Natural home cleaning methods to remove sweat stain on a vintage suit.

This was an experiment to try out various home cleaning methods that are less harsh to the fabric than professional dry cleaning chemicals, to clean a stain on a vintage 1960s suit.

The suit is a rather splendid 1960s three piece but it has yellowed sweat staining on the inside leg, so firstly I am going to use the baking soda and Fairy Liquid method. If that doesn't work I will try the white vinegar method, which I also used recently on some mildew and it worked a treat.

Baking Soda and Fairy Liquid Soap Method

Apparently this method is gentle yet supposedly effective too, to remove yellow stains from wool cloth without causing damage to the fibres.

The recipe

1. Mix equal parts baking soda and diluted Fairy Liquid to form a paste.
   (Although as you can see from my image I don't think I added enough dilution).
2. Using fingertips, very gently apply the paste to the stained area, following the grain of the fibres.
   (I used a brush instead of my fingers).
3. Let the mixture sit for 15-20 minutes, but do not allow it to dry completely.
4. (To be fair, my mixture was pretty dry to begin with so it did dry out)
5. Using a clean, damp cloth, gently remove the paste.
6. (I brushed iit off first then used the damp cloth).
7. Rinse the area with a cloth dampened with cool water.
8. Blot dry with a clean towel and allow to air dry flat

So apparently the combo mixture of these 2 ingredients work because baking soda is mildly abrasive which helps lift stains and the FL soap breaks down oils that may contribute to the yellowing. I think I may need to let the trousers dry and try this again, seeing as I messed up mixing the paste first time.

OK that sort of worked - ish but not entirely, I think because my paste wasn't moist enough to penetrate. So I'm going to try the vinegar method next.

Vinegar Solution Method

The other  method is by using the mild acidity of white vinegar, which I use a lot actually for most of my home cleaning products. It's fab for the shower screen by the way. The acid is effective for breaking down those icky yellow sweat stains without harming delicate fibres of the cloth.

The recipe

• Mix a solution of equal parts distilled white vinegar and cool water.
• Dampen a clean, white cloth with the solution.
  (I already had a mixture in a pray bottle so I sprayed onto the fabric).
• Gently dab the stained area, working from the outer edges toward the center to prevent spreading.
• Allow the solution to sit on the stain for about 5 minutes.
• Blot with a clean, damp cloth to rinse.
• Air dry flat away from direct heat and sunlight.

Here's the final result. I think it actually did a pretty good job. Next time though I will remember to add more water to dilute the bicarb paste.