Vintage T-Shirt Forum & Community Authentication Appraisals

I've read the article on defunkd about cleaning vintage shirts....excellent information.

I have two questions that I didn't see addressed regarding bleach.

Is it safe to use bleach on a 100% nylon jersey?
&
Is it safe to use bleach on an iron-on graphic tee?

Good question, never had experience with it. But bleach is corrosive, it might eat away at the iron on material really quickly.

Since nylon is an artificial fiber - and basically plastic - it probably wont have any effect on it at all.

Always start with it really diluted to test - and let us know what results you get!

Any suggestion on how to safely remove stains from an iron-on tee?

If it's white - you can try diluted bleach locally...but i have found if the rest of the shirt isn't a clean white you'll get a reverse stain - a really white spot on an off white shirt.

Same goes for Oxyclean.

What iron on shirt is worthy of the fuss? Shaun Cassidy?

Welcome Back Kotter

Hey, I've bleached iron-ons with no trouble. (One I sold the same day I listed it on etsy- totally worth the fuss!) Go ahead and do it if it's true white with no ringer.

I soaked it in oxyclean for a few hours. It removed most of the stain. I'm going to have it soak another round. Might do the trick

Remove Ink Stains with Milk and Vinegar
http://lifehacker.com/5842024/remove-in ... nd-vinegar

Has anyone tried this?

no but thanks, gotta post this and add it to our stain fighting post.

LifeHacker is great! Glad I could contribute.

What about normal white tees? I noticed my white tees are turning yellow. Some of them have designs on them so am not too sure if it's advisable to use bleach.

I know screen prints can withstand....oscar previously said transfers are OK. However...some tees 70 and prior used an ink process which wouldn't hold up. Run your fingers over the design...if there's slight texture ...you should be OK. Here's the original guide:

http://www.defunkd.com/blog/2009/02/18/ ... val-guide/

@tupper I've found that soaking vintage white tees with Oxy Clean in hot water works really well at getting the white to come back to life. Just make sure the Oxy powder is completely dissolved in the water and don't soak for too long. Maybe 15 minutes or so should do the trick.

@Johnny65: Thanks! Will try it!