease spots, but may discolor colors.

If the spots are brownish yellow, chances are they are humidity stains and won't come out.

You can take it to a drycleaner and they can soak it in sodium perborate and it might lighten the stains. (Yes, I worked for a drycleaner for 28 years, that's why I know this :lol: )

I have bought sodium perborate at my local drug store. Ireally works well.

I have used oxyclean with success most of the time. Like Moonpi said sometimes is takes days. I also rinse it very well then dry. As a matter of fact I have a bucket of stuff that was my mom's soaking right now.