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Cleaning older Patches


usaf70
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What suggestions does everyone have concerning the safe and efficient cleaning of Vietnam era and older Squadron patches?

 

Thanks,

Tom

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If a patch needs to be washed, I use a 50/50 mix of liquid detergent and fabric softener and hand wash them in the sink. I then rinse them off and gently press them in a towel to remove the extra water. Air dry to suit.

 

Not to scare you, but use extreme caution on any theater-made embroidered and WWII era AAF felt patches as they are notorious for bleeding!

 

-Ski

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X_redcatcher
If a patch needs to be washed, I use a 50/50 mix of liquid detergent and fabric softener and hand wash them in the sink. I then rinse them off and gently press them in a towel to remove the extra water. Air dry to suit.

 

Not to scare you, but use extreme caution on any theater-made embroidered and WWII era AAF felt patches as they are notorious for bleeding!

 

-Ski

 

Or even falling apart... pinch.gif (its happened,,dont ask, I will start crying agian...)

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If a patch needs to be washed, I use a 50/50 mix of liquid detergent and fabric softener and hand wash them in the sink. I then rinse them off and gently press them in a towel to remove the extra water. Air dry to suit.

 

Not to scare you, but use extreme caution on any theater-made embroidered and WWII era AAF felt patches as they are notorious for bleeding!

 

-Ski

I am in 100% agreement with Ski on this one. I had to clean several of my grandfather's WW2 unit patches because our cat decided to "mark" them with his scent (read that to mean he urinated all over them). I soaked them for a couple of days and the urine smell was taken out and the years of grime was gone as well. Worked like a charm for me.

Arch

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I done a similar method gently working in Wisk into the patch. I let it sit for about 3 days, and then gently hand wash it.

 

After the Wisk has been washed out, I press it between two towels (or a cloth diaper, if you have one). On top of that I place a heavy book or two. You can also change out the towel every day or so.

 

I had to "decontaminate" some repro patches I had received from Vietnam that had been aged with motor oil of all things. In addtion to the above, I took the Wisk soaked patches and put them inside an old sock. I tied the sock off at the end, and then ran it through the washing machine on a delicate cycle. I removed them immediately and then pressed them as above.

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88thcollector
I done a similar method gently working in Wisk into the patch. I let it sit for about 3 days, and then gently hand wash it.

 

After the Wisk has been washed out, I press it between two towels (or a cloth diaper, if you have one). On top of that I place a heavy book or two. You can also change out the towel every day or so.

 

I had to "decontaminate" some repro patches I had received from Vietnam that had been aged with motor oil of all things. In addtion to the above, I took the Wisk soaked patches and put them inside an old sock. I tied the sock off at the end, and then ran it through the washing machine on a delicate cycle. I removed them immediately and then pressed them as above.

 

 

Hi,

 

You sure it was motor oil? A couple of decades ago, one of the more discussed fake sellers has some fake bullion patches that had a greasy feel and chemical smell, the word was that they had been soaked in PCP oil from electrical transformers, very nasty stuff and toxic. (not angel dust). They had the smell.

 

Steve

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  • 2 weeks later...
What suggestions does everyone have concerning the safe and efficient cleaning of Vietnam era and older Squadron patches?

 

Thanks,

Tom

 

A friend of mine who is a long term advanced Airborne oval collector shared his trick with me. He in turn got it from a lady who collects antique dolls and occasionally needs to clean a dolls dress. For the ovals, he puts one in a cup of water with a "Polident" tablet in it- these are used to clean dentures. I tried it with some of my ovals and it worked great. I let mine soak overnight and it cleaned all of the WWll dirt away which isn't always advised. Hope this helps.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Airborne-Hunter

Its probably easier to leave the piece as is. If it doesn't need to be cleaned then I would not recommend it. If you ever clean a patch, you are risking/gambling that it won't be ruined by something. If its an expensive piece, that you care about I don't think cleaning should be done. Don't get me wrong there are perfectly good reasons to clean a patch, its just I don't want another horror story coming down the line. :pinch:

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