How to clean thrifted clothing (for vintage lovers)

If you love vintage, you know the crushing feeling of thrifting the perfect item and discovering it has a stain. Worry not, there is a way to clean thrifted clothing to make it like new again.

I, too, love collecting vintage clothing from thrift stores and estate sales. However, years of storage and wear often leads to an intense build of grime. Lingering smoke, coffee stains, and water damage are all common problems I see when thrifting for vintage clothing. Sometimes it’s not the stains, it’s the musty or smoky smell that ages a piece. Either way, it takes some work to get these unique pieces looking and smelling fresh.

While there will be a follow up post included how to get stains out of almost anything, I’m here to tell you about how to strip your clothing of grime gently. Most vintage clothing is not machine made, meaning the tumbles of a washing machine may wiggle delicate seams loose – destroying it.

So how do we gently remove decades of dust, dirt, and wear? I’ve found that a tub full of warm water and borax can cure just about anything.

if you love thrifting for vintage clothing, you’ll love this article on best thrift stores in Boston, MA

here’s what you will need to clean your thrifted clothing:

Borax or washing soda

Mrs Meyers detergent (or gentle, natural detergent)

Oxyclean (spot cleaning)

please turn on volume to hear voice narrative and explanation

Spot cleaning

Oxyclean: Before you submerge your clothing into the bath, try to spot clean as much as possible. I found that Oxyclean worked wonders on my my polyester blend fabrics. Some users used caution when using this product on wools and cottons. However, I’ve found that if you spot clean for 20-30 minutes before submerging into the Borax bath, there has been no discoloration.

Vinegar: This is a powerful tool to break down sweat and water stains. Add up to a 1/2 cup to the laundry bath to remove hard water stains and repeat as needed.

Dish Detergent : This is a powerful tool to remove grease stains.

Borax & Washing Soda

First, prepare your bath, warm to hot water works best to remove grease and natural stains. Add enough water to the bath to ensure that the clothing will be completely submerged. Remember that polyesters and lightweight cottons will absorb less water than heavy cotton and wool. Add borax per the box instructions (I added about 1 cup per bath for ~5 lbs of clothing for the first bath). Remember that Borax works best in hot water, while washing soda works well in either hot or warm.

Once the detergent has dissolved, submerge your clothing. Some recommend using gloves to not touch the Borax or detergent directly. Borax itself is pretty harmless, but can cause issues when combined with other cleaning chemicals (none that are in this recipe!)

I soaked the clothing for 2 hours, watching the dirt and grime lift off the clothing in the bath water with each passing moment. Repeat this process until the water ran clear.

Once the water runs clear, I added a few tablespoons of Mrs Meyer’s detergent to the wash to lift any additional detergent and stains. If the fabric is not delicate and the seams are intact, running the items on cool / delicates in the washing machine can be a good alternative to hand washing.