Clean my vintage linens and put them away

The first batch came out VERY VERY white after being submitted to my “soak, rinse, rinse, soak, rinse, rinse, soak, rinse, rinse, wash, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, sun-dry, wash, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, sun-dry, stain-treat, soak, rinse, rinse, wash, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, sun-dry” routine :o) There are only a few very very tiny stains left on them and I figured that is good enough for now. Maybe once I’ve actually used them I will put them through the routine again and those tiny stains will come out as well. They are hardly noticeable.

Now it’s time for the second batch. The tablecloth is white with one or two faint but large stains. The napkins are off-white and I wonder whether they’ll be white at the end, too. Time will tell :o)

The tissue paper arrived a while ago but I haven’t unpacked it yet (haha). I figure I might as well wash a bunch more linens before I fiddle with the tissue paper.

I am VERY glad that I don’t have to hand-wash clothes and such. It can be relaxing if you only do it because you feel like preserving your vintage linens but it is hard work and I feel for anyone who has to do it, especially those who are forced to make a living by washing clothes by hand.

Looks like the first batch of napkins is almost stain-free. I’m going to put them out in the sun now and tonight I’ll know more. Looking good so far :o)

The first batch of napkins is soaking in Biz water. These napkins are white with some light brown stains; I am curious to find out whether Biz can actually pull out the stains. I read that it can take up to a week to get some of the tougher stains out. We’ll see what happens :o) This is going to be another long-term project because I have a LOT of old linens. It’s good to have started it though, I’ve been wanting to do this since… oh, maybe March or so. I had to clean up my room in order to re-discover these linens. At least it’s sunny now so I can bleach them nicely.

It should get here soon. Now I’m off to buy Biz, and get the ingredients for tomorrow’s dinner.

I have some old linens (mainly tablecloths and napkins) that were handed down to me by family. I love these old linens and would like to preserve them correctly for when we have our own home and can use them. I printed out some directions and now I need to actually get the linens ready for storage! Here’s what I’ll need to do:

• Buy Biz
• Pre-soak stained pieces for 24 hours in Biz and warm water, swishing periodically; repeat if necessary until all stains are out
• Rinse in warm water, then hand-wash with Tide or OxiClean, rinse repeatedly
• Lay in the sun to dry, moistening every once in a while (brightens the fabric and helps get rid of stains)
• Buy acid-free tissue paper to roll up the linens (storing them folded can stress the fabric)(Got some on eBay.)
• Make room in closet
• Roll & wrap linens in tissue paper
• Store linens in closet