HJ armband yellowed, folded. How to clean?

[Lloyd I.]

I was wondering if anyone can provide some advice on how to clean up this HJ armband. It is very yellowed with a few small rust spots and dirt. It's in worn condition and was kept folded at some point.

I'd like to get the folds out for sure but don't know if I should attempt to iron this piece.

Can I use Woolite and hand wash it gently to remove the years of aging? This came from a heavy smokers house.

Thanks for advice.

[Lloyd I.]

The back of the armband.

[Lloyd I.]

Maybe this shows the yellowing a bit better. I am not certain I should even try to clean it but I would like all the fold lines out of it for display.

[Paul R.]

As a conservator I would leave it alone. By cleaning the item you run the risk of color bleeding, making the fabric glow under a black light, shrinking the fabric.

PLEASE Take No Offense here but... Please help me understand the obsession we have with cleaning things. Why risk the possibility of changing this historical item.
If it was in that dirty and smokey of condition why buy it. Then wash it to possibly destroy it??
Of course it's your item to wash if you disire.

[David Guist]

I have to agree here.It is best to leave it the way it is.I never clean anything.I wont buy any thing that has been cleaned.Best regards.

[Stahlhelm]

Paul and dav are absolutely correct. It should be left as it is. Cleaning it will only destroy whatever value it currently has. In general, messing with these things in any way is a recipe for disaster.

Chris

[Lloyd I.]

Well, as a general rule, I do not clean anything I find for a variety of reasons the number one being it's a fairly known number one rule with antiques. I tend to agree on leaving items as is for all the normal reasons that are stated here. My main concern however was that the yellowing which is more than likely tobacco staining would affect the piece if just left as is. I have no obsession with cleaning everything I get and yes, I knew it's condition when I bought it.

I purchased a well worn overcoat once straight from Germany and used Woolite to clean it. I gently washed and rinsed it somewhere around six or seven times. You would not believe the amount of filth that came out of that overcoat but when I was done the true color was there, all the stains to the exterior were gone and it improved the display of it and hopefully killed any moth eggs or other parasites that were living in it.

Woolite will not leave glowing crystals as modern detergents do.

Thanks for your opinions.