Removing odors from a printed silk suit

[honeychurch]

I'd already looked around online looking for advice on how to wash vintage silk. So I handwashed this in just about lukewarm water, with a handwash detergent and to my horror the colour began to run - so there are some streaks on the dress which aren't noticeable really until you look closely. But I know that I am painfully conscious of when something is imperfect and I am especially devastated when its vintage and therefore irreplaceable. Anyway, I digress. After a couple of wears this dress smells of BO around the armpits. I have left it out in the fresh air but there is a definite smell (I sweat a lot for a girl living in a cold country). It is a simple sleeveless shift dress - I love the colours and how comfortable it is to wear.

Any advice? This is the suit. It has a lovely story behind it - I posted it on my blog last summer (http://vagabondlanguage.blogspot.ie/2012/07/vintage-suit.html) and the son of the woman who made it got in touch with me. His mother was a polish refugee who worked in London as a seamstress to Dignitaries wives, and her client base was small and exclusive. So I kicked myself for my amateur inclination to wash this dress.

 

[Circa Vintage Clothing]

Hi Honeychurch (may I call you Lucy?)

I did this once - I had a lovely polka dot '50s silk twill dress, hand washed it gently and as I was hanging it on the line I realised two things: it had a famous local couturier's label sewn into the waistband and the navy polka dots had ghosted all over the white! It was a horrible moment: my first good example of an important local designer and I'd ruined it.

There was nothing for it, so I put it in the washing machine on the silk setting with a dye run remover - at that point you had to use a machine, but you can now do it by hand - I use Dylon Run Away and buy in bulk because when you need it, you need to act quickly. I hand wash almost everything and now know that vintage silk prints - heck, vintage silk in general - is prone to colour run. I also advocate lukewarm water as the hotter the temperature, the more likely it is to run.

This story had a happy ending because the dress came out beautifully and you can now see it in my book "Love Vintage" :sunshine:

Run removers work best when used straight away, but if I were you, I'd give it a shot.

Now, as far as the BO goes, you need to kill the bacteria that is causing the odor. I recommend a mild disinfectant like Dettol. gently dap on the spot and then rinse thoroughly. If you're doing this with the run remover, do it first.

BO is one of the hardest issues in vintage clothing. I really should write a proper blog post about it.

 

[honeychurch]

Hi Honeychurch (may I call you Lucy?)

There was nothing for it, so I put it in the washing machine on the silk setting with a dye run remover - at that point you had to use a machine, but you can now do it by hand - I use Dylon Run Away and buy in bulk because when you need it, you need to act quickly. I hand wash almost everything and now know that vintage silk prints - heck, vintage silk in general - is prone to colour run. I also advocate lukewarm water as the hotter the temperature, the more likely it is to run.

Now, as far as the BO goes, you need to kill the bacteria that is causing the odor. I recommend a mild disinfectant like Dettol. gently dap on the spot and then rinse thoroughly. If you're doing this with the run remover, do it first.

BO is one of the hardest issues in vintage clothing. I really should write a proper blog post about it.

You get the reference

I washed it during the summer last year (eeek) so I am probably too late? The navy hasn't really run into the flowers as such, its more an issue of fading in the areas it ran.

So I would use the dettol with the dye run remover you recommend? Presuming that as soon as I rinse the dettol out, it will run? I live in ireland so it could be awkward to track this down, but will check online too. thank you!

BO is one of the main issues for me when wearing vintage clothing and i can find v little about it online - if you wrote a blog on it, it would be invaluable!

 

[Circa Vintage Clothing]

Just look for a mild disinfectant, the sort you might use on your skin - and put fabric under the affected areas, to soak up the moisture and gently dab the disinfectant over the area - it shouldn't make the dye run.

Even though it's been a while, I would still have a go with the run remover as it's likely to improve it - but then, it depends on how bad it is.