Can You Use Oxiclean on Satin? (Whitening Yellowed Satin)
Getting rid of stains takes a little extra work. But once you are done, your effort is rewarded with a very clean, good looking garment. All it takes is the right cleansers and following the correct instructions. Even satin responds to these ingredients.
Can you use OxiClean on satin? If you follow the instructions correctly there should be no problem using OxiClean on satin gowns and blouses. For some stains, you may want to soak the gown for a few hours so that the cleanser can do its job thoroughly.
Using OxiClean on satin may be your lifesaver when it comes to your satin clothing items. To find out how to use it correctly and clean your treasured clothing items just continue to read our article. It provides the information you need to know.
Does Satin Yellow?
As satin fabric gets older it tends to yellow with its age. Usually, the yellowing effect comes from being stored in chests, drawers, and cabinets. It is the oil found in those storage containers that make the greatest contribution to yellowing on satin fabrics.
When satin becomes older it also becomes more delicate and you need to handle the fabric with a soft touch to make sure it cleans up just right. There is a special process you need to use and that process involves handwashing.
It also involves using the right cleaner. You can use a specially made cleaner like Vintage Textile soak or you can use OxiClean. The tools you will need to use are a tub, towels, cleaner and clean water.
Step 1 is to fill the tub or bucket with enough clean cool water to soak your stain fabric. The next step is to add 3 tablespoons of the cleaner per every gallon of water you use. Mix by stirring gently.
After that, step 3 has you placing the fabric in the water and let it soak anywhere from 4 to 24 hours. Step 4 is the rinsing and removing the excess water stage. Use clean cool water. Use the towels for this stage.
Finally, lay out a towel big enough to hold your satin fabric. Spread your fabric over the towel and let air dry.
Can You use OxiClean on Satin
It seems to be a safe fabric cleanser to use on satin garments. There is an old wive’s tale about spraying a mixture of lemon juice and water over your stain gowns while hanging them out in the sun.
Don’t trust the old wive’s tales too much. Instead, you can use OxiClean and get the yellow out very easily. It may take a few hours of soaking but the cleanser does do the job without harming the fabric.
When you do any cleaning of a delicate dress, etc., you should find a small section that won’t be seen and test it to make sure the garment is not hurt by the cleanser. This goes for OxiClean as well. It always pays to be safe than sorry.
Some people have used the gentle cycle on their washing machines instead of handwashing with some success. They used cold water and a mild detergent to get the job done. They also used bleach but you should be able to replace the bleach with OxiClean without any issues.
Just don’t throw your sating clothing item in your dryer. Let it hang dry for the best results.
Can Yellowed Satin be Whitened?
Yes, it can. At least more than a few women have had great success at whitening satin that was a part of an old wedding dress. The process does require special handling and a lot of care. You do not want to treat your satin like a pair of cotton jeans or a cotton dress.
Besides the process we already mentioned, there is another way to get your yellowed sating white again. The first step is to soak the garment in a tub of cold water and use Biz. Do not use hot water as the high temperature will kill the enzymes contained in the Biz product.
Make sure to rinse the garment after a few hours of soaking and take a look at it. If there is still some yellow left on the dress, etc., then soak the garment again but this time use OxiClean.
The combination of the 2 cleansers should give that yellow the old one-two punch knocking it out of your dress or whatever you are trying to clean. Then if you do not like the perfume odor that comes with liquid Biz, switch to the powder.
It seems to have less of a perfumy odor to it.
How to Whiten Yellowed Satin
Wedding gowns and other dresses, blouses, and skirts are not the only clothing item made out of satin. Sometimes good shoes are made out of the fabric and if not used for along time, they could yellow as well.
Cleaning satin shoes in the traditional methods may leave some watermarks behind and ruin the overall look of the shoes. The best way to clean satin shoes is to use the correct materials from the start.
First, dampen your clean cleaning cloth in a little water and then dip it into powdered OxiClean. Second, you use a gentle circular motion applying the OxiClean to the complete shoe surface. If there are stains on the shoes, you can rub a little harder.
Moistening the whole shoe helps avoid any watermarks that may come back to haunt you later. Third, take another clean but dry cleaning cloth and moisten it with water. Once that is done, you wipe the OxiClean off your shoes.
Avoid rinsing the shoes directly in running or standing water. If you do rinse that way, you will probably ruin the satin fabric. Finally, take another dry, clean cleaning cloth and wipe the shoes to remove any excess water.
You can use a hairdryer to make the drying process go faster. The hair dryer should also help you avoid seeing watermarks appear on your good satin shoes.
How do You Get Stains Out of Satin
Like any other fabric, satin can stain. Here are several types of stains you can get on your satin clothing items and how to remove them:
- 1. Oil stain - This is a cooking oil stain and the first thing you need to do is grab a clean piece of paper towel and blot at the stain. Once you have blotted as much as you can, pour a little flour on it and let it soak up the stain for about an hour.
Next, brush away the excess flour and apply some pre-treatment cleanser to the stained area. Or just use a heavy-duty detergent and let the pre-treatment cleanser sit for about 3 to 4 minutes.
Finally rinse thoroughly in warm water, usually under the tap will do the job.
- 2. Bloodstain - soak the blood-stained satin garment in cold water for about 1 hour. Then turn the garment inside out and apply some detergent from the backside. Blot the stain after that and then wash.
- 3. Dirt stains - Take a soft bristle brush and gently brush away any excess dirt that is loose and easy to remove. Then put some soap on a damp cloth and rub the cloth together until a nice lather appears. Use cold water.
Once that is done, blot, don’t rub, the stain. Be gentle and use a clean area of the cloth until the stain is gone. Make sure to follow the grain of the fabric and you may have to do this several times till the stain is gone.
Then wash the fabric.
- 4. Washing satin - if you prefer to use your washing machine, then soak the stained garment in a mixture of cold water and mild laundry soap. Do this for about 3 to 5 minutes.
Rinse but don’t wring the garment. After that, place in your washing machine on gentle and use cold water again and mild soap. When the washing is done hang dry or dry on a towel. Don’t use your dryer.
How to Clean a Yellowed Satin Wedding dress
Any of the above methods already mentioned here will work on your yellow wedding dress. There are no special cleaning instructions when using OxiClean on those items. Also, follow any laundry instructions you get from the dress shop or manufacturer.
Following their instructions, you should have a clean, white wedding dress in no time.
Some Final Words
Satin may be a delicate fabric but OxiClean is a very good cleanser to use. It knows how to treat satin as it cleans. Plus, it should not harm your fabric even after hours of soaking.
Oxiclean is also good on wedding dresses and has them as white as snow in less than a day. When you use your washing machine, make sure you use cold water and the gentle cycle.
But handwashing and air drying are the best methods to use to get rid of the yellowing.
