What is the best way to care for a white linen tablecloth?
Question:Is it safe to throw it in with my regular whites, or should I separate it into its own wash load? Any recommendations on pretreating? And is it a good idea to bleach it?
Answers:
Lenore has the perfect answer, though a couple of the others were good as well.
I do one thing differently though. I do put mine in the dryer - on the AIR setting more a few mins. It seems to help get the wrinkles out, thus less ironing.
I wonder if this is a piece you inherited? Linens are beautiful things and you should be able to enjoy your tablecloth for years to come.
yes its fine to bleach it. i find that leaving the clothes or cloths soaking in bleach for a few hours helps whiten the clothes and cloths i use for my kitchen.
Linen needs to be cleaned separately, and make sure it is washable. Some linen is not. If it is washable, I would wash on cold, hang to dry, and them iron on a very light setting. You will want to roll it up to store it so that there are no creases in it the next time you want to use it. Or, use tissue paper between the folds (like ritzy department stores do with clothes).
You can most likely throw it in with the other whites, depending on the size. I would pretreat any spots before you put it in the washer, but I wouldn't bleach it. Bleach weakens the fabric strength and since linen is a thinner fabric (in general) you don't want any weak spots. If you need to bleach it to get it "white" again, wash and rinse, then let it soak in a solution of 1 part lemon, 1 part white vinegar, and 4 parts water for about ten minutes, then spread out in the sun to dry. That is a good natural bleach and it will make it smell lemony too.
DONT BLEACH IT!! LOL it would ruin linen. you would need to run it on its own cycle with very little detergent, and on a delicate cycle, and hang it to dry. Machine drying linen tends to make it shrink, and excess detergent won't wash out of it properly, making it brittle and prone to tears, cracks, and wear-holes.
If you have a stain in it, I would reccomend a club soda, lemon juice and dish soap solution. Mix it, put it on the stain, leave it to set for about 15-30 minutes, then CAREFULLY (I use a toothbrush for things like this) scrub it gently until the stain begins to fade, rinsing as needed to keep it from 'travelling.'
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