since I am new here I would first like to greet everyone. I hope I can help when possible, although I am no expert.
I have a question concerning the cleaning of em dress uniforms. How would/do you clean em dress uniforms from the 1980's with and without insignia, shoulderboards... etc? Dry clean? Normal washing?
I would be glad to hear how you would/do clean them!
I´d suggest not to clean the uniform in any way. Almost all uniform collectors will tell u the same; in my personal experience, dry cleaning is the best, but removing insignia and then re-attaching them to the jacket decreases its value.
In a few words, you should keep the uniform just as it is.
There's nothing in the streets
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Are now parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight The Who, Won't get fooled again
Thanks for your opinion.
I should add though that the uniform has no insignia, buttons etc. on it. And believe me, it needs a cleaning.
I would choose dry cleaning too, but I am curious as to what others would do with their uniforms, dirty or not.
There are threads about this... My general advice is that cleaning an uniform is a no-no. You will lose the patina, the authentic smell, the everything, not to mention that 9 out of 10 that try to remove shoulder boards for cleaning never get them back in the right positions again.
02-23-2010, 11:41 PM (This post was last modified: 02-23-2010, 11:50 PM by medals73.)
I agree. Cleaning will do more damage than it recovers in aesthetics.
I have a very nasty (but very nice) Suvorov Military School, 1968, cadet uniform. Like all teenage males, his interaction with the shower must have been "occasional" at best. RANK! Gag!!
Would never clean it. Keep it in a TIGHTLY zippled bag instead. Add dryer "Bounce" strip to perfume it and absorb the stench.
Normally I agree and would not trust the local cleaner to do the right thing with a vintage uniform. I have many uniforms with sausage stains, tobacco smell and that is part of the charm. Of course there was that one exception... http://www.soviet-awards.com/forum/sovie...prise.html
Welcome to the forum, I think you will find a lot here you can use! Most have told you, rightly, not to clean the uniform...maybe "air it out" but do not remove its (sometimes smelly) history.
I've seen some who suggest soaking in, say, a bathtub with warm and soapy water is OK. I'd not use soap of any kind but I fail to see the harm in soaking in warm water with some gentle brushing or finger manipulations, even multiple times to get the stains and stink out of a uniform. Multiple rinses would follow. Heavy blotting with bath towels to remove much of the water and then drip dry outside in a nice breeze with low humidity out of the sun for the most part (to prevent fading).
The uniform would have to be free of all accoutrements (besides metal buttons) including medals, badges, shoulderboards and collar tabs though. If that's not possible Richie's outdoor windwash would be about the safest alternative.
"patina imparts character" - PJS
A wise man said: 'you should not pay a premium for what you want beyond your comfort level, and always ensure there is a mutually agreeable return policy.'
