Cleaning Older or Antique Linens

Left to Right:  As purchased yellowed & stained.  New white linen tucked underneath as reference.  Cleaned napkin and matching table cloth.

One of the items that I enjoy finding and collecting is older or antique genuine linens.  I am especially fond of those that are embellished with hand embroidery like the set that I am showing here in the photograph. 

Amazed at the time and craftsmanship that used to be put into a piece like this and used as a part of everyday dining.

Of course, those linens that were heavily used developed stains and turned yellow over the years.  One has to wonder how much the heavy duty use of starch to stiffen and press the linens smooth contributed to the setting in of stains and discoloration.

Purchasing these items can be a bit of a gamble and if you are looking for perfection you may find yourself sorely disappointed.

I have read of a number of different methods for cleaning linens.  One of the more popular published methods is natural fresh lemon juice squeezed onto the stain and then allow the item to set in the hot sun prior to washing.

You can learn from experience or take my word for it.  Never, ever use full strength clorhine bleach to clean linens.  If the holes and damage doesn't appear right away, just wait and don't be surprised when little pin holes first appear and gradually increase in size each time you use and wash thereafter.

One of my favorite products is oxygen cleaner such as Oxyiclean.  Though, I have found that the not so famous brands and those similar products sold in the dollar stores are dead on equivalents in their ability to clean and brighten.

I recently discovered that Dollar General carries a half gallon, liquid refill jug and that has become my new favorite in my laundry room.

The powders work well.  Though, I'd recommend dissolving in a cup of hot or warm water prior to pouring into the wash water, as it can take some time for the powdered versions to dissolve.

When cleaning, one of the things I have learned is to have some patience and take my time.  That includes not throwing delicate items into the washing machine and having great expectations as to the results in 30 minutes time.

For items such as the linens shown I slowly cleaned them over a 4 day period.  Starting out with saturating the heavily started material with water in the bath tub.  Draining the water and then refilling and adding oxygen cleaner to the fresh hot water bath.

I let them soak a day and ended up with a dark yellow water.

Time to drain and press out the excess water.  Then rinse and start all over with another soak using the hot water and oxygen cleaner.

On the third day, the process is repeated with the addition of a very small amount of diluted chlorine bleach to the water.

Fourth day, drain, rinse, transfer to a bucket or a wash basin you can carry and transfer the linens to the washing machine for a delicate cycle wash with regular laundry detergent.

Once the machine stops, you can either remove and iron immediately, as it is easier to iron linen while it is wet.  Or in my case, I folded them up and will go through that process in the future, prior to use.