The saga of sweat stains

I did the wash post New Hampshire Renaissance Faire and out came my favorite white pirate shirt (I've had it since the 80s, it used to be a work shirt) and one of my favorite gray/blue chemise with nasty rust sweat stains around the neck line.  Grrrr.  One of the hazards of doing renn faires is sweat on natural fabrics.  Sometimes they come out in the wash but sometimes...well, a picture speaks louder than words.

This is the neckline of the chemise.  The white shirt looked just the same.

So, I went researching.  One pin on Pintrest said that 1/2 cup of washing soda and 1/2 cup of hydrogen peroxide mixed with hot water would take care of any stain.  I soaked both shirt and chemise for 24 hours.  No love.

OK...next to try is Oxy Clean.  I used one scoop and hot water as recommended and did a two hour soak.  While it did brighten the white and the gray/blue, the ugly rust stain is still there.

While I was at the store picking up the Oxy Clean, I saw this.  It's Carbona #9 Stain Devil.  They have several solutions that are specific to certain types of stains.  It's $3.35, but cheaper than replacing the shirt, if I could even find one like it.  While the shirt and chemise were soaking in the Oxy Clean I looked this up online.  It has enzymes in it and the Mavin of Housekeeping, Martha Stewart, recommends enzymes for removing sweat stains.

Success

Here is the white shirt...nice and clean.  I could see the stains lightening as I applied the solution.

Now, a couple of words on this saga.  Both articles are cotton.  Both were destined for the dye pot if they couldn't be cleaned.  I used an entire bottle of Carbona on just the white shirt.

Here is my recommendation for getting rid of these stains.  First, DO NOT DRY the cloths in the dryer.  This will set the stain and you can kiss it goodbye or shove it in the dye pot.  Second, try treating the stain with Fels Naptha laundry soap.  While this didn't work on these particular stains, I have saved many an article of garb or regular clothing doing this before laundering.  Third, a good soak in the Oxy Clean did brighten up the colors, so I would do this first then give the article a good hand scrubbing with laundry detergent or Fels Naptha laundry soap.  Lastly, if all else fails, I will try the Carbona Stain Devils that is specific to that stain.  For sweat or rust it is #9.

Now I'm off to the store to pick up a few more bottles of Carbona for the chemise and a tunica from GNEW last year.

New Hampshire Renaissance Faire is over

What a record year it was.  Honestly, the crowds were huge...even on the first weekend where the weather wasn't so cooperative.  It was an amazing run.  The Three Maples committee did a great job at pulling everything together.

The Primrose pirates had so much fun performing.  We really enjoyed playing with our guns and the crowds seemed to like us.

I have sold out of one size of snoods and almost sold out of two more sizes.  I have three princess hats left and sold out of the sparkly purple wish bags.  I also have three commission jobs to get done.  I told you it was a record year.

I have a lot of work to do to restock for my next event...Stonemarche Palio in Contoocook NH the weekend of June 14th.  So...off to the races again.

Here are a few pictures of my booth at NHRF.

Some new items for New Hampshire Renn Faire

I have some new items I'm going to be selling at NHRF.  First are earrings.  I have four pair.  I just found these hangers interesting and I was able to find some that looked like they should have been pairs.  Here they are.

The second new item is worry beads.  These are made of Tiger's eye beads and celtic knot hangers.  Tiger's eye is supposed to bring calm and serenity.

They are hand knotted between each bead and are on a doubled cotton string.

Lastly, I've been playing in the kitchen again.  I read somewhere that purple/red cabbage will turn things a lovely soft blue.  I took the outer leaves from the cabbage, cut them up and simmered them for 30 minutes.  The two white snoods and the ecru lace mitts went into a alum mordant simmered for 15 minutes.

Here is a picture of the finished product.  The lighting was off, I'll try to get a better picture later.  The baby blue around the edge of the snood is the color they came out after an eight hour soak.

 Today is setup day at NHRF so I'm off.  Hope to see you there.