vintage textiles

People ask lots of questions about vintage clothing & how to care for it. Here are my answers to the most frequently asked questions.

1. How do I clean vintage clothing? I generally recommend hand-washing vintage clothing. Start with a gentle detergent and move into more aggressive cleaners only if necessary. I use Oxi-Clean Versatile for whites & colors. I use bleach only as a last resort as it can deteriorate fragile fabrics.
2. Is there any way to help a sticky zipper? Yes, there is! Just run an old-fashioned pencil up and down your zipper–graphite is an excellent dry lubricant and will get that sticky zipper working like new.
3. Where do I find replacement buttons for my vintage garment? In short, the easiest thing to do when a vintage piece is missing a button is to replace all of the buttons with an appropriate substitute. Finding an exact match can be impossible.
4. How should I store my vintage clothing? First of all, no wire hangers. I use flat velvet hangers in my shop but only because I can fit more clothing on my racks with flat hangers. Padded hangers are ideal and flat storage is best for anything heavy or beaded.
5. What’s the best way to repair vintage clothing? It depends on the issue but in general, I always repair by hand. Seam splits can be easily repaired by hand as can button holes. Tears and deterioration are hard to fix. Tears in solid fabrics can be repaired from the inside by using a piece of fabric for reinforcement. Sheer fabrics are harder to fix. I save trim, appliques, fabric flowers, and other bits & pieces because sometimes the easiest (and prettiest) fix is to cover the problem area.