Gentle cleaning freshens a 1915 graduation dress and slip. Original owner history is learned.

This week’s “Martha’s Collection “ feature had a piece of paper attached to the dress stating L.C.N wore it for her high school graduation in June of 1916. A clothing tag with Lois C Nash was hand stitched into the slip that was with the dress. I am quite certain the slip is not original to the dress, but it works well enough with the dress so I’m keeping the 2 pieces together for the EBay listing. Lois was Martha’s husband’s mother and there is at least one other piece in the collection that belonged to Lois that I will feature in the future as well as more information about her- there is much more to share! A senior year photo from 1915 was found so her actual year of graduation was in fact 1915, not 1916 as the attached note stated. Aside from general yellowing, a few spots and some holes, the dress was in really good antique condition. I didn’t want to risk harming the dress with any “whitening”products so I started off with a soak in just distilled water which is free from minerals, substances and rust that can be found in tap water. The cotton dress soaked in it for a total of 1 hour 15 minutes and the silk slip for 15 minutes. Dirty labs was then used for a 15 minute soak on both garments. Prolonged exposure to the sun can be damaging to clothing, but I did a brief 10 minutes in the sun for both pieces to further sanitize and slightly brighten. Both pieces no longer have a “vintage smell” , they are clean, brighter and wearable with gentle vintage care 110 years later. Thank you to Martha’s family for the donation of this wonderful collection!! I am so happy and honored to be the temporary caretaker of the garments and so thrilled to be learning a little bit of history behind the pieces and to share them with others through these videos. #vintageclothescleaning #howto #beforeandafter #1910s