Keeping linens and clothing as white as new can be challenging. While chlorine bleach may seem the obvious answer, it does wreak havoc on fabrics. Even though the bleach starts by working on the stains, it also starts to wear out the fabric. The task becomes even more challenging when dealing with antique linens.

While vintage linens are usually very sturdy, they do invariably age or develop storage stains that have nothing to do with the way they were put away. For a thorough clean, both linen white and antique white need to be handled with care and minimal agitation. Here are a few tips on how to make your whites look brighter.

How to Care For Antique Linens

To extend the life of vintage linens, they should only be hand washed, air dried and ironed with distilled water for easy maintenance. Plus, they should only be laundered when they really need it as laundering is the toughest challenge any fabric has to endure. Here are some tips to keep in mind when trying to restore antique linens:

The Laundering Process

Treat and launder any stains as soon as possible. An old fashioned tip involves rubbing lemon juice and salt over the stain.

The important consideration for cleaning linens is to use hot water. In fact, the hotter the water, the better the detergent works. Add soap and stir to dissolve. Then add in the linens. While the soap will do most of the work, you will still need to gently agitate the fabrics from time to time. Another important consideration is soaking time as this allows for all dirt to be loosened effectively.

The next step involves rinsing. This is important because soap residue in the linens turns brown when ironed, and will wear out the fibers with time. Rinsing can be done by hand for smaller items while larger ones like bedsheets may be run through the rinse cycle in the washing machine.

Finally, do not wring items as wet fibers are weak and will break. Instead, lay them on a towel and roll them up to soak excess moisture. It is always recommended to air dry vintage linens as the heat of the dryer will permanently set any stains that may have been missed.

The Storage Process

After the linen dries out, iron it by placing embroidery facing down on a fluffy towel. Iron from the back side to avoid catching the embroidery in the tip of the iron.

With cleaning and ironing done, the next step is proper antique white linen storage. It is important to not store anything with starch for long periods as bugs dine on the starch along with the fabric. Also don’t store linens in plastic bags as they need to breathe. Cedar closets are a good option since cedar repels bugs but not everyone has a cedar closet. Instead, store your linens in a regular linen closet, steamer trunks, or hutch drawers. When storing linens in wood drawers, remember that wood leeches oils that can be soaked by the linens so make sure to line everything with old towels.