The Best Way to Store Vintage Lingerie
If there's been a way to ruin a piece of vintage clothing, with the exception of setting it on fire, I've probably done it. And while I've had wild successes cleaning vintage clothing of disastrous stains (Fools jump in where angels fear to tread...), I've had my share of miserable, tear inducing failures. My most recent? I forgot to color test a gorgeous color chiffon robe and left it to soak, trying to remove a residual body odor smell. Oh...by the time I was done the smell was gone, but so was half the color. Sigh. Friends don't let friends soak vintage clothing without color testing first....
The worst stains, and we've all run across them because they are so common, are the stains from storing vintage clothing in non acid free paper containers. These are the carmel colored stains that seem randomly scattered on your beautiful piece of vintage lingerie and you think to yourself, "What happened here?" They come about from long time storage in a non acid free card board box, unfortunately one of the cheapest, easiest and therefore most common means of storage for the average household.
So now that you know what you shouldn't do, what's the best way to store vintage lingerie? In a wrapping or envelope of either clean cloth or acid free tissue paper. The protection is two-fold. The envelope serves to protect the delicate, sheer fabrics from getting snagged, and the acid free cloth and tissue paper protects the fabric from picking up any acids, from the wood bureau or non acid free paper, that would ultimately stain the fabric. Acid free drawer liners are another great idea, too, for a little extra protection.
I'm sure you are all thinking about those crumbled slips of yours, in balls and shoved in among your bras, and your wadded up nylons that are full of snags from catching on your bureau drawers...just as you take them out to put them on. Wouldn't it be so much nicer to take out a soft and often, satiny lingerie bag and put on your neatly folded and barely wrinkled slips. Or actually find both legs of your thigh high stocking sets with nary a snag? Uh-huh. You like that, don't you. (;
I think this is a topic that deserves an extended discussion, but for today I'll just end with this last caveat regarding storing any type of clothing. Make sure it goes into storage clean and with the stains treated. Baby food stains and fruit juice stains are notorious for disappearing prior to washing and then reappearing in all their evil glory, in clean, stored items. With a little bit of thoughtful preparation, you'll be enjoying your vintage lingerie for years to come.
Here are three great examples of vintage lingerie bags:
The worst stains, and we've all run across them because they are so common, are the stains from storing vintage clothing in non acid free paper containers. These are the carmel colored stains that seem randomly scattered on your beautiful piece of vintage lingerie and you think to yourself, "What happened here?" They come about from long time storage in a non acid free card board box, unfortunately one of the cheapest, easiest and therefore most common means of storage for the average household.
So now that you know what you shouldn't do, what's the best way to store vintage lingerie? In a wrapping or envelope of either clean cloth or acid free tissue paper. The protection is two-fold. The envelope serves to protect the delicate, sheer fabrics from getting snagged, and the acid free cloth and tissue paper protects the fabric from picking up any acids, from the wood bureau or non acid free paper, that would ultimately stain the fabric. Acid free drawer liners are another great idea, too, for a little extra protection.
I'm sure you are all thinking about those crumbled slips of yours, in balls and shoved in among your bras, and your wadded up nylons that are full of snags from catching on your bureau drawers...just as you take them out to put them on. Wouldn't it be so much nicer to take out a soft and often, satiny lingerie bag and put on your neatly folded and barely wrinkled slips. Or actually find both legs of your thigh high stocking sets with nary a snag? Uh-huh. You like that, don't you. (;
I think this is a topic that deserves an extended discussion, but for today I'll just end with this last caveat regarding storing any type of clothing. Make sure it goes into storage clean and with the stains treated. Baby food stains and fruit juice stains are notorious for disappearing prior to washing and then reappearing in all their evil glory, in clean, stored items. With a little bit of thoughtful preparation, you'll be enjoying your vintage lingerie for years to come.
Here are three great examples of vintage lingerie bags:
Vintage Black and Pink Satin Glove and Hosiery Storage Bags offered by ThedaBaraVintage $18
Vintage White Satin Glove and Hosiery Storage Bag offered by ThedaBaraVintage $10
Enjoy!
XO,
Kathy
You can find my vintage clothing shop Medicinew1 , and my vintage goods shop Medicinew2 , on Etsy.
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You're welcome. I glad you enjoyed it. (:
ReplyDeleteGreat information, thanks for putting it out there for all to see. I would like to add that for fine vintage lingerie NEVER use a dryer! A dryer can and will destroy your loved vintage items, line drying is the only way to go.
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