Tuesday, June 19, 2012

To Keep Vintage White--




I have a "green" tip for you who own vintage whites and have problems with brown age spots appearing. The tip actually comes from my Granny Duncan, who was a designer and seamstress in the 1940s-60s. Her expertise was in wedding dresses and formal attire. Her designs were usually hand beaded and absolutely gorgeous. I wish she had kept a few of them. As it is, I only have one--my own wedding dress that's been stored since the early 1970s. I peeked at it just recently, and it's just as white as it was the day I wore it.
How?
Glad you asked. . . 

Green tissue paper. . .
the kind you see around Christmas. . .

I don't know why it works. It just does. If whites are packed away properly in it, they will remain just as white as the day you packed them up.

Here's how I've done it for many years:
Place one sheet of green tissue paper in the middle
of the garment folded lengthwise. . .

 Open tissue out to one side. . .

 Fold over the bottom of the dress onto the tissue paper. . .

 Fold the side tissue paper over the dress bottom. . .

 Fold dress top over that. . .

 Now, take a second piece of the green tissue paper 
and wrap around the entire garment. . .

Tie with a ribbon or string. . .

It's best if you place the wrapped garment in an acid free box, but I have also placed them for short terms in just a white suit box. 

If you want to hang the garment in a bag, wrap it in the green paper first, place in the garment bag, and hang. That's how my wedding dress
has been packed for almost 40 years!
This technique works well for table linens or sheets, too.

So--remember--for anything white--
just think "green."


I'm Sharing this tip with: * Wednesdays Adorned From Above
* White Wednesday @ Faded Charm Cottage 
*Simple and Sweet Friday @ Rooted In Thyme
*Vintage Inspiration @ Common Ground
* Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage
Inspiration Friday @ At The Picket Fence
*Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Please NOTE: I had a huge stash of green tissue paper that I've been using for years, so I haven't tested  the performance of the newer tissue on the market today.

29 comments:

JGO said...

I love this tip.I am going to to try it...

xox,jacqueline

Donna@Conghaile Cottage said...

"THANK YOU,THANK YOU SO MUCH"!!! My Aunt ONLY USED "BLACK TISSUE" the same way! Your GREEN is much easier to get, so now I'll use it too...I used to grab the BLACK at Halloween time...What do you think about the black??? My Aunt swore by it. I haven't tried it YET! but I was thinking about it the other day DUE TO THE FACT I have trunks and trunks of antique linens...
Big Hugs,
Donna

Linda said...

My Grandma did the same thing!! I still have a lot of her doilies and vintage Christening gowns in the same tissue!

Cindy said...

Those are two very beautiful dresses. So sad you can't buy ones like that anymore.
Thank you for the instructions on how to keep whites white, I appreciate that.
And thanks so much for visiting me and leaving a sweet comment. Please do come back.
Hugs, cindy

simplicityinthemaking said...

I smock a many white batiste dresses for our girls and packaged them in their trunks in BLUE tissue paper and it holds the colour as well. I always think of it like 'blueing' something our grannies did to the warm wash to keep whites ,white.
I have a dress much like your one on the left. It is hanging in my sewing room. Something a 'misses' could wear not me. Too small a waist! Yours are beautiful

Poppy @ With a Dash of Color said...

Thanks for sharing this wonderful tip, much appreciated!The dresses are so beautiful,wish it was easier to find pretty dresses like these. Thanks for visiting my garden party. I enjoyed your company:) Have a lovely evening!Hugs,Poppy

Linda said...

Beautiful dress and a great tip!

Carlene @ Organized Clutter said...

Beautiful white dresses!

Unknown said...

Lovely vintage dresses and jewelry. Great tip, thanks for sharing!

Cottage 1945 said...

Lovely vintage dresses and jewelry. Great tip thanks for sharing!

Cottage 1945 said...

Lovely vintage dresses and jewelry!

Amy Kinser said...

Such a great tip. Thanks for sharing it.

I love your dress forms. So gorgeous and the dresses on them.

Nice visiting with you tonight. Amy

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson said...

How interesting. Now I would have thought that the green color would have rubbed off onto the white. Thanks for sharing this tip.
Hugs,
Jann

Anonymous said...

that's amazing! I never would in a million years used the green, thinking it might "melt" into the white over the years. Thank you so much for the tip. :)

Rosemary@villabarnes said...

Great tip. Thanks. I love vintage white linens, and keeping them that way can be a challenge.

Kerryanne @ Shabby Art Boutique said...

I'm not sure what it is about coloured tissues but my grandmother taught us to wrap linen in blue tissue paper and yes, it too works.

I'd love for you to share this tip on Shabbilicious Friday ~ http://shabbyartboutique.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/shabbilicious-friday-226.html

Unknown said...

That dress is gorgeous...beyond gorgeous.

L'Heure Bleue At Home said...

Thanks so much for the tip. I had never heard of this technique before and was always so disappointed to see the yellow age spots start to appear on my vintage linens.

Debra@CommonGround said...

wow, what great information. who would have thought? thanks for sharing on VIF!

andrea@townandprairie said...

I never knew this! Amazing! I would have thought tht the green dye would have rubbed off...huh! I will definitely file this tip away!

Debra at HOMESPUN: http://www.thehomespun.com said...

beautiful dresses!

Adorned From Above said...

Great information. I was wondering if you would link it in my Wednesdays Adorned From Above Blog Hop. Here is the link:

http://www.adornedfromabove.com/2012/06/natural-aftershave-and-wednesdays.html

I would love to have anything that you would like to link.
Sincerely,
Debi Bolocofsky
www.adornedfromabove.com
Adorned From Above

Connie@shabbyforsure said...

Thanks for sharing this very informative tip...Connie

Butterfly 8)(8 Bungalow said...

Wow! I did not know that about ordinary green tissue paper. TY

dollybits said...

I recommend acid free tissue in white. Easily available online and if your garment gets wet, there will be no dye transfer. Heirloom sewing is not hard to do and Martha Pullen shows you how in her seminars and magazines. Debra Justice in Canada has videos showing this as well as Marth Pullen, Sew Beautiful. If you can make a straight stitch, you can make these clothes. I made 2 beautiful dresses for my daughter and am so proud I still show them off. Start with a sample pillow and after that, you will find it quite easy to do. Have fun!

Stan and Jody Gabara said...

That's a great lesson, I never knew that about green tissue. Thanks for sharing on Simple & Sweet Fridays.
Love the vintage whites.


Jody

Liz @ Quirky Vistas said...

How fun to have wisdom from Granny about such things. I don't have an old wedding dress but we do have some vintage linens. Sounds like a worthy idea to give a try.
Liz

Adorned From Above said...

Thank you so much for sharing this information with "Wednesdays Adorned From Above Blog Hop". Hope you link again this Wednesday.
Debi Bolocofsky
www.adornedfromabove.com

Heide at ApronHistory said...

How interesting..... I will have to try it. Grannies are so smart! ;)
I wonder if the colored is "acid free" as opposed to white which I assume would have to be bleached.

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