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| hi! i recently got several beautiful pieces on e-bay and need to soak them for a bit before i can (literally) press them for use. 2 tablecloths are pure linen--one is white and one is off-white. 6 napkins are off-white linen. the white cloth has a couple of extremely minor pale stains, which i intend to spritz with a little diluted "shout" and then put into the washer with hot water and some "20 mule team borax" and a little laundry detergent. the other linens each have a bit of residue from the very old paper stickers that were glued on there a number of years ago and i intend to treat them the same way.
the other cloth i got this week does not have a tag on it. i suspect that is a cotton blend and it has several stripes running through it that are some sort of metallic gold and silver threads. i also have about half a dozen napkins in a maize yellow with gold threads that i've been holding off washing until i knew how to handle them. NONE of these have been washed before. would you bother to separate the white cloths from the off-white and/or the yellow? and i'm not sure why i'm so hesitant to clean the cloths with the metallic threads. one of the napkins has a significant stain on it so i guess i could put that in by itself and experiment with it...i was just wondering if anyone here might be able to tell me something from experience. thanx, folks! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| I have...or had...not sure where they are maybe I gave them away? Maybe I sold them...a set of linen placemats and napking with a gold thread. Somewhere I heard not to agitate them too much when I washed them....so I did the soak and spin thing. Soak like "forever" in oxyclean....spin...fill with clean water...agitate a little and spin out....don't spin long...then if they are linen, iron wet...if cotton, hang to dry.What's with the shout? Does it contain chlorine? If so don't use it....oxyclean and lots of soaking will do it. AND you have to be careful with bleaches on off white linen or some will get whiter and then they won't match... Ask me how I know! Linda C |
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| linda--you make me laugh! i started to write you a note about this before i posted and deleted it because i thought "oh here you go asking her some cleaning thing again--don't you know there's a forum for that?" tee hee, tee hee! i think the reasoning behind not too much agitating the metallic stuff is because the threads are more brittle. the linen will last half of forever as long as you aren't pressing creases into the fabric but not those other threads... i ran out of oxiclean last weekend and certainly could get some but figured the borax might do...the shout is good for stain removal and thanx but no, it doesn't contain chlorine. it's surfactants and enzymes but i always worry about anything that is good at removing stains and what it might do to things--just feeling cautious. i think i'll experiment on the metallic piece that already has a significant stain on it as i won't cry if my hoped-for solution isn't a good one. |
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| as a follow-up, i spritzed the stains on the metallic yellow napkin with shout and threw it into the washer with the borax and a little detergent and put it on the pre-soak cycle, letting it sit for an hour or so. i checked it over after letting it spin and everything looked fine so i added in the rest of the napkins with the metallic stripes and washed those. everything came out of the dryer looking really good and i'm pleased--thanx for the help! |
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| Maybe I need to get some Shout.... And I know I am out of borax....used it up on an ant's nest. Linda C |
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