# "yellowed" old white wool sweater



## estaboca (Jan 31, 2011)

I have an old handmade white wool fair isle sweater that had been sent to the dry cleaners over the years and has "yellowed" Is there any way for this to be made white again?


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## ann-other-knitter (Mar 17, 2012)

One of the dye companies puts out a whitener for shirts. I'm not sure if its Tintex or Dylon. Should be at Walmart. Otherwise wash the sweater with Sunlight bar laundry soap leave the soap in it and put in the sun to bleach. Then rinse well til all soap is out. Put in washing mashine to spin out the excess water. Lay out on a bathtowel to dry in the shade. If you can get some unadulterated lanolin from a chemist who mixes his own remedies you might want to rub some into the sweater. LISTEN FOLKS - DON'T ever dry clean wool sweaters. Naughty naughty. Ann


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## redann (Oct 31, 2011)

The chemicals from the dry cleaner are at least partly to blame for the wool yellowing, but never fear, if you want it brighter or snowy white, try using a peroxide based bleach in the manner described below. If you have 2 sweaters, do this in the washer. If not, use a bucket or dishpan with as hot water as you can get out of the tap, some shampoo and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide 3%. You can get both oxy bleach and quarts of peroxide at the $ store. Mix well, then dip your sweater a few times, then submerge it and let it soak. Don't prod or squeeze at all other than dipping then pushing it under, or it will shrink and felt. If you just soak it, it will be OK. If your sweater brightens up right away, great; but if its really yellowed, chances are that you'll need to soak it a couple of hours and more than once. If the water gets cold and it is still a bit yellow, just drain, let as much water as possible drain out, start over with hot water again. I use a dish drainer if I can't use the spin cycle. 
if it hasn't brightened up after the first couple of hours, pour it all out into the sink, start over with HOT water, a small amount of shampoo, and this time use some of the oxygen stain remover/bleach or you can just add more peroxide if you didn't get the "bleach". It works like on hair, but MUCH weaker solution > less bleaching. Now, after the stain removing soaks, if you still have a slight yellowish cast, you can take care of that in the second rinse. 
Rinse once by soaking in clear hot water. you can gently swish it when the water cools, but just a bit to get the cleaning stuff out. No squeezing or anything. Second rinse: take a page out of our grandmothers' book and try some laundry bluing in your rinse- and don't forget to mix in some hair conditioner before you dip and submerge your sweater. Soak for 10 to 20 minutes and drain. Better yet, If you have 2 sweaters, you can do all this in the washer, even when they weren't washed together but always taking care not to agitate at all. one sweater is just too much weight on one side. It would knock it out of balance. However, the spin cycle helps a lot with the process and it comes out better. Just drain thoroughly between each new submersion to get rid of the shampoo and dirty water. 
Good luck,
A



estaboca said:


> I have an old handmade white wool fair isle sweater that had been sent to the dry cleaners over the years and has "yellowed" Is there any way for this to be made white again?


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## bsaito (Jun 12, 2011)

I have not heard of the two treatments above and will keep this info in my "stash". One other thing you might try is Borax as a prewash. I use it when washing my white clothes. It has gotten rid of yellow underarm stains and most ground in clay on my son's bb uniform.


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## redann (Oct 31, 2011)

Its usually not a good idea to take a stranger's word for anything radical or unfamiliar without first making a sample; especially if its to be done to a precious item. 

I suggest knitting a 4" swatch of some waste yarn, or using a test subject. Just check it out. Its an incredibly effective solution. I have also regularly use this method with cotton and linen (even antique), by soaking for several days in a bowl of cold water, completely removing stains from food, including grease, curry, wine and tea. Hot water is far more effective with wool though, and can be done in an evening or less.

I always use hot water/ no agitation method for animal hair fiber, and I always use peroxide as a first string brightener for whites of ANY natural fiber. If there's a stain that won't come out or yellowing, I may resort to oxygen bleach, but often the hydrogen peroxide you get to clean/disinfect wounds is all you need. I used this process last month on a kilo of reclaimed yarn I'd hand-spun and knit up close to 35 years ago. Its perfect.


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## estaboca (Jan 31, 2011)

Thank you all so much. I will try one and if it doesn't work I will try another method. I really didn't know that you could wash wool in HOT water and not have it shrink. I guess you learn something new eeryday. Thanx again.


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## tdorminey (Mar 22, 2011)

Dampen your item is a weak solution of lemon juice and water, 1:10 strength, and place it in direct sunlight for a few hours. This will remove yellowing without harming your wool.


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## redann (Oct 31, 2011)

It will shrink and felt if you mess with it or agitate the machine, but it works so much better than cold water if you leave it alone. Be careful to dip it l(ike you would do a toe in a bath) before you let it sink into the water or it will get a temperature shock.



estaboca said:


> Thank you all so much. I will try one and if it doesn't work I will try another method. I really didn't know that you could wash wool in HOT water and not have it shrink. I guess you learn something new eeryday. Thanx again.


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## StitchDesigner (Jan 24, 2011)

Do *not* put wool in the washer. Some people say spinning is OK. Well, not after it felts they won't.


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## redann (Oct 31, 2011)

SD-
It may sound counterintuitive, but I assure you it is fact. Furthermore, I do it all the time and the first time was in 1959 or 1960, and then I was unsuccessfully trying to shrink something!. 
If your wool felted in the spin cycle, it had to have been agitated, squeezed, swished or fussed with before that. 
Spinning won't felt it without other mechanical encouragement. Soak, let the water drain out, then let it spin. I use the regular cycle on my machine, but its quite old, and is rotating during the part of the cycle where it drains. no back and forth, just starting up to spin. . Maybe you should try perm press spin first. Last week I washed a cashmere/merino cardigan I just knit. It blocked up PERFECTLY with no fiddling what so ever. I also washed an Aran sweater with it, to balance out the spin cycle. I washed a 70 year old lambswool cardigan of my father's and his reindeer sweater from the 1930s. Nothing shrank or felted. No tricks. its the agitation that causes the fibers to crimp and latch on. And as anyone who intentionally felts can tell you, detergent encourages the process because the fibers slip in tighter. 
I first discovered this when I was a kid and one of my new mittens got into the wash and shrank. I kept trying to shrink the other one to match, soaking it in very hot water in the sink. I couldn't get it to do it! no matter how hot the water or how long I soaked it, that mitten wouldn't shrink. 
Don't take my word for it, try it: you'll see.
I'm not stupid, mean or untruthful. I have a college degree that incorporates Textile Technology. I know what I'm talking about.



StitchDesigner said:


> Do *not* put wool in the washer. Some people say spinning is OK. Well, not after it felts they won't.


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## mavisb (Apr 18, 2011)

I have been told to use an oil but do you think I can remember the name. LOL I will have to find a bottle but I think it could be Eucalyptus oil.


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## redann (Oct 31, 2011)

I add some lavender oil in the rinse, but I can't imagine why anyone would use any oil bit an essential oil. Eucalyptus is one, as is Lavender and Patchouli, All will repel moths. I use lavender on everyone's wool, but I sometimes prefer patchouli on my own. 
You can get it at the health food store. Only use essential oil, not scented oil.



mavisb said:


> I have been told to use an oil but do you think I can remember the name. LOL I will have to find a bottle but I think it could be Eucalyptus oil.


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## Jeannie6 (Apr 7, 2011)

A few years ago I had some linens of my mother's -- tablecloths and such -- that were yellowed and I wanted to pass them on to my daughter. I soaked them in Oxy Clean and they turned out bright! Don't know if it works for everything.


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## Jeannie6 (Apr 7, 2011)

I mean bright white!


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## tricia488 (Jul 26, 2011)

I have a somewhat related question ... I have a vintage 1950s-styled white coat that I found in a local thrift shop. It is not knitted, but the inside label says "80% cashmere, 20% mink." It is in good condition overall but definitely needs cleaning, no major stains, no moth holes, just a small stain/mark on the lining. (The label is a designer's label, not a care label, and it has no information about the lining material or care instructions.) I haven't done anything yet because this is not a typical dry cleaning situation so I want to make sure I find the right person to do the job, but all these comments about dry cleaning chemicals are making me wonder whether dry cleaning would be deleterious and whether there are better alternatives.... Redann, does your textile education include care/restoration of vintage fabrics? Are there any recommended resources for information? Thanks!


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## estaboca (Jan 31, 2011)

Thank you all for your input. I will try and let you know what, if anything worked. What does oil do for the garment?


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## redann (Oct 31, 2011)

Some essential oils (IE: Lavender, peppermint, Eucalyptus, Cedar & patchouli) will repel moths, but I wouldn't want my sweater smelling like eucalyptus &/or cedar. I'd add Lavender, peppermint or patchouli for fragrance. Other types of oils may stain the wool, make it smell like salad or a baby. . . 

A


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## 1katinka2 (Apr 20, 2015)

Hi RedAnn,
Could you please clarify how much hydrogen peroxide to how much water you recommend for brightening yellowed aran sweaters? I have several, including one with leather buttons (yikes), that I would love to whiten but really don't want to cause an ounce of harm to them!
Thanks so much!


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