Cleaning ties at home?

[Mr. Rover]

I just bought a few vintage bowties with stains- let us know if it works! I'm a little reluctant to dunk them in oxyclean just yet.

 

[vonwotan]

My experience with ties (well over thirty years now - yes required even in kindergarten) has lead me to a few conclusions. Whatever method you use, test it on the back of your tie. Many dies used for silk are difficult to 'fix' and are not colorfast. Some people send their ties to the dry cleaner with mixed results, I have had a few ties and one suit fall apart after one dry cleaning.

If you are determined to use a dry cleaner, try to find one of the new environmentally friendly cleaners (milder chemicals) and make sure you tell them not to press the ties when they are done.

There is a company in New York that I have used to alter and to clean my ties over the years. Tiecrafters now has a web site, tiecrafters.com. They are not the cheapest, and have not succeeded in getting out all of the stains, but they have done a better job than any other cleaner, and have not ruined my ties.

They provide many services, resizing, reshaping, relining and they have been doing this for a very long time.

 

[DanielJones]

Bump...

Hey gang, I just wanted to bump this thread. I've recently acquired a few of my Dad's ties form the 1950's & of course they have been sitting in a closet for at least the past 35, 40 years. They have that common yellowing stain from age & being in a house with a smoker (Mom).

So, the trick now is to bring out their former beauty. Especially the sky blue number (although it is leaning towards grey green now on the outside). Two that are ivory that I suspect were white & a lovely red tie that looks sort of rusty now.

Seeing that this thread is several years old, has anyone here come across any new innovations or methods to bringing life back to vintage treasures. I really want to bring these back as they were my Pop's. I just recently brought his Eterna-Matic back to life with a little cleaning so the ties are next, but I want to make sure to do it right & not damage them.

Any reports of success with certain products would be appreciated. I was thinking of a soak in Tide Stain Release. What are your thoughts on this folks?

When & if the cleaning is successful I'll post results & the before and after pics. Thanks!

Cheers!

Dan

 

[jamespowers]

Hey gang, I just wanted to bump this thread. I've recently acquired a few of my Dad's ties form the 1950's & of course they have been sitting in a closet for at least the past 35, 40 years. They have that common yellowing stain from age & being in a house with a smoker (Mom).

So, the trick now is to bring out their former beauty. Especially the sky blue number (although it is leaning towards grey green now on the outside). Two that are ivory that I suspect were white & a lovely red tie that looks sort of rusty now.

Seeing that this thread is several years old, has anyone here come across any new innovations or methods to bringing life back to vintage treasures. I really want to bring these back as they were my Pop's. I just recently brought his Eterna-Matic back to life with a little cleaning so the ties are next, but I want to make sure to do it right & not damage them.

Any reports of success with certain products would be appreciated. I was thinking of a soak in Tide Stain Release. What are your thoughts on this folks?

When & if the cleaning is successful I'll post results & the before and after pics. Thanks!

Cheers!

Dan

I find that you can do a fair job if you put them int eh washing machine on a very gentle setting that you can do a fairly good job at home. Putting them in a lingerie bag to keep the interlining from getting kinked and really messed up is a good idea as well. I try not to do silk at home though. Your synthetics come out well.
I use oxyclean and soak them if there is heavy staining. You can do this in the washing machine overnight and then just run the machine through its gentle cycle to finish them up. Get them out as soon as they are done and straighten them as much as possible. Iron them when they are lsightly damp or completely dry. My wife does it through a cotton cloth so it doesn't burn or cause shining.
Use caution if something doesn't appear to work for you though. You can always redo it if it doesn't come out on the first try. Go slow. You can't fix a badly botched job---believe me I know.

 

[Feraud]

I second J.P.'s comments. Easy going on the agitation and cleaning solution, press gently when damp.
I've had great success with Oxyclean and rayon ties. This includes soaking painted ties!

 

[jamespowers]

I second J.P.'s comments. Easy going on the agitation and cleaning solution, press gently when damp.
I've had great success with Oxyclean and rayon ties. This includes soaking painted ties!

I wish I had cleaned a few dirty handpainted ties I received a while back. The dry cleaner made a mess of them. :eusa_doh:

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

Bump because I will try to wash some ties today. Only cold water and shampoo. I don't dare to use one of this Oxy-... products...are they different from each other?

 

[Undertow]

You might try reading through the following link:
Making Homemade Laundry Soap

I've used this mixture on silk ties, poly ties and rayon ties with no ill effects. In fact, I've completely cleaned some "beyond repair" ties and some really nasty stains.

There is one caveat - silk doesn't react well to borax or washing soda. My strategy is spot clean, or soak briefly, rub gently and then rinse thoroughly. This stuff has been a life saver and a penny saver for me.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

I have yet to need to clean any poly or rayon ties, but silk ties, yes.

I normally just use a regular bar of soap, wet the tie with cold water only, use the bar of soap gently, and try to avoid rubbing a "wear" mark into the surface of the tie. Rinsing a hand washed tie to get all the soap out is vital,or it will show up on the surface of the tie making it look "faded". I let a tie hang dry and will shape it flat and smooth along the way and when it is dry I just use a steam iron that I have, it is very smooth polished stainless steel, looks like a mirror, and iron the tie. Silk has been around longer than dry cleaners and does hand wash well if you are careful. I hand wash silk all the time, including shirts and pants, you just have to NEVER machine dry anything silk, not good for it at all, using a dryer will make silk become brittle and deteriorate.