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Cleaning a Christening Dress

September 6, 2022

A christening shawl with stains.How do I clean a cream 70 year old crepe christening shawl. It has some light shading stains.

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A christening shawl with stains.
 

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Bronze Tip Medal for All Time! 59 Tips
September 6, 20220 found this helpful
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Old stains may be impossible to remove. After decades, stains may have been set through repeated washing and drying. If your shawl is silk, do not go any further. Washing will be very detrimental to the fabric. If the shawl is cotton & in stable condition, you can wash it by hand very carefully in a mild detergent such as Orvus. Textiles are markedly weaker though when wet and therefore much easier to damage or tear. In some cases, light finger pressure when trying to manipulate or handle a wet historic textile is enough to split the fabric & many textiles also shrink and distort as they dry. For all these reasons, wet cleaning of historic textiles really should only be undertaken by a textiles conservator. Information for the care of vintage textiles:

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www.vam.ac.uk/.../
www.ala.org/.../christeninggown

 

Gold Feedback Medal for All Time! 949 Feedbacks
September 9, 20220 found this helpful
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If you are sure that your Christening shawl is crepe then please, please do some research on how to wash this material before you do any experiments.
Perhaps you have already checked this out, but here are some comments from 'experts' for you to review.
"Most crêpe needs to be dry cleaned and will shrink significantly when washed in a washing machine. In a few cases, crêpe can be washed by hand in cold water and then laid flat to dry."
"Crêpe typically wrinkles after being washed and dried. To remove any wrinkles, steam the garment for the best and safest results.
Finishing usually requires blocking the fabric to get it back to its original shape.

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Crepe is extremely susceptible to shrinkage when exposed to moisture. This is especially true for crepes that contain wool, silk or rayon. Home stain removal on crepe garments may also result in localized shrinkage. If your garment has stains on it, gently treat them with a proven stain solution or wash & stain bar."
utopiacleanersboston.com/.../
"www.masterclass.com/.../learn-about-crepe-fabric

If you decide to try washing, baby shampoo or Woolite may be the safest solution to use. I have washed a few small crepe items but I laid the item out flat on a counter, slowly poured water that had a very small amount of Woolite over the entire piece and gently rubbed my hands over the item to cover the entire item.
This works much better if done on an outside table, as you can then slowly pour clean water over item to rinse.
Fact: This is NOT always successful as crepe comes in a blend of different materials and you can only know the blend by the tag on the item.

 
September 10, 20220 found this helpful
Best Answer

Crepe may be made of silk, wool, or synthetic fibers.
I found How to clean crepe:

www.thelaundress.com/.../crepe

Crepe and silk
www.thelaundress.com/.../how-to-care-for-vintage-pieces#:~:text....

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1. Perform a water test.

2. Treat stains with Stain Solution or the Wash & Stain Bar.

3. Handwashing is always the safest method for cleaning silk and/or crepe pieces.
Add 2 capfuls or a squirt of Delicate Wash to a washbasin or sink filled with cool water.

4. Submerge the item. Gently agitate with your hands so the piece is sufficiently treated with the soapy mixture.

5. Let it soak for 30 minutes.

6. Rinse your piece with cool water. Gently press the water out, do not wring or overstress the item.

7. Lay your item flat in its natural shape to dry on a drying rack. Do not use a dryer.

8. Most crepe items will be wrinkled after laundering. Steaming will be the best and safest finish, but if you don't have a steamer, you can use the iron by hovering over the item and using the steam setting.

 
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4 More Questions

Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.

February 7, 2011

I'm trying to get my daughter's baptism dress whiter. Please help.

By Karen from Melrose, MN

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Bronze Post Medal for All Time! 172 Posts
February 9, 20110 found this helpful
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Yup, I agree with Bkvander, soak it in Oxyclean. My sister did one that was 70+ years old and it came out white as can be!

 
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Archives

ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.

February 7, 2011

I want to used my old baptismal dress on a grandchild, but it is 40 years old and has turned yellow. How can I get it back to white?

 
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January 12, 2010

How do you clean a 30 year old christening dress?

 
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April 12, 2013

Christening gowns are often used for several generations. However, over time they may yellow with age. This is a page has advice about how to clean an old christening gown.

Christening Gown

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