Now is the time of year when we are all entertaining and setting beautiful dining tables with our favorite linens and we want to be sure that these are cleaned and ready. Stains from last year and even years prior are still present and if your linens are already cleaned then, this linen wash recipe will be great as you know elderly grandma Ethel will sadly drop the cranberry sauce on your tablecloth as she insists on serving herself.
Vintage Linen Stain Removal Mixture
1 Cup Clorox Color Safe Bleach
1 ¼ Cup Oxy Clean
1 Cup of your favorite Dishwasher Liquid Soap
Fill your washing machine with hot water. Add all 3 ingredients. Let washer agitate to mix thoroughly. Let the water cool down a bit. Add your linens to soak and agitate on a gentle or delicate cycle for a few minutes only. Go back and again let the linens agitate for a few more minutes and keep the ingredients mixed. Depending on the stubbornness of the stain(s) and how much patience you have, it might work best to let the linens soak overnight or while you are at work.
If there are hints of stains left after you remove your linens from the washing machine, lay your wet item on wet grass on a nice a hot sunny day and mist with some concentrated lemon juice being careful not to let the green grass stain it.
TIPS:
On whites, the dishwasher liquid may be enough of a bleach to remove stains.
The lemon juice and hot sun work well and should do the trick too!
If soaking only a couple items, use 1/3 of the ingredients mentioned above.
You can also use the ingredients mixture and technique to soak dirty quilts but put them in the bathtub so the material does not get damaged.