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Advice - stained old linens

Advice - stained old linens

Old 07-19-2015, 11:06 AM
  #11  
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I would make sure they are stain free before putting them away again.

I am in no way affiliated, but Amway used to have a laundry booster with the word White in the name. Sorry I realize that is not much help. I just looked at the Amway site and it is no longer listed. It may have been a version of Oxyclean.

Anyways, I used it to wash old linens with brown stains very successfully.

Originally Posted by KenmoreGal2 View Post
Thanks Francie.

Let me re-ask a question though. At this point I have no use for these items but of course I don't want to discard them either. I am a bit time pressed right now. If I washed them and put them in my attic (still stained) will my job of cleaning them be harder in the future? In other words, will further storage cause further staining?
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Old 07-19-2015, 03:00 PM
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As they are unusable as they are why not try washing with bleach and see what happens. The dyes of that era held up to bleach very well usually. But, of course, no guarantees but, as I said, they are not usable as is now.
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Old 07-19-2015, 03:07 PM
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I got antsy. I don't like all the aprons equally so I picked one I didn't like much and I have it soaking now in Oxy. Basically I chose that because I already had it in the house! I'll let you guys know.

Edited to add - I checked on the apron. I rinsed the apron in my washer, spun it out and examined it. So far the stain is still there, it may be lighter, it's hard to tell. I've put it back into a new batch of oxy for overnight at least.

Last edited by KenmoreGal2; 07-19-2015 at 03:15 PM.
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Old 07-19-2015, 09:06 PM
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I had a few, very old stained, family linens, and I read on the internet how to get stains out, after trying with regular washing machine methods that didn't work.

Boil water and pour boiling water over the pillow cases, so that they are not soaking in the water, but rather the water is actually migrating through the fabric. This "weakens" the stain. I was using on white linens, so I mixed 2 Tbsp bleach with about 2 cups boiling water, and poured it through the linens. The stain disappeared before my eyes. I then rinsed the linens very well to make sure there was no residue of bleach, and re-laundered. I couldn't have been more happy.

There is a product from Amway called All Fabric Bleach that is excellent. I would try that first, since you are working with color fabrics. They also have a prewash stain remover that is also excellent. I am not affiliated in any way with Amway, I'm just a long time happy customer.

Good luck with your dilemma and let us know what finally works for you.

Last edited by Girlfriend; 07-19-2015 at 09:08 PM.
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Old 07-20-2015, 04:01 AM
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Have you tried washing them and laying them out on green grass? That's how my grandmother got stains out of her whites..
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Old 07-20-2015, 04:19 AM
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Originally Posted by misspriss View Post
Have you tried washing them and laying them out on green grass? That's how my grandmother got stains out of her whites..
I washed them and line dried them in the sun.....do you suppose that's equal? Or maybe laying them on the grass exposes them to even more sunlight? IDK. I do know sometimes I lay sweaters out back on a flat drying screen and I have to be so careful they don't blow away in the wind! I'd be even more concerned with linens.
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Old 07-20-2015, 05:05 AM
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Originally Posted by KenmoreGal2 View Post
I got antsy. I don't like all the aprons equally so I picked one I didn't like much and I have it soaking now in Oxy. Basically I chose that because I already had it in the house! I'll let you guys know.

Edited to add - I checked on the apron. I rinsed the apron in my washer, spun it out and examined it. So far the stain is still there, it may be lighter, it's hard to tell. I've put it back into a new batch of oxy for overnight at least.
Biz is so much better than Oxy products. I had switched when the Oxys came out, but I'm back to Biz. I don't know if it will take out those stains, but it's worth a try. "Stanley" had a stain remover that took tar stains out of a patio door curtain. I was at the party and watched it happen. The curtain was in the hostess's house, and the dealer tried her stain remover on it. It worked. Of course tar is not like your stains.
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Old 07-20-2015, 05:18 AM
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Originally Posted by maviskw View Post
Biz is so much better than Oxy products. I had switched when the Oxys came out, but I'm back to Biz. I don't know if it will take out those stains, but it's worth a try. "Stanley" had a stain remover that took tar stains out of a patio door curtain. I was at the party and watched it happen. The curtain was in the hostess's house, and the dealer tried her stain remover on it. It worked. Of course tar is not like your stains.
Thanks. I did a quick search and my local walmart sells Biz.
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Old 07-20-2015, 05:54 AM
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I personally feel that if you put the items back in the attic as is the staining will get worse. I've had good luck with retroclean.
Will be waiting to see what you find works best.
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Old 07-20-2015, 06:47 AM
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Throw them in the washer with some Oxiclean and Dawn, if they survive, they are good to go.
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