How To Clean Vintage Embrodiery

I love vintage textiles but in the past I was always very hesitant to purchase any with even a hint of a stain as I rarely was able to get the stain out properly and just ended up banishing them to the hopeless pile. Just recently I came across a product though at Big Lots called Sun Oxygen Cleaner (probably a knock off of OxyClean). It was $3 for a 30oz container so I decided to give it a try. I had a set of delicately crocheted doilies that I had given up on after trying to hand clean them a few times with no success. They had some very dark stains on them that did not want to budge but after a decent soak in this solution I was so impressed with the outcome!!!

So this week when I was at a local thrift store I found this darling little cross-stitch picture.

It had some stain spots and was very dingy but I was feeling confident after my doily experience and decided for a couple dollars I'd buy it.

After removing it from it's frame I laid it in the small side of my sink and sprinkled a thin coat of Sun over the top.

I promptly poured a very thin layer of boiling water over the top. Hot water seems to activate this stuff the best. And the less water you can use the better as the more you add the weaker the solution becomes.

Immediatley the water turned brown! yikes it was dirty! I then let it soak for over an hour. Half way through I agitated it a bit with the bottom of a glass cup. You should see some tiny oxygen bubbles when you do this.

I then rinsed in warm water. It was already looking better! One more soak for about an hour, air dry, a light iron and here it is! What a difference! Notice the clouds!? And the house is now pink, not mauve!

AFTER

BEFORE

Now to decide what to use it for...pillow, patch for a purse, wall hanging, book cover...I'll have to get back to you on that.

Happy Cleaning!

P.S. I found an interesting way of removing stains from linens suggested here at French Cupboard . Ever tried that before?