In going through old cedar chests, my sister & I found an old christening dress that we both wore. I'd like to frame it, but it is stained.
It is white, thin cotton, and parts are off color as if weak tea were spilled on it.
Does anyone know of a safe way to restore it to white?
Thanks.
Contact a museum near you, The yellowing is most likely the result of aging. When you put an item like this on display it needs to be protected from UV rays, moisture, and bugs. The Canadian Conservation Institute provides information about caring for items in a museum's collection, their website is:
Have fun
Post below is good advice. I called a local museum and made an appt with the textile curator to take in some old items for her to give me info on. She helped me date some of them (you know you wore this dress as an infant so you have that much to go on) and gave me a sheet of instructions as to care. The Proctor and Gamble product Orvus is recommended for washing as it is neutral. (It is a horse shampoo but the label says it is good for fine fabrics; my DDIL, a horse person, gave me a jug of it when Xmas came. Bless her!) Good luck on your christening dress!
christening
It's probably the cotton breaking down from acids from the wood. If so, a gentle soak and rinse series with warm water should vastly improve it. Putting it out flat on one of those sweater drying racks that are polyester mesh will let you put it in and out of the tub without straining the wet fabric. Or you can lift it in and out on a clean piece of sheeting or other non-stretchy fabric.
Other folks might advocate cleaning and bleaching with something like an enzymatic stain remover and one of the peroxygen bleaches. Bleach is pretty tough on fabric, and doesn't do it any real favors in the long run, the textile conservationists tell me, but the choice is yours.
Like everything else, cleaning old fabrics may turn around to bite you when something unexpected happens, but I feel reasonably comfortable with rinsing cottons. However, you'll want to think about what your other options might be, including doing nothing and displaying the gown as is, or taking the gown apart and displaying sections of it.
Remember UV light is tough on fabrics, too. (think sun-rotted cotton curtains).
Kay Lancaster snipped-for-privacy@fern.com (who is not a textile conservationist, but does seem to be the person who winds up with the family linens, etc.)
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