Has Anyone Cleaned a Summer-White Tunic??

[Paul R.]

Do not use woolite it will glow like a full moon. I have seen too many WWII items washed in woolite only to have them glowing. I would not use any sort of bleach on any old historic fabric. Old fabric is too delicate to use any amount of bleach. Even a teaspoon or more per 1/2 gallon of water is to strong. Vinegar can work but stains usually appear even a small amout of vinegar can cause staining like John said what happened to his item.
In my conservation work Orvis paste soap is what I use for any historic fabric washing (by hand only). This product along with the sodium perborate grainuals work great on older fabric. Orvis soap is PH neutral and can be safely used in old fabric washing (by hand only) A small amount 1/2 teaspoon will wash you item safely. Use cool water to wash. Rinse thoroughly using cool water for several minutes and towel damp dry. Careful not to stretch you wet item or twist your item to get water out. Blot you item and air dry only.
Paul

[dcdefend]

white top cleaning

Stonemint,

No, no, no. No bleach or woolite. You want sodium perborate from talasonline.com. I use it on all white tunics and visor tops and it works.

Regards,

John Ellis

[Mike Swan]

There is one very simple solution regarding a washed tunic that glows....don't look at it in the dark with a UV light !!!

Mike

[The Dragon]

This is a great thread for advice on cleaning tunics etc. If I am not mistaken I think it was Paul R. who before demonstrated washing a pair of panzer pants in the bath and also took photo's of it. There was a sling used to lift out the item etc which I thought was a good idea.

It was be cool to see some before and after photo's of washed items too.

[The Dragon]

I found the link. Apolgies it was a pair of SS pants. This might help others.

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=404186