'Bleached' bedding - help!

Agencies and other headaches, keys and cleaners, running costs and contracts...in short, all the things we spend so much of our time doing behind the scenes.<br>
Andy & Lana
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Oct 06, 2017 2:20 pm
Location: St Blazey Gate, Cornwall
Contact:

'Bleached' bedding - help!

Post by Andy & Lana »

So after nearly four months, we're getting ready this week to re-open - we last had guests in early March, and the rooms have sat basically untouched since...
....this morning, we went round and removed the 'unnecessary' soft furnishing items, ie., cushions and bed runners - and on taking the latter off the beds we discovered that the white bedlinen has all 'bleached' and yellowed in the sun...
....where the runners were on all four beds (two singles, a double and a king) there are lovely crisp white areas, but either side the quilt covers have a distinct yellow tinge, especially the sides closer to the windows...
....we intended to wash it all anyway, but if it has 'bleached', we will be wasting our time and effort?
Took the plunge, bought a guest house!
Mmmbobby
Posts: 24
Joined: Thu Dec 07, 2017 10:35 am

Post by Mmmbobby »

We have Velux windows in our apartment bedrooms and we found that the sun was fading the carpets. We now keep the blinds down whenever the apartment is empty.
SPJ
Posts: 468
Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 9:01 am
Location: Aquitaine
Contact:

Post by SPJ »

Sorry about this but if they are already in a sorry state I suggest you have nothing to lose. How about soaking them in a bleach solution on a pre-wash cycle for a time before washing? You could try one.

If that doesn't work, keep them for the longer term (don't throw them away) and maybe investigate dying them? I have some white valences that I dyed a nice "Paris grey" - they work well, but then I'm in France and everything's shabby chic.

Good luck - not what you want to find at this stage!
vacancesthezan
Posts: 311
Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2010 8:15 pm
Location: France
Contact:

Re: 'Bleached' bedding - help!

Post by vacancesthezan »

Andy & Lana wrote:So after nearly four months, we're getting ready this week to re-open - we last had guests in early March, and the rooms have sat basically untouched since...
....this morning, we went round and removed the 'unnecessary' soft furnishing items, ie., cushions and bed runners - and on taking the latter off the beds we discovered that the white bedlinen has all 'bleached' and yellowed in the sun...
....where the runners were on all four beds (two singles, a double and a king) there are lovely crisp white areas, but either side the quilt covers have a distinct yellow tinge, especially the sides closer to the windows...
....we intended to wash it all anyway, but if it has 'bleached', we will be wasting our time and effort?
If they are (were!) completely white and 100% cotton then definitely worth a try. Put a javel tablet in the machine with the ordinary washing solution and put them on a hot wash. We would always use a washing powder for sheets rather than a liquid as we think it has a slight bleaching effect and it keeps the cotton nice and crisp!
Andy & Lana
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Oct 06, 2017 2:20 pm
Location: St Blazey Gate, Cornwall
Contact:

Post by Andy & Lana »

Thanks for the replies....

The king duvet cover is 50/50 polycotton, and has a full-width colour panel (matching the headboard), so using bleach isn't an option...
....similarly, although 100% cotton, the twin single covers have a centre detail panel edged with coloured piping, again ruling out bleach...
....both sets are relatively new - we only started using the king one last year, and the twin pair are (were) what we called 'best'...

The double is also 100% cotton, but being 'plain' satin stripe, we could try bleach - annoyingly it looks like the oldest set (it was among the linen we inherited) is the only one we might be able to 'save'...
Took the plunge, bought a guest house!
SPJ
Posts: 468
Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 9:01 am
Location: Aquitaine
Contact:

Post by SPJ »

Shame. Good luck with getting this sorted.
vacancesthezan
Posts: 311
Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2010 8:15 pm
Location: France
Contact:

Post by vacancesthezan »

Andy & Lana wrote:Thanks for the replies....

The king duvet cover is 50/50 polycotton, a.
What I shame. We would only use 100% cotton because it is far more forgiving. You could try washing it on the hottest wash it will take with washing power - not liquid.

Not at all optimistic though - sorry.

Cut it up and ise the good bits for cushion covers, single duvet cover etc etc? Nothing gets wasted n our house!

We use light curtains in all our rooms to keep out the glare of the sun. That is in addition to night time weight ones. All the bedding stored upstairs on shelves is covered with old towels and sheets for that reason also
farley
Posts: 169
Joined: Thu May 29, 2014 11:14 am
Location: Poitou Charentes

Post by farley »

Sorry for your predicament.
We also move rugs under the beds when we are closed as we found our painted floor boards were changing colour leaving darker patches where rugs had been.
Repainting floors was a pain &#9785;&#65039;
Andy & Lana
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Oct 06, 2017 2:20 pm
Location: St Blazey Gate, Cornwall
Contact:

Post by Andy & Lana »

Thanks all - the rooms have sat unused for months at a time previously, but that's been over the winter, so even when the sun's been out it's not been strong...
....now, of course, being south-facing, from late March to mid-July it's been a different story - and a consequence we hadn't envisaged at all...
....guess we'll simply have to write the three sets off, and put it down to experience - although hopefully we'll never have to go through another enforced shutdown!
Took the plunge, bought a guest house!
Post Reply