Retro Clean 500g

Say goodbye to yellow age stains with our gentle, yet thorough cleaning solutions.

Keep your most cherished quilts, linens, and other items safe with our protective cleaning supplies & tools.

Remove Difficult Stains From Everyday Laundry With One Easy Soak! See our tutorial here

Retro Clean is the gentle solution for safely removing tough stains, including yellow and brown age stains from all washable vintage fabrics (laces, linens, quilts, tablecloths, clothing, wedding dresses, etc.) It removes stains related to water and smoke damage, mold coffee, wine, blood, nicotine, babies, pets, and perspiration. It will leave your fabric with a renewed color and vitality.

Whether you have vintage clothes, quilts, linens, or possibly a tough stain on your favorite shirt, you can trust Retro Clean to soak out those stains that appear to be permanent. It will safely remove a variety of difficult stains without affecting the
integrity or color of your vintage textile or your favorite clothing.

Have you ever seen vintage textiles with those brown or yellow age stains that just ruined the pristine look of what otherwise would be a real prize? Washing doesn't seem to have any effect, and they either end up in the bottom of a box in the garage or maybe even the trash. Well, I've been washing vintage quilts and textiles for decades, and I've found a solution to this age-old dilemma. Whether you are trying to remove mildew stains from linens, wood oil stains from vintage laces and quilts, tea/coffee stains from tablecloths, or perspiration stains from vintage clothing, our eco-safe laundry stain remover will renew your treasured heirlooms to their original color and vitality. Put our cleaning solutions to the test today!

Best Tips and Practices:

Best Tips and Practices Thanks for your interest in Retro Clean. Here are some directions for cleaning your stained textile, whether it be a vintage quilt or linen, or perhaps you’re favorite shirt with a wine or bloodstain. If you haven’t washed your project in the past, it’s best to test for colorfastness prior to getting it wet.

Take a q-tip and dip it in hot water, then lightly rub your colored areas in an inconspicuous spot to see if any color transfers. Repeat, trying different temperatures of water. If even the slightest bit of color transfers, it is not stable and it will most likely bleed when immersed in water. If this is the case, there is a product called Synthrapol that is formulated to remove the excess dye. If not, proceed as follows...

We recommend a 3 part process to get the best results. Start by hand washing your piece to remove any surface dirt, then soak to remove the more stubborn stains, and finally, wash again to remove any residual. For this reason, we provide two products which work together. Here is a more complete explanation... Let’s use a vintage quilt for an example, although these tips and techniques really apply to almost everything you might find yourself soaking in Retro Clean.

The best technique we know of for washing a delicate vintage quilt is as follows...first, wash it to remove any surface dirt...if it’s large, lay a sheet in your bathtub (to use as a sling…a wet quilt can be heavy and picking it up may pop some seams), fill it about a third full. Mix in your laundry powder (Retro Wash is a great, gentle solution as it has no phosphates, softeners, brighteners, dyes, or perfumes, yet is very concentrated...only 1 tbsp. for a half tub).

Lay your quilt in and avoid twisting or wringing, but rather push the fabric through the solution. Let it soak for 10 minutes or so, push again, drain, rinse (Retro Wash will rinse clear the first time), then push as much water out of the quilt as possible into the tub. Use the sheet as a sling to lift the quilt out of the tub. Move the quilt into a portable container (we use the kind you would use for ice and soda at a party), put enough Retro Clean solution to immerse the items, and let sit for up to 48 hours.

If you're working indoors, you may want to add hot water occasionally or do this procedure in your backyard in the sunshine to keep the water warm. Make sure your project remains immersed throughout the treatment. You may want to place a plate on it should it have a tendency to float. When done, empty the water into your garden (it's biodegradable and safe for the environment).

Wash again to remove any residual, rinse and push as much water as possible out of the quilt and into the tub, then roll the quilt in some towels and squeeze out any excess water until it is just damp. Finally, lay the quilt on dry towels to dry or if it's sunny, lay a sheet on your grass, lay the quilt on the sheet and cover with a second sheet over it, to avoid direct contact with the sun or birds and let air dry. We avoid hanging damp quilts to avoid undue stress on the seams and fabric.