My very UNscientific test of 3 Patch Cleaners

[Wedgehead30]

These three patches needed some help. The two cap patches had rust stains from being stapled, FOUR times each, to a display board. The 1st AA patch had an ungodly smell to it from what I have no idea. None of them had any glow under a UV light. All three are WW2 era patches, fully embroidered, embroidered twill and embroidered felt.

 

I initially used Orvus quilt soap and warm water in a large Mason jar and an overnight soak. I got some improvement especially on the smell. But I really wanted to get those rust stains out. So I added some Oxyclean to a fresh mix of water and Quilt soap and another overnighter. As you can see the results are quite dramatic. The whites really pop as do the colors, no color bleed and no fade.

 

But......

[Wedgehead30]

Here's the down side. By using Oxyclean you pick up some blotches of glow on the patches. It's not uniform or consistent and clearly not the fabric. But it's still there and no amount of rinsing will remove it. If you use Orvus alone there will be NO glow picked up.

 

So the question you need to ask yourself, is the tradeoff worth it? In this case I feel it is, others will disagree I'm sure. They might almost look too good for some tastes.

 

Here's the recipes that I've worked out:

 

Quilt Soap Only:

 

Large Mason jar 3/4 full of warm water. 1/2 tablespoon of Orvus quilt soap. Agitate, add the patches and soak overnight. Rinse thoroughly. Air dry on a wire rack in the sun. Optional, to speed up the process. Iron them between two pieces of fabric on low heat after rinsing. But they will still require drying time. Be warned the potential for fabric damage from the heat does exit.

 

Quilt Soap & Oxyclean:

 

​1/2 Tablespoon of Quilt soap & 1/4 Tablespoon of Oxyclean.

 

[LuftStalg1]

This is the glaring flaw of the black-light test and why many also do the burn test for synthetics. Before and after pics are probobly good to take if you may try to sell a clean patch one day. I hand washed with Woolite years (maybe 20) ago and had good luck but I guess it is all relative. I don't have photos but specifically used it because it did not damage/alter or make them glow after.

[Wedgehead30]

This is the glaring flaw of the black-light test and why many also do the burn test for synthetics. Before and after pics are probobly good to take if you may try to sell a clean patch one day. I hand washed with Woolite years (maybe 20) ago and had good luck but I guess it is all relative. I don't have photos but specifically used it because it did not damage/alter or make them glow after.

 

I'm fairly certain that most experienced collectors would recognize the blotchy glow for what it was. As you said that is one of the flaws of the UV light. And it's only one of many things to consider when judging the originality of a patch.