Retro Clean Cleaning Solution, 1 Pound (Pack of 1), 16 Ounce

Did an excellent job on a stained antique coverlet!

It came as described. Works wonderfully well. I received quite a few antique linens when my mother & law passed. As with most old linens there was major staining on some of the items. I followed the directions and 48 hours later every piece was stain free. The product was scent fee which was very nice. It’s a slow process but worth it. Just remember to stir the items in the soak. This is a package there is no bottle size or spraying it on. I do recommend placing the items in the sun so that the water warms up well. Use a plastic tub to soak items in. We have multiple clear basic bins so I allocated one of them for this project

Great job on cleaning a handmade quilt my grandmother made. Took out the yellowing nicely.

This product awesome and it really works with yellowish vintage garments . It is very gentle with old fabric.

I used Retro Clean to clean some lovely white delicate cotton baby gowns about 100 years old. The clothes were apparently stored clean and ironed but time had discolored them to a dingy yellowish gray. A trip through the washer lightened them only slightly. I heated water in a 12-qt pot on the stove, dissolved Retro Clean in the water according to directions, turned off the burner, and added the clothes and let them soak. Amazing! Within 45 minutes they were sparkling white! What surprises me is that this product whitens fabrics on which I previously used chlorine bleach with little to no result. I had a couple of sets of my grandmother’s white placemats which I treasured because of memories of all the happy meals at her table. They were dingy and some stains just wouldn’t come completely out despite the use of chlorine bleach. I soaked them for several hours in Retro Clean in a pot on my stovetop (the product works better with heat so this allowed me to reheat the solution). The stains all came out and my placemats are white again. For very stained fabrics users recommend several soakings, rinsing the fabric and changing the water with Retro Clean after the first half hour or so. It’s important to keep in mind that like Clorox, Retro Clean is a bleach. Clorox bleaches with chlorine and is very harsh, while Retro Clean is a peroxide bleach and is much gentler. Thus you should monitor colored fabrics, especially older ones which might not be as colorfast as modern fabrics, for changes in color. I used Retro Clean on tomato sauce stains on my son’s bright blue tee shirt. It did take out the stains, but the soaking water turned very, very blue. Color was removed uniformly so the tee is just very slightly lighter in color, but it removed the tomato sauce stains beautifully and the shirt still looks fine. Because of this experience I plan to be very careful when I use Retro Clean on my antique quilts; probably I won’t soak them for more than 20 minutes.

I buy a lot of vintage linens at estate sales ... normally I use a combination of Restoration and/or Biz and/or OxyClean to get them clean, but I thought I'd try this product as the Restoration I normally use was listed at something like $800 for a bucket, LOL. I purchased this for about $18 for a one pound bag, which IMO is too expensive. I was surprised at how small a one pound bag actually is. It's really difficult to say if it restored the linens as well as Restoration because each piece is different, but I thought it did a good job. I soaked a bunch of linens (hankies, pillow cases, kitchen towels) overnight and there was a big difference when they were done. A few pieces still had some stains/discoloration, so I did another soak in Biz for those and between the two of them, just about every spot/yellowing/browning was gone. I did notice that this product didn't get the musty smell out of the linens at all. Biz did a great job at that, though. You do want to be sure that whatever you're trying to clean is color safe or risk having it fade or run. One of my pieces, a child's apron, had a color run (red) after being soaked. It wasn't really a big deal to me because I bought it for $2 and for the purpose I was planning to use it for, if it wasn't color safe it's better that I found out now. But if you have an heirloom piece, be careful.

Works great on stains and brightens white fabrics!

I originally bought this to clean heirloom garments and quilts. It did such a great job, that now I use it for everything up to and including removing food stains from bibs. Things you should know: 1. You must follow the directions. (For crying out load, don't put it in your washing machine as a detergent supplement. That's not how it works) 2. The water has to stay warm (leave the bucket in the sun if it's warm outside). 3. Most of my things are done in a few hours, but a few of them took 2 days. 4. It is designed for natural fibers (cotton, silk, etc). I have used it on synthetic fibers, and it works fine on most, but there are a couple of things that still held the stain. 5. Old fabric is a breath away from tearing/dissentigrating anyway, and if it is weakened (like by soaking in oxiclean), just soaking it in water again could cause it to tear/dissentigrate, regardless of what cleaning agent is or is not in the water. Be prepared for the possibility that just putting your 200 year old quilt in water might cause it to die. Having said that, I haven't had any trouble with this while using retroclean. But I know it's a possibility. 6. If the fabric is even REMOTELY not colorfast, it WILL run, and BADLY. If you wouldn't wash it in very hot water, probably you shouldn't use retroclean. I tried to clean a white silk garment with red borders. I knew I was taking a risk, but I submerged the white and left the red outside the bucket. Nope. The water wicked up into the red, and now I have a pink garment. But I knew it was a risk when I started. 7. You have to wash the things first. Retro clean does not get rid of surface oils or smells. It only removes stains. 8. You have to wash the things after. If you don't, you will end up with dirty streaks where the water dried. I would also be worried about leaving the agent on the fabric long-term, but I have no evidence that it would be a problem--just a gut uneasiness. The first time I used it, I was shocked at how different the items looked when they were done. It was particularly magical on age and cardboar-box spots. I just wish it came in a giant tub!

I have been avid collector vintage clothing from the 1950s for several years and washing is always such a gamble. After trying other specialty cleaners and destroying timeless pieces, I was cautious to try Retro Clean. It came so very well recommended from fellow vintage enthusiasts so I decided to purchase a small bag from Amazon to see if it lived up to the hype. I read the directions several times and visited the Retro Clean website to ensure I followed the proper steps to prevent any mishaps. The first test was a vintage day dress with years of discolouration on the white but has predominate bold colourful border floral print. I did the colourfast test to confirm there should be no colour bleed when soaked in warm water. The dress soaked for over 10 hours and came out beautifully. The white areas were restored and the bright floral print did not fade from the solution. I proceeded to soak two more vintage dresses in Retroclean and couldn't believe the amazing results every time. It not only brightens whites, it revives colours, removes soiling and years of odors as well. I will only ever use Retroclean moving forward, it is like a miracle removing decades of soling and preserves the integrity of the garment.

Excellent product. Arrived on time and cleaned a 40 year old babies quilt beautifully.

Wonderful product, used on my old wedding dress

This product was recommended in a book about making quilts using vintage fabric, so I ordered it. I used it on hand woven cotton cloth made in Guatemala at least 70 years ago. I have been fairly careful about storing this fabric because it belonged to my grandmother, but it had some icky thing along a salvage edge and folded into the centre; who knows what it was or when it got there. The Retro Clean soaked it off and the whole yardage was fresher and newer. You only use 3-4 tablespoons per gallon of water, so I soaked the yardage for a day or two in a plastic storage bin and voila! The blue was bluer and all the little woven-in figures were nice and bright. I recommend Retro Clean and will buy more; I'm kind of addicted to old textiles and linens.

I think this really helped to brighten up my vintage wedding dress - the colour of the water when I’d done soaking it was SHOCKING with the years of grime it has drawn out. It didn’t remove the heavier set in stains round the neck, so those were removed with bleach. However for a brightening effect I think this is a good product.