December 26, 2015
Hi Susan, I really appreciate your site! I was going through my china hutch and noticed my mom’s linens had gotten very stained. Silly me thought they were safe in there all these years. I thought they were yellow age stains till I saw your comment about wood stains. Would the cleaning process be different? Looking forward to hearing from you. ☺
Linda, how wonderful that you have linens from your mother! It’s always good to pull linens out of storage on occasion and check them, so it sounds like you’re on the right track. I suspect much of the staining on your linens are oxidation stains, although it’s very possible the proximity to wood exacerbated it. Either way, my cleaning process is typically the same.
My top choice cleaner for vintage linens is Mama’s Miracle Linen Soak. It’s available here: www.mamasmiracle.com Shelley (the owner of the company) has lots of real-life experience cleaning linens and is very helpful if you have any specific questions about using the product. Of course, if you search for Mama’s Miracle at my site, you’ll find some “how tos” there as well.
I encourage you to take before and after pics! (Close-up, flash off is best.) In fact, if you’d like to send me some “befores”, I’ll be happy to take a peek before you start cleaning—just to be sure your stains look like what I expect. Also, from time-to-time I feature a reader’s linen cleaning challenge on my blog, so if you’re open to that, definitely take pics!
Good luck… and may 2016 be a wonderful year for you and yours!
Actually I forget all about doing my linen except at Christmas when I see the Mama’s Miracle container. Can’t believe it’s been 3 years!
This was the condition of Linda’s mother’s damask tablecloth before it was cleaned. Notice the dark brown oxidation/”storage” stains as well as the fraying hem.
Linda was concerned about the fraying hem, so (since this isn’t an heirloom-quality cloth) I suggested she may want to sew a small hem along those edges to hide/stop the fraying.
And here’s the tablecloth today. Beautiful!
White damask tablecloths are some of the most versatile linens around.
- Sturdy fabric
- Easy to clean
- Formal or informal uses
- Designs play well together!
Linda’s iris design is beautiful—but she didn’t even know it was there until after she cleaned the cloth.
I’m using her experience as a gentle reminder to slow down and pay attention to the things around me. To accept that even in the midst of the ugly (in linens or people) there is unseen beauty; I just have to look for it. Perhaps you could use that encouragement today, too.
Don’t do as Linda did (years ago) and wait until after the holidays to assess your linens. Do as she did this year!
And if you need a little encouragement or hand-holding before you start, I’m always here to help!
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