Gentle wash with some white T-shirt’s. They help “scrub”. Then soak in some Oxy or Spic and Span or other serious cleaner. Then wash again, gently, and rinse with a low “spin” cycle. I never put mine in the dryer. I take them out immediately and lay them out on the table while I hang them wet or iron them, depending on my enthusiasm.
I have white lace curtains all over my house, and the only thing that gets the gray out of them is a good soak in warm water with Clorox II. Chlorine bleach will damage the delicate fabric, or yellow it badly. I put my curtains in the dryer for just a few minutes to get the wrinkles out. Have a sofa or a large flat surface to lay them out on, the instant the curtains come out of the dryer.
Agree with OxyClean as a treatment - I have sprayed it on old stains and left alone for several hours and it works great.. It's main ingredient that does the magic is hydrogen peroxide in some form! Then I would follow with gentle wash with t-shirts as Jcraw suggests! Good idea with t-shirts, Jcraw!
After soaking in bleach, hang in direct sunlight for several hours to further bleach them. If they are a natural fabric (cotton or linen) they should bleach out really well. Unfortunately, synthetics don't always lighten up and may stay yellowish.
Assuming they’re polyester or nylon, and no cotton nor silk, then yes, generic oxiclean (dollar store) works with a bit of clear dish detergent as a surfactant.
I would soak in oxygen bleach according to the package directions. If the curtains are heavily stained, use twice the recommended amount. You may also add 1/2 cup of one of the following: vinegar, lemon juice, borax, washing soda, baking soda or hydrogen peroxide and then wash on gentle cycle in machine.
I use a little Tide and vinegar soak to wash them first then fill your basin with cool water and several drops of MRS. STEWART’S liquid bluing (follow instructions on bottle). It brings them back to bright whiteness but don’t ever add the curtains until you’ve mixed the blue drops in VERY WELL.
Had all new windows installed in house in February of this year (2021). Already have some areas where the new interior caulk is discolored, and has gotten worse ove...
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Assuming they’re polyester or nylon, and no cotton nor silk, then yes, generic oxiclean (dollar store) works with a bit of clear dish detergent as a surfactant.
I would soak in oxygen bleach according to the package directions. If the curtains are heavily stained, use twice the recommended amount. You may also add 1/2 cup of one of the following: vinegar, lemon juice, borax, washing soda, baking soda or hydrogen peroxide and then wash on gentle cycle in machine.
I use a little Tide and vinegar soak to wash them first then fill your basin with cool water and several drops of MRS. STEWART’S liquid bluing (follow instructions on bottle). It brings them back to bright whiteness but don’t ever add the curtains until you’ve mixed the blue drops in VERY WELL.
Soak them in Oxy Clean and then wash in cold water on the gentle cycle in your washing machine.