How would you wash crocheted ornaments?
by
Pamela Moore
+11
They were handmade and have turned yellow over the years. I believe they were stiffened with Elmers's glue.
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Try soaking them overnight in a solution of Oxyclean, detergent and hot water. Rinse them well and laid them out on a towel to dry. You will probably have to stiffen and them again with a solution of half Elmers school glue and half water. Lay them out on parchment paper or wax paper to dry, preferably in the sun. Hopefully this will work for you.
Wow, washing them may destroy the shape, especially if stiffened with glue or starch. Could you possibly clean them with a slightly damp rag and some very mild soap? If the color is an issue for you, perhaps you could spray paint them to make them white again? Good luck!
It's the glue that's yellowed. Ficher is right, they may loose their shape. If you don't want to paint them, how about embracing a yellow and gold themed Christmas tree with gold lights and additional gold and yellow accessories? Could be quite lovely.
If they are white you could just blow the dust off and spray paint them . If you wash them you will have to restiffen them.
It's not that hard to reshape and stiffen them..specially if they are two dimensional like doilies, snowflakes..
When I had an antique shop I sold lots of these. I would wash even using some bleach to get really clean. They don't have to be stiffened unless you want to use them. For storing I would not use anything. For use a strong solution of starch should do the trick.
Put them in the sun for a few days. Sunlight is the BEST thing to brighten up items that have yellowed with age.
The best way to get them clean is to hand wash with a mild detergent and if necessary you can soak in diluted bleach (one part bleach to twenty parts water), rinse thoroughly and lay flat to dry, do not wring or twist as it might distort the threads. Once it’s clean and dry you can use starch or a solution of water and glue to stiffen it back up, soak it in whatever you are using, gently squeeze out the extra and lay it flat on some wax paper and make sure it’s spread out on the proper shape. This is something that should be done every few years or so as they will yellow or just get a little dirty in general and start to soften with age.