drgranny

Redgarnet222 and prism99 thank you for your tips. I went to the ebay address and printed out the article. Then I went to the retroclean site. I think I will order some of that stuff and give it a try. Thank for ya'll's help. I felt sure someone on this board would be able to help.

pattypurple

I've heard of others using the buttermilk soak with good results. Here is an article with several non-chemical treatments. http://tipnut.com/cleaning-vintage-linens-soak/

selm

If nothing else will work I suggest you try bleach. Yes, bleach. Many years ago I had some lovely, very old baby dresses. They were made of handkerchief cotton with smocking and beautiful embroidery. But they had old "age" stains from storage. After trying several methods I finally decided they were useless unless the stains were gone.
So I hand washed in a bleach solution and soap. I think I used the regular amount for laundry. Well, they came out great and the colored embroidery thread wasn't affected at all. (old embroidery thread was processed with lead somehow and I think that's why they didn't fade in the bleach).
You might want to try this with one or two pieces to see how it goes.

Girlfriend

I had inherited a bunch of old linens, and wanted to use them because of the childhood memories I had. I read an article on removing old, yellow stains, and it worked for me.

I poured boiling water over the linens. (This allowed the linens to be able to release the stains.) Using tongs, I immediately picked them up and dunked them in a big bowl of a few tablespoons of bleach to a gallon of hot water, with a few drops of dish soap or laundry detergent. The stains disappeared before my eyes. I couldn't believe it. One of them was a red wine stain.

Good luck, and let us know what works for you, if you are able to get them out.

drgranny

Thanks to everyone who posted. I also found some tips on one of those quilt pattern sites that send out news letters. They were similar to some ya'll sent in. I will be trying some of the tips. Have plenty to practice on!!!

Painiacs

I use Amway stain treatment on everything! I've had neighbors asks me to get stains out! You can buy it online now . I don't buy anything else!

drgranny

Thankyou. I didn't know Amway had a stain remover. I used to use Amway products but haven't bought them in years.