I have bought some older hand embroidered pillowcases. Some have the age yellow like from body oils I suppose. How do I safely get the yellow out without ruining the embroidery work?

Oxyclean works for me. I did an old quilt my DDIL inherited from her GM, with hand embroidery on it. It came out beautifully, even took some stains out, just use a gentle cycle.

I have never been able to get it out. I am interested in what others have to say.

Soak in all fabric bleach (non-chlorine) - for 2 to 3 days.

Non chlorine bleach will not eat the fabric like the bleach will?

YEP.... I use only POWDERED oxyclean.. the spray stuff doesn't works as well to me... and I let it soak minium of over night..... if not several days

There is also a product I order off Ebay called
Linen Wash..a fine specialty cleanser.
Has worked really well.

Oxyclean works for me too.

Ok I will give Oxyclean a try on one of the less important ones first. Thanks.

I would use RetroClean: http://www.retroclean.com

I also have this and I love it too !!

Since it is frequently from peoples heads some people use shampoo.

efferdent..or the cheap $ store one...put in a ziploc bag with warm water and the efferdent(1-2 tablets) and let sit for a couple of days!

make sure what you use has NO coloring in it though!

Interesting idea!

The dental pills need to be color free or the item being washed? I use dental pills on coffee makers. Makes sense.

I agree, let it soak overnight. Need to use hot water to disolve the powder

I just love OxyClean or Peroxide. Peroxide will not take the color out but will sure remove stains. Even blood.

Thanks for the info. I'll give it a try. I just found an old tablecloth that looks to have gravy stains on it. It's printed and I was afraid traditional whiteners would bleach the pattern.

Hydrogen Peroxide, OxyClean and I now am using a product from a company called Mystic Wonders Inc mysticwondersinc.com 888-452-4968 is the Order Line
712-368-2760 They have a few products - I use their laundry balls and dryer balls and just bought their Dishwasher balls. I have not bought laundry powder for quite a few years. Up until about 2 weeks ago I was using a Miracle II laundry ball. Thought it was time to get a new one and heard about this company and their laundry balls were less money than the Miracle II ones. Saves lots of money and works great.

I saw a video online recently showing how to whiten old quilts. I tried it and it worked very well. Add 1 quart of buttermilk to one gallon of water, then add one tablespoon of lemon juice. I was cleaning blocks from a cutter quilt, so I used a dishpan. It would take a lot of buttermilk in a washmachine!

Nope, it is safe for all fabrics, I have had great luck with it. My sister gave me some vintage pillowcases that were all yellowed, they cleaned right up.
The chemical in it is sodium perborate. This is sometimes packaged in a fancy bag and sold at high prices as "antique linen wash" or something like that - but it is the same chemical.

My feeling, start with the cheapest solution first!

Try oxy clean, read the label first before you buy any to see if it will take the yellow out.

I just ordered it; I was surprised. No added shipping and it takes my info from PayPal for my shipping so it was the easiest order that I think I've ever had.

I had this problem just Saturday. I used Tide , Hot water and 1 Cup of Shout. They came out beautiful and all white. Not the embroidery though. It ended up beautifully bright colors. Good luck

Oxiclean soak overnight and then I dry them in the sunshine!!

OxyClean, by all means.

The pillowcase dresses group I started has had good luck with oxi clean but always dissolve in hot soapy water and soak long time. Going to get some reto clean also.
Friend told me about these laundry balls and never been able to find them . Thanks for the info.


quote=janjj]Hydrogen Peroxide, OxyClean and I now am using a product from a company called Mystic Wonders Inc mysticwondersinc.com 888-452-4968 is the Order Line
712-368-2760 They have a few products - I use their laundry balls and dryer balls and just bought their Dishwasher balls. I have not bought laundry powder for quite a few years. Up until about 2 weeks ago I was using a Miracle II laundry ball. Thought it was time to get a new one and heard about this company and their laundry balls were less money than the Miracle II ones. Saves lots of money and works great.[/quote]

Same here :?

Can I ask where you bought the pillowcases as I have some
embroidered ones to sell and also some ladies hankies even the envelope that you use to carry the hankies.
Only know prices from what I see in our small town.

I saw this product Retro clean being sold at a quit show this summer. The vender next to them was selling a product that made fabric look aged, yellowed!! ;)

What I was going to say - soak for DAYS! Put it in a bucket in the laundry tub and forget about it for a while.

Jacquie you are so clever and have so many good hints. Thanks.

I ordered the retro clean and it should be here sometime this week. Depending on the weather I'll try it this weekend. The instructions say it's best to soak it for 2 days in the sun but it can be done inside. I recently bought a 20 to 30's quilt and it has some stains and yellowing. I'll take before and after pictures and let you know how it goes.

I use oxyclean

I'd be interested to see if any of the colors fade or run. I have a X-stitched quilt top with mildew and rust stains. I don't want to ruin the stitching.

Right now I'm working on peroxide with a printed table cloth. I'm just putting the peroxide on the stained area. The small stains seemd to have disappeared. I'm working on a larger stain now. I don't know if they'll reappear when I wash it.

I soak in powdered Oxyclean for several days...changing the solution every day and also use more than recommended seems to work better. Then launder as usual.

The retro clean was supposed to have been shipped yesterday so hopefully I'll be able to do it this weekend or the beginning of the week. Mine doesn't have rust stains but it's all hand pieced and hand quilted to it's threads are delicate but if it's cotten thread it should be ok; it looks like it is.

Hey yall. Oxyclean worked wonderfully. I soaked all of the pillow cases and they are all pristine white and none of the embroidery thread faded at all.

Right now I am soaking some old hankies I bought for a quilt. I also soaked an old chenile bed spread with some stains on it. I don't know what the stains were but it ate right through the fabrics and left big holes in the center of the quilt, but the rest of the spread turned out beautifully. I will be using it as a cutter for other projects. I see a Chenile teddy bear in my future. Maybe a throw pillow or two.