We spent yesterday cruising the Rose Bowl Flea Market with friends and family. Some people were there for the fun of it and some had a mission (glasses and a dining room table). What we noticed was how often we questioned how cleanable something was. It often made the difference between buying and moving on to the next stall.
We ended up picking out some great vintage tablecloths and napkins for practically nothing. They need a little clean up but we've done it before so it's no problem.
Linens: Whether it's old grime, food stains or even red wine, vintage linens can clean up nicely. The trick is to pretreat a stain with dishwashing detergent and then soak it in hot, soapy water. Most of the time this will get the stain out. For food try some white vinegar or ammonia directly on the stain, for ink marks, try millk (we haven't tried this one yet, but a friend has been raving). Try some oxyclean for stubborn stains.
Wood: If it's teak, try this method, otherwise a wipe down and some feed n wax should make a huge difference.
Glass: If the vase you're eying has some hard water deposits, you should be able to get them out using a dryer sheet, white vinegar and a scrubby sponge or, if it's really bad some CLR. We've heard for crystal that a mixture of ammonia and water works miracles with little to no elbow grease.
Silver: Gregory claims that toothpaste is a good way to polish silver. Try this DIY Eco solution and remember that it's important to care for your silver once it's in a good place too!
What are your tricks for sprucing up what you find (for a steal) at the flea market?
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Comments (17)
(NYC specific)..does anybody know what happened to the Avenue A flea market? It disappeared a couple of years ago. Did it relocate anywhere?
Re ink on linens: ballpoint pen ink responds wonderfully to hairspray. Spray the spot, blot/rub, repeat as needed, then wash.
Mind you, I haven't tried this myself ... but, I've heard that rubbing alcohol get's ink stains out of fabric. It has worked well for me for removing permanent marker from hard surfaces.
For silver: put a sheet or two of aluminum foil in the bottom of a non-metal bowl or basin. Fill the bowl/basin with HOT water and stir in a big heap of baking soda. Dip the silver item in the water so that it touches the foil, and watch in amazement as a chemical reaction changes the tarnished areas back to bright shiny silver! You can also soak really tarnished items for a brief time, or treat them repeatedly. The good thing about this process is that it shines little nooks and crannies that polish and a cloth won't reach, and is much greener than a metal polish.
Gregory is absolutely correct. Toothpaste is one of the best kept secrets for cleaning silver....whether jewelry or antique silverware.
For porcelain and pottery, efferdent works wonders.
I second Mlle Kate's silver cleaning, but do it a bit differently -- I line a 9X13 pan with heavy duty aluminum foil, put in baking soda and salt, place the silverware in it, pour boiling water, and voila -- tarnish gone. It leaves a sulfury smell in the room, but that soon dissipates.
For wood (like oak) with black mildew or mold stains in the grain, pick up hair coloring peroxide at the beauty supply store. I had a hunch that peroxide would work on wood, and then I discovered that it's used to bleach paper products. 3% isn't strong enough, and there are a couple of strengths available, including one that is gel like.
My mother heard that catsup or tomato paste cleaned brass, and I was assigned that task. It worked.
Haven't tried it, but I've read that buttermilk gently cleans old linen.
I second the cheap hairspray trick.
For vases or otherwise long-neck bottles with gunk on the bottom with no way to get a brush to them, dump in white wine vinegar and baking soda and let it soak for a few minutes. Then add 1 or 2 tbsp of salt and swish around for a few minutes. Rinse with water.
Toothpaste is abrasive and shouldn't be used on fine silver.
The Mlle Kate method works for me too! To make sure I don't have to do it again, I keep a stick of chalk in my silver drawer and it stays bright (if somebody knows the science behind that one, splain please.)
silver: just put it in a bowl filled with coke for a few minutes and its ready to go.
And If you want to use toothpaste (does the same trick, but needs more manual labor) use toothpaste for sensitive teeth, it contains little to no abrasives. And sertainly do not use whitening toothpastes, they contain a lot of abrasives.
Does anyone know what the best way to clean vintage leather is? I just got a vintage leather pillow that could use some cleaning. Thanks!
@dallas10086, you can also use denture tablets for hard-to-clean vases. I buy them at the 99 Cent store, since they're just for cleaning. They're great for hard-water marks on glass, as well.
Mlle Kate's method for removing tarnish from silver is the method antique dealers and museums use, because the chemical reaction this method employs recovers the silver molecules that are trapped in the tarnish and re-deposits them on the item.
Abrasive cleaners remove a layer of silver with every polish.
The aluminum-foil method is the only method that should ever be used on silverplate, or you'll eventually wear away the plate and expose the copper underneath.
Cut a lemon in half, squeeze out most of the juice for your culinary needs. Use the pulpy part of the lemon (with a little juice still in it) to rub brass or copper items. It cleans them up and makes them sparkle.
I've purchased lots of ratty furniture at flea markets, not to mention thrift stores, on Craigs list, etc. Since I'm not a professional upholsterer, I send all my stuff to A1 Upholstery in Santa Ana to clean it up. He does amazing work for a very reasonable price. I can't stop singing his praises! Here's a link to his Yelp! account: http://www.yelp.com/biz/a1-upholstery-santa-ana
He just finished a sectional which is pictured there on the Yelp! page and I just sent him my black vinyl scoop chair. I can't wait to get it back!
Be careful about bleaching wood unless it's going to be painted. I used Clorox on a black spot on a piece of pine and got a horrible green spot instead. Do a test first in an unseen area.