Dirty Bunting
 

Well, there was this girl I knew in High School called ........


















No, no, no! This is not THAT story! :eek:

I have a vintage 6' x 3' flag that is sewn together from heavy woollen bunting with cotton twine, made properly like proper flags should be. It is in excellent condition, with strong colours and no rot or rips, but at some time in the past, it has been put away damp, likely into a steel ammo tin. :doh: :bang:

It has a few small rust stains where the toggles have sat against the damp wool or the tin it was stored in. There is also a bit of dust/dirt that has not stained the fabric, but should easily wash out.

So how do I clean this without bleaching the colours or destroying the wool fabric?

I went to the best authority I know (The Wife :thup:), and she has suggested a few cleaning products, but she can't say how effective (or destructive) they would be. They are:

1. A Eucalyptus Wool Wash. Supposedly great for cleaning woollen items like jumpers, cardigans and blankets. I think this would be fine for removing the dust/dirt, but would it be any good on the rust? And how likely are the dyed colours to bleach or run?

2. Oxy Action Vanish. A Hydrogen Peroxide cleaner said to be great on removing difficult stains from clothing, but would this be too harsh on dyed wool?

3. CLR, a Calcium, Lime and Rust stain remover from concrete surfaces, drains, plumbing work, etc. I'm sure this will rip into the rust stains and lift them, but what will be left of the flag? :nono:

4. Plain simple water. Cold, Warm or Hot? This should remove the dust, but will it bleach the dye or shrink the wool?

The cautious approach would be to try a small amount of each product on an inconspicuous area of the fabric, but unfortunately, there is no hidden parts of a fabric flag. There is no part of the flag I am prepared to see bleached or eaten through by harsh chemicals.

So what do you recommend? I realise that products available in your part of the world may not be available here, or the products I have listed you might not have seen where you are.

Tut-tut. :nono: Remember, this is a clean site....more or less....

Is there a military, history or art museum local to you? They sometimes have an in-house specialist that cleans and conserves textiles and the like, or know someone that does. They may be able to recommend some suitable products.

Owen.

Tony

When in doubt listen to the experts. Your cook seems to be on the money with the wool wash done by hand and not in the machine. You can then see what you are up against.

The colours almost certainly will not run, after all the flag was meant to be flown in everything from hot sun to freezing rain including salt spray at sea.

Once you have it clean you can then start investigating specialist stain removal ideas though I fear any ancient rust stains will be there to stay.

Lang

Email the textiles conservator at the AWM.

She will be able to tell you if it is possible to remove the staining, and if so, with what. But I have the same feeling as Lang: they are there to stay.

Mike

1) would certainly remove dust and dirt, won't touch the rust stains, but might leave your flag smelling like a dropbear. :)

2) NEVER use this stuff on natural (or possibly un-natural) fabrics, it's a bleaching agent that will fade the colours and rot the fabric.

3) Hydrochloric acid, probably. Also inadvisable as it will attack cellulose (i.e. cotton) and may cause dyes to change colour (blue to red, for instance).

4) Cold or warm water should be fine, also most soaps or a mild detergent (washing up liquid) will remove dust and dirt.

Traditionally, lemon juice (i.e. citric acid) was used to remove "iron mould" from clothing and sheets; it will turn insoluble iron oxide (rust, FeO) into soluble iron citrate without damaging the cloth. May need several applications, and you really need to ask an expert restorer for their advice, as others have noted.

Chris.
(I have put most of a set of RN signal flags through the washing machine in the past - wound lengths of cloth around the Inglefield clips to protect the machine, and used warm wash and a gentle detergent before stretching them across the garden to dry - also making sure they didn't spell anything obscene. :D)

I have just had a look at about 10 different sites for cleaning old flags.

The consensus is for slightly soiled flags, gentle detergent or wool wash by hand is the go. No wringing or spinning just lay out to dry.

Almost every site said the best thing by far to get old flags as clean as possible without damage is dry cleaning. They stressed you should tell the dry cleaner it is a "special" so it is done individually like Christian Dior $10,000 dresses.

In the USA most dry cleaners do USA flags for free but I doubt our cleaners will be so patriotic.

Lang