The 1940’s Tea Green Dress & The Orvus Soap Experiment
Well, the dress experiment with the Orvus soap has been carried out according to the instructions. On the bright side, I did not ruin the dress, and it is cleaner and fresher overall.
The Orvus soap concentrate was ordered from the Lindley General Store in Meaford, Ontario. The instructions said to use one tablespoon of the highly concentrated liquid soap, in a bath tub full of water. I used a bit more than that, probably two tablespoons. I considered soaking the dress for hours, but thought I better just follow the instructions on the bottle.
Overall, the dress tolerated the wet wash very well. It is too bad it was not washed by the original owner after wearing it to a wedding. But hindsight does not work that well on something that is over seventy years old. The dress had been hemmed, but definitely looks better as a longer dress, than it did when it was hemmed. The mannequin is over six feet tall, so on a shorter person, this dress would be a full maxi length.
Conclusion – Never one to give up easily, I think it might work to try a longer soak using the anionic soap. The dress did tolerate the first wash very well. It stands to reason that it could take several hours to permeate the fibres and lift out stains, considering the age of the dress.
From what I have read about this type of soap, it has the chemical properties to get deep into the fabric. It also makes sense that seven to ten minutes of soaking, would not be enough time to penetrate the fabric.
Interesting to note, Orvus soap is used by quilters, and for cleaning antique quilts. It is also used for cleaning and preserving certain antique linens and textiles. However, the initial and most widespread use was for washing horses. No wonder race horses have such beautiful manes and coats!
The dress looks good though, and has a beautifully designed waist band and skirt. We’re almost there. I am thinking positive – for now anyway!
The before and after pictures:
