Need help cleaning old linens
 

Hi y'all,

My mom passed away last year and while going through her old cedar chest, I came across a lot of hand-embroidered pillow cases. They were just beautiful, however, many of them were very yellowed with age. I think some of these were wedding presents and my parents would have been married 80 years at this point.

I washed them and unfortunately, a couple of them actually fell apart. I had inspected the material before putting them on the delicate cycle and all of the material seemed strong enough to be washed. But, that was not the case and I ended up with just strips of fabric instead of a whole pillow case. Fortunately, that only happened to a couple of them.

Worst of all, they seemed even more yellowed than when they went in. Does anyone know how to get old linens sort of white again? I don't dare use bleach or anything harsh like that. And I suppose I can use them yellowed as they are, but a lot of the yellowed portions are sort of splotchy yellow.

Thanks, in advance, for your help.

I used to use a product called all-fabric bleach (non-chlorine). It would work well if you soaked for a long time. I can't find it anymore but I would try an Oxygen bleach cleaning product.

mac- my very favorite product is called Retro-Clean. It is fabulous for old linens and quilts!! I love the stuff. I know Ebay sells it, also they have a website. Probably other places as well.
And it doesn't harm fabric. I've used a ton of the stuff.

Second vote for Retro-Clean. I bought some at my LQS and it works like a charm. Dissolve in hot water, soak linens at least over night then wash as usual. In the summer you can put it out in a pail in the sun to keep the water warm.

I had a 'white' sheet that was in great shape except for yellowing where it had been slept on. Retro-Clean brought it back to pure white.

When I bought it, a lady at the shop told me she worked at the museum and it was what they used for old linens.

I just looked on Amazon, they have a product called Retro-Wash. Is this the same product?

It's made by the same company, but not quite the same product. Retro-Clean is used to remove stains from vintage linens and brighten them up; requires soaking. Retro-Wash is a regular laundry product designed to be gentle on vintage linens. Better information than I can provide is on their website: http://retroclean.com . You can see they have separate descriptions for Retro-Clean (their original product) and Retro-Wash (the newer one).

Retro-Clean is also available on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Retro-Clean-1...dp/B006UD22K2/

I use Restoration and have had great results with it. It is made specifically for vintage linens, and is made in Pennsylvania, in Lancaster if my memory serves me. I would recommend hand washing those in the future. I usually hand wash and rinse, then put things like that into the washer filled with water and just spin that out for an extra rinse and to better get the rinse water out, then line dry.

Most of that aged yellowing comes from the fumes given off from exposure to wooden dresser drawers, head boards, storage chests etc. Soaking in the Retro-clean (sometimes 24 to 48 hrs) will remove or reduce this yellowing. Expect some of the fibers to have deteriorated or weakened , so hand wash or just rinse after this soaking. I've had good results with this product, and hope you will to.....Good Luck.

A good Soaking in a product called Biz always works for me

They are not the same thing, as Prism said.