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Sun Fade on white jersey.

Sometimes when I have had an item for a bit too long on my stall I get some fading due to being out in the sun which is an occupational hazard I guess. The most annoying items are the baby bodies that are white which seem to fade to yellow. Particularly annoying when they have faded in parts and not others. Previously I have cut them up and re sewn them smaller items or made them into patches for other items but all this is labour intensive and annoying. Today I have tried soaking in hot water with Oxy -action powder and white vinegar and than after about 4 hours I have rinsed them out and put them outside to dry naturally, but I won't know until they are dry if it's been effective. Any bright ideas as to how I can bring them back?

Reply to
Claire in France
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With luck, the yellowing is just deteriorating cotton, like the yellowing you get in long storage. That's usually fixable with a good wash.

The old fashioned remedy would be to add some bluing to the rinse water to counteract the yellowing. Not sure if you've got bluing in France, but I see Mrs.Stewarts in gallon(!) (3.78l) jugs on the amazon.fr site -- it's usually sold in 8 oz bottles (236 ml) here.

You might consider pretreating your dyed fabrics before display with a clear UV absorbing dye. These "optical brighteners" are designed to absorb in the UV range and re-emit light energy in the blue range, so they're popular ingredients in commercial detergents here that promise to "keep your clothes whiter than white". They're also used to improve the UPF of clothing.

Here is the common form of the additive here in the US (again, from the amazon.fr site:

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and in bulk form from Dharma Trading in the US:
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Optical whiteners will protect dyed fabrics from sun damage for a fair amount of time, so might be something you want to consider for something that moves slowly for you.

Reply to
Kay Lancaster

I think I got lucky the soak in Oxy-Action a vanish type and white vinegar seems to have saved me. On the white one it's all gone on the white with printed pink rosebuds there is a very very faint line but I am looking for it. I think it's mostly fade and a little dirt application from rubbing against others when being stacked back into the boxes and put out on the stall. I have tried just washing them through before but the square patch stayed so this is a great improvement

I think I will try some blue-ing in the wash for the fabric next time. And watch my rotation more carefully from now on. Your advice is very good as ever Kay thank you.

Reply to
Claire in France

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