The Evils of Mothballs!

[yumehime]

So some years back, I was given a kimono. It was discolored to a cream, nice and thin for summer, and had a lovely simple blue arrow pattern all over with some metallic highlights. the whole thing was a good candidate for me to modify it for camp wear, since some stained silk just won't come clean, and bleeding dye was realistic from the start.

It had no noticeable issue aside from all over patina and darker spots. Good strong summer silk, good wrap, no odors.

Then I got it wet.

The longer I washed, the more brutal the previously unknown mothball odor got. It was like hanging out over a fresh bulk bag of them, even though we don't use them in this home.

2 rounds of shampoo washing and rinsing and 6 rounds of borax washing and rinsing, and it was still not only reeking, but turning the water an evil brown. You know, like hand washing socks you ran through the mud in. 8 rounds of that.

Yeah, as it turns out, mothball fumes can actually trap dust in the silk as they settle, meaning that years in a closet with them can really do a number on the silk.

Now I get to find out if I can actually save this old silk with anything short of a peroxide wash. With the years of mothball fumes trapping dirt and old lady perfume in the fibers, I don't even know that I want to bum about the house in this one. And for all the used kimonos I have washed, I have never come across one like this.

[Deleted]

Oct 26, 2014 8:01:31 GMT -5 yumehime said:

Now I get to find out if I can actually save this old silk with anything short of a peroxide wash.

This site needs an "Ick" button. Sorry to hear this item is giving you so much trouble. As much as I dislike dry cleaning anything, have you considered it in this case?

[yumehime]

See, if it was a really fancy bit of textile, I may have dry cleaned. Then again, a dry cleaner unaware of the chemical build up could do more damage to it than I can. A tiny amount of mothball fume on properly stored clothing may not be a big deal, but a large amount in a chemical slurry could be bad.

Given it was in rough shape from the start, I was expecting some issues. Indigo is kind of notorious for bleeding.

Well I finally got the funk out of it. I turns out the primary chemical breaks down in alkaline (shampoo, soap, baking soda), so....close to 20 washing later I have a relatively even minty green to light places, a slightly softer blue in darker places, and several stains that look like they may be sweat related based on placement. The color may be over all darker, but it's even enough I can re-tailor it.

Depending on how it looks fully dry, I may keep it for camping, or I may make it my "coffee kimono" so I can enjoy silk without fear of ruining one of my nicer kimono.

[yumehime]

Ok, fully dry, the bleed of the blue has masked a lot of the darker spot quite well. There is one itty bitty tear down the center of on arrow near the collar that may get a bit of thread work and some fabric paint later. I have a nearly powder blue with just a kiss of green to it that works well for my tastes.

There are still bits of blue fade that turned a lovely violet over time, and I have decided I like the flaw. It's kind of iridescent and I won't mind if a few more bits shift that color in time. since these seem to be from sweat when wearing the 6 inch obi, there is no way to cover them for sca use, but i think i got a really nice home kimono for summer out of all this.


Oh, and this one happens to be a weave that I can skip ironing as long as I hang it on a long stick. Water and gravity pretty much do all the work. I love a low maintenance bit of silk for daily wear. That's probably how this one got the sweat stains in the first place. For all the work it took, the cloth itself is very practical.