Vintage Tips of the day Part.2

Ok, so I was asked if in my little collection were any hints and tips on stain removal and clothing storage.

Here are a few tidbits I found:

Storing Clothing:
 -Make sure cotton is thoroughly dry after washing to prevent the danger of mildew in storage.
-Wrap white cottons and linen in blue tissue to stop yellowing, and store clothing where strong light    will not fade it.
-Rinse synthetic fabrics in cool water to prevent wrinkles
-Allow permanently pleated fabrics to drip dry into shape before folding them for storage
-Silk should be kept in a cool, dry, dark place. Strong light can yellow silk or fade the dye.
-Store suedes and leather in a cool, ventilated area, never in plastic bags.

Crease-free storage:
 Fold freshly ironed shirts and t-shirts by placing the garment face-down.  In the case of a shirt, do up the buttons.  Lift one sleeve and place at a right angle across the shoulder, then lay the sleeve in alignment with the outside seam.  Repeat with other sleeve. Fold up the tail of the shirt, then fold again from the middle so that the shirt butts up with the yoke. In the case of t-shirts, line up the bottom of the T with the shoulder seam. Turn over and store face up. Garments folded in this way travel well, too.


Correct Hanging:
 Cull the wire hangers from your closet and replace them with a selection of quality hangers for specific garments; padded hangers for jackets, knits and delicate shirts and dresses, wooden hinged hangers with felt lining for hanging suit pants and trousers, wooden tailors' hangers for coats and heavy garments, spring-clip hangers for summer pants and skirts.  Do not hang garments by their belt loops.  Centre garments on the hanger, do up the buttons and zippers, and when hanging them in the closet, try to keep garments separate from each other so that the air can circulate.

Cleaning collars:
Apply hair shampoo directly to the dirty mark around collars, then launder in the usual way.

Woolens care:
When drying knitwear, slip an old stocking through the arms and peg this to the line to avoid marking the garment.

Yellowed clothing:
Restore yellowed clothing by adding a teaspoon of turpentine to the water.
For clothes that cannot be bleached, cream of tartar helps restore whiteness. Add 1-2 teaspoons to 4 litres of hot water and soak overnight.

Scorch marks:
Light scorches respond to a paste of borax and glycerine. Cover the mark completely and let the paste dry for 12 hours before brushing off. Wash gently and rinse well.
On some fabrics the juice of a freshly cut onion will remove scorch marks. Rub the mark with the onion and keep moist with onion juice for a few hours in sunlight. Rinse well.

Grass Stains:
 Rub stains with methylated spirits or glycerine. Leave for 1 hour, then wash as usual.  Treat old stains by saturating with glycerine. Wash out well.

Flannelette:
 New flannelette sheets can be defluffed by washing first with a little salt and vinegar added to the washing machine.

Hem Marks:
 To remove old hem marks, make a solution of 1 cup of hot water, 1/2 teaspoon of Borax and 1 teaspoon vinegar.  Wet a cloth in this solution, wring it out and press with a hot iron on the wrong side of the garment. Brush when dry and the marks should have gone.

Hope these were helpful!! Next time I'll bring you some vintage beauty hints and tricks :)

If there's anything you'd like to know, please leave me a comment! Hello to my two newest followers too :D