2025 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

PollyWollyDoodle

Ha Barbapapa!  I’d forgotten them. 

Cherryfudge

I'd never come across Barbapapa (no TV when we were growing up) so I did a double take, assuming it was something to do with candyfloss/cotton candy. Then I doubted my French and looked it up... cute! The style of the book very much takes me back to the 1970s.  

I learned to knit from my Mum and a friend taught me to crochet more recently. In fact right at this moment, on the back of the chair I'm currently using, is a cardigan Mum made and which I posted about sometime ago - Pip kindly sent me a link which I still have to a company that might be able to supply yarn to match the worn areas. It's a chunky yarn that's felted a bit but the cable pattern is attractive. Shame about the massive unravelling under the arms! I think step one (not on today's list) will be to pin it out and do that thing you see on Youtube where each stitch is pinned in place so that there's something to work with.

But yes, I learned from Mum, then a friend at College was always knitting and started a craze among the rest of us. I've still got the big mohair jumper I made first, and the Aran waistcoat I made next. I'd recommend Youtube but better still, knitting in the company of someone who can help you when you go wrong... because that happens, and an experienced knitter is exactly what you need at that point.

Laura_Elsewhere

I’m the oddity again… I taught myself to knit in my thirties from a 1930s Weldon’s booklet on Sock & Stocking Knitting, and the very first thing I knitted was a shaped knee-high ribbed stocking. 

Nobody told me you can’t learn by yourself from an old booklet of your Gran’s, so I didn’t know you can’t start by knitting stockings… 

The only problem I had was that about a decade later I discovered I had been twisting all my purl stitches, but that only acts as reinforcement in socks so not a problem

Sarahspangles

Laura_Elsewhere said:

Sarahspangles said:

I know we should probably be using cotton dishcloths over microfibre ones. But I remember my mother saying that cotton dishcloths should be bleached overnight, as in every night, and I rebelled against that. I used to change them daily and put them in a 60C wash made up to a load with sheets, towels or baby things. Now I only wash things at 60C if someone has been ill, and then only if I can’t line dry in sunshine instead.

I can't see why cotton neerds bleached overnight every night but microfibre doesn't...! I think your mother may have been attached to the weird 1960s habit of throwing chemical warfare at everything regardless! My aunt was like that too, every black top she owned had little patterns of bleach splashes as she relied on it so heavily in housework! 

Me, I would think a clean cloth daily is fine, and good thorough washing of the normal kind should be fine, and line-drying in daylight is always good! 

Everyone has their own different lines, and we all have different reasons for where we draw them- I do try very hard to avoid microfibre cloths because of ocean-pollution, but then I do still use 60º washes once a week for kitchen and bathroom textiles, because I can't line-dry anything in a top-floor flat, so it's biological detergent and hot washing for me! (I do everything else on low temps...).

Yes my mother set up home in the late 50s which was probably Peak Bleach! OH brought microfibre into my life, I’d like to find an alternative because I know that sometimes he uses them to clean his bikes, and I’m not sure they don’t get back into circulation. 

Sarahspangles

I have a laundry question! I have some white linen cloths with drawn thread work and embroidery, which my grandmother made. Then when my parents’ house was cleared, my daughter chose some tablecloths my mother used. I think those are cotton jacquard (or damask?), they haven’t been hand embellished but must be old as the hems aren’t very well done and they have hand embroidered initials in one corner. I can see some stains on those.

What is the ideal order to de-stain, whiten and generally refresh things like this?

PS I expect a sunny day in April will be the best time but asking so I can get any supplies in!

Nelliegrace

I use oxiclean and cold water to soak vintage linen. Bleach weakens the fabric.

CapricornLass

Whatever you chose to tackle the stain, I would start with the gentlest thing first, and move on to harsher products afterwards.  I don't think I would use bleach either.  If a stain absolutely wont come out, then you need to wait for a hot sunny day, spread the cloth in the sunshine out so that the stain is clearly visible, and then pour boiling water over it, and leave the action of the sun to get rid of the stain as the fabric dries. (Don't do this on a lawn, or you will kill the grass).  Its amazing what the power of sun can do to shift stains.  It may need a couple of repeats to fully disappear, but I've found its a method that works.

Laura_Elsewhere

Chipping in with my tuppence worth  

Is the embroidery white on white, or coloured? If white on white, life is easier... 

I would soak the thing for 48 hours in plain cold tapwater, in a big enough container that you can swish it around by hand. Change the water halfway through. 
Let the water drain away but don't let the fabric dry. (Generally, heat and drying are the two things that will set a stain, or set it further, so try to keep the thing wet during the process). 
It's entirely possible that 48 hrs in water has done the trick but if not, I would use BioTex or a similar gentle enzyme-based pre-wash treatment. You need hand-hot water to dissolve the powder, so mix it up and dissolve the stuff and then either add cold, or let it cool to tepid, really barely lukewarm - you may need to keep stirring, check for grittiness. Let it soak in the BioTex solution for another 24 hours, swishing it round well every so often (once an hour is ideal, every half-hour won't hurt, try to do it at least every couple of hours- obviously not during the night but you get my drift) 
Empty the BioTex out and put in plain cold. Swish and swish and tip it out. Repeat several times til you feel it's pretty much rinsed. Squeeze the water out- avoid wringing it. 

Now I would put it- unfolded- into an old pillowcase and sew the end closed. That will see it through a gentle machine-wash using biological detergent at 20 or 30 degrees. If possible, use something like a woollens cycle that involves periods of its just sitting there, minimal agitation. Then put it through a rinse cycle if you have one, or the shortest cycle on the lowest temp with no detergent. I am happy with our 1400rpm spin cycle even with delicates so long as they're inside a pillowcase. If you really are saintly, and/or if it is large, then when you put it into the pillowcase, fold it very loosely into four or 6 or 8, so it fits in, and then use white strong thread, doubled, to make huge stitches right through the lot, from outside the pillowcase, to secure it from ending up in a ball in one corner. I would use big running stitches 2-3 inches long, in a line along its length and again at right angles across its short axis; more lines if you like. 

Open it up and have a really good look at it by daylight. Hold it up to the light. Some very faint stains show more when damp and can vanish when dry. If you think it's sorted, then gently air-dry.

Personally, I wouldn't use OxyClean (it's far far cheaper buying hydrogen peroxide 12% and diluting it), nor would I pour boiling water on it... 

Sunshine is excellent but only if you know absolutely what fibres it is, 100% certain, and that they are not treated in any way. Even some cottons can yellow horribly if given too much sun. 
If you want to try a natural bleaching effect, then moonlight is surprisingly effective. Stitch it to an old sheet or similar and peg it with many pegs on the sheet-edge, and hang it where the moonlight will fall on it. 
Finally, if you want to try a useful soak with a mild bleaching effect, try milk. It's especially useful for stained wool. 

If the embroidery is coloured, then you have to avoid soaking, and that's a whole other kettle of fish...! 

Sarahspangles

Laura_Elsewhere said:

Chipping in with my tuppence worth  

Is the embroidery white on white, or coloured? If white on white, life is easier... 

I would soak the thing for 48 hours in plain cold tapwater, in a big enough container that you can swish it around by hand. Change the water halfway through. 
Let the water drain away but don't let the fabric dry. (Generally, heat and drying are the two things that will set a stain, or set it further, so try to keep the thing wet during the process). 
It's entirely possible that 48 hrs in water has done the trick but if not, I would use BioTex or a similar gentle enzyme-based pre-wash treatment. You need hand-hot water to dissolve the powder, so mix it up and dissolve the stuff and then either add cold, or let it cool to tepid, really barely lukewarm - you may need to keep stirring, check for grittiness. Let it soak in the BioTex solution for another 24 hours, swishing it round well every so often (once an hour is ideal, every half-hour won't hurt, try to do it at least every couple of hours- obviously not during the night but you get my drift) 
Empty the BioTex out and put in plain cold. Swish and swish and tip it out. Repeat several times til you feel it's pretty much rinsed. Squeeze the water out- avoid wringing it. 

Now I would put it- unfolded- into an old pillowcase and sew the end closed. That will see it through a gentle machine-wash using biological detergent at 20 or 30 degrees. If possible, use something like a woollens cycle that involves periods of its just sitting there, minimal agitation. Then put it through a rinse cycle if you have one, or the shortest cycle on the lowest temp with no detergent. I am happy with our 1400rpm spin cycle even with delicates so long as they're inside a pillowcase. If you really are saintly, and/or if it is large, then when you put it into the pillowcase, fold it very loosely into four or 6 or 8, so it fits in, and then use white strong thread, doubled, to make huge stitches right through the lot, from outside the pillowcase, to secure it from ending up in a ball in one corner. I would use big running stitches 2-3 inches long, in a line along its length and again at right angles across its short axis; more lines if you like. 

Open it up and have a really good look at it by daylight. Hold it up to the light. Some very faint stains show more when damp and can vanish when dry. If you think it's sorted, then gently air-dry.

Personally, I wouldn't use OxyClean (it's far far cheaper buying hydrogen peroxide 12% and diluting it), nor would I pour boiling water on it... 

Sunshine is excellent but only if you know absolutely what fibres it is, 100% certain, and that they are not treated in any way. Even some cottons can yellow horribly if given too much sun. 
If you want to try a natural bleaching effect, then moonlight is surprisingly effective. Stitch it to an old sheet or similar and peg it with many pegs on the sheet-edge, and hang it where the moonlight will fall on it. 
Finally, if you want to try a useful soak with a mild bleaching effect, try milk. It's especially useful for stained wool. 

If the embroidery is coloured, then you have to avoid soaking, and that's a whole other kettle of fish...! 

Thank you! I’ve bookmarked for a nice Spring day! The embroidered cloths are coloured, but they’re not stained. I do think that I should use them, I don’t think they will mean anything to anyone when I go.

Laura_Elsewhere

@Sarahspangles - I agree about using them! So sad when things are kept unused and then end up thrown out by people they mean nothing to... 

And I really recommend using ColourCatcher sheets for the coloured ones so even if the coloured threads do run a bit, it shouldn't bleed into the background. I sometimes use two or three at a time to be extra-sure with something I definitely want to keep run-free.... and you can re-use the sheets as kitchen-paper to mop up in the kitchen and just pop them in the normal laundry until they're really fit to throw out