Spring Cleaning

I love vintage linens and since it was cleaning day today and this here tablecloth has gotten a lot of play lately (I super love it) I decided to give her a little wash and a hang out on the clothes line. Here is my favorite way to clean vintage linens - treat any spots with oxy-clean spray or any other spot remover you like to use. After spraying spots, I let her sit for about 10 minutes and then put her in a bucket filled with HOT water, a small handful of salt and the juice from half a lemon. Let soak for an hour or so while you do other chores (like scrub the kitchen floor, which I did today). After about an hour, I took her out of the bucket of salt & lemon water and rinsed her once with warm water and let her sit a moment. Fill bucket with COLD water and a few drop of Mrs. Stewart's Bluing so the water is light sky blue - make sure bluing is mixed well in the water or you will have blue spots, submerge tablecloth in the bluing water (as a final rinse) - swish the tablecloth around a little for about a minute and then remove her from water, squeeze out excess water and spin (in your washer or in a spinner) and hang out in the sunlight on a clothesline to dry. Remember sunlight is the best thing for vintage linens that have yellowing or stains, it really gets them out. If you don't have a clothesline, you can spread your linens out on towels on your lawn (if you have one). Bring in from the outside and take a long sniff of your clean tablecloth (ahhhhhh), lightly iron and put back on the table or in storage until you use it again.

Yes, I am old school. I don't have a washer or dryer, I do have a spinner and a bucket though and it works great and makes vintage linens last a long time. I like cleaning things the old way, it really works!

PS - got this tablecloth at the Alameda Flea Market in the $5 French linen bin, life doesn't get much better!