How to Whiten and Clean Yellowed Lace

Last updated on June 5th, 2024 at 01:34 pm

Lace has a returning style to the fashion industry for hundreds of years, and lace tops, skirts, underwear and purses can be found conveniently almost everywhere. While lace has a large range from ancient to current day, lace has the ability to modernize everyday looks and is used for everything from the headwear to socks or home decor.

Whiten Yellow Lace – A History

Lace is one of the most cherish materials and has been romanticized in history.  Lace was first made and worn during the sixteenth century in Europe. The first lace-making machine was confined to the monks and nuns, but thankfully the nuns taught the art to students who then spread the art amongst others. Did you know that for many years lace was made out of silk and linen thread? Its sibling cotton thread was then introduced in the eighteenth century as a substitute for flax. Although it resulted in a less artistic lace, it made the lace-making process cheaper, easier to handle and less breakable.

For centuries, the leading centers of lace-making were Italy, Flanders, and France. Most finished products involved three artisans—the artist who drew the designs, the pattern maker, and the lacemaker who did the actual work.

The net machine was made available in the nineteenth century. Handmade laces are still practiced today and valued for their authenticity and fine craftsmanship.

Care and Cleaning

Optimally, the lace fabric is a combination of mesh-like fabric made by machine or hand from cotton, linen, or other artificial fibers. Due to the weaving process of lace, its delicacy should be properly handled and treated with care. Lace is extremely fragile and can often turn yellow in color, so determining how best to maintain the lifespan and whiten yellow lace is good to know.

Unlike the lace-making process, cleaning lace should be simple using only room temperature water and mild dish soap.  You would definitely want to avoid forcible scrubbing, that will warp the fibers. Rinse thoroughly and squeeze. Wringing to remove water from the lace material is NOT recommended, so gently squeeze to prevent harm to the garment. Some traditions never change, and that is the way you wash and clean lace. Hand washing to clean lace is best suited for a more gentle washing approach; however, if you still wish to use a washer machine to clean lace, place the lace in a mesh bag and put the washer machine on gentle.

After washing, it is recommended to let the lace to air dry, instead of increasing the risk of snagging using a dryer. If you decide to tumble dry, know that delicate parts of the clothing may need some reshaping, do not stretch the fabric. for tumble drying, choose the low heat setting and only dry in combination with other white clothes, preferably white t-shirts.

When ironing lace fabric, put a white towel between the lace and iron board. This method will help to stop the fabric from scrunching and stop snagging that may be caused by the tip of the iron.

Whiten Yellowed Lace

If lace is stored away for a long period of time, the lace will become yellowed. The most harmless way to clean yellow lace is to use oxy clean and room temperature water. In a large bowl, sink or tub, immerse the lace into the solution of room temperature water and any commercial oxygen bleach. Add your lace clothing to the solution and let it soak for 2.5 hours, for a better result, leave overnight(8-12 hours). Oxygen bleach is very subtle on various types of fibers and is usually the best approach when cleaning wedding dresses, veils, etc.

Once the lace has been soaking for the suggested timeframe, empty the water and refill with cool water. Repeat if needed. Remember do not pull on the fabric, doing so will distort the materials embedded. Gently stretch to reshape the lace back to its original state and allow it to air-dry.