Cleaning the white stripes on Navy dress blues

[Corpl. Cleaver]

Okay guys,

Yesterday I got a super nice set of tailor made wool gaberdine Dress Blues. However the white stripes on the cuffs and collar are discolored to a brownish-white.

 

How can I get them back to their original crisp white color??

 

Thanks,

Tyler

[Lee Ragan]

Take 'em to your local dry cleaner.

[Sabrejet]

You could get one of those domestic clothes stain-remover sprays from Wal-Mart (or wherever?) spray the affected areas, let it stand a while then sponge it off. Might brighten it up a bit?

[sigsaye]

I was taught by my father, who wore the uniform before dry cleaning was available and Sailors still washed their blues in a bucket, to use plain white tooth paste and a tooth brush on the piping. You get it wet, then put a small ammount of tooth paste on the brush (I remember using Pepsident. has to be just plain tooth paste, no additives!!) Scrub the piping and then rinse. I would then wash my blues in the washing machine with woolite, cold water, "Hand Wash" setting (or the gentelest possible), and then, hand them up to dry. After they were dry, iron them and ready to go. I usually did this every couple of months (at the time, I wore them every day, and it seemed that sending them to the dry cleaners turned the piping yellow. Any way, that's what I did with mine, got the stuff white as brand new.

 

Steve H.

[bobgee]

I was taught by my father, who wore the uniform before dry cleaning was available and Sailors still washed their blues in a bucket, to use plain white tooth paste and a tooth brush on the piping. You get it wet, then put a small ammount of tooth paste on the brush (I remember using Pepsident. has to be just plain tooth paste, no additives!!) Scrub the piping and then rinse. I would then wash my blues in the washing machine with woolite, cold water, "Hand Wash" setting (or the gentelest possible), and then, hand them up to dry. After they were dry, iron them and ready to go. I usually did this every couple of months (at the time, I wore them every day, and it seemed that sending them to the dry cleaners turned the piping yellow. Any way, that's what I did with mine, got the stuff white as brand new.

 

Steve H.

 

Sounds like a plan! Back in the day, I had a good buddy serving in the Navy. (This was when we were all proud to wear our dress uniforms on liberty) I was always amazed when I saw him in his blues. The white stripes actually glowed like neon! Don't know how he did it but he always a sharp guy, in & out of uniform. He ended up as a NY Fireman.

Bobgee

[RustyCanteen]

Might be a good idea to test it in a small area first, even safe methods can have unpredictable results on old cloth.

[sigsaye]

Might be a good idea to test it in a small area first, even safe methods can have unpredictable results on old cloth.

I agree. The big thing is ti get just plain tooth paste, with nothing in it. You want to keep it small, not getting it all over. That's how I was taught and it worked for me.