I’ve got a secret. A dirty little housekeeping secret…
Those scrumptious vintage
Sneak a look in the drawer next to the oven and please try not to recoil in horror. Yes, that is a tatty old pile of cut up t-shirts! Oh my goodness, yes, that is a teatowel with a hole in and yes, to
my eternal shame those dishclothes have seen better days!
It’s time to get this house in order!
Go through every drawer in your kitchen and laundry room and pull out every item of kitchen linen you own:
Immediately, (without stopping to think about it!), chuck out anything shabby or remotely worn. Don’t be precious- You don’t need more than fourteen teatowels, seven dishcloths, three or four
dusters, two floorclothes and a small collection of "emergency" cloths for particuarly dirty jobs…
Then run a bowl full of boiling water, and pour in some mild soap flakes and gently handwash your kitchen linens. Start with your special
towels, hand towels , then dish clothes, floor clothes and dusters..
Allow stubbornly stained linens to soak, (or boil them the way your Grandmother would have in a great big pot on the stove) but if a stain can’t be removed, chuck it! (Unless it holds particular sentimental value, and really, who feels that sentimental about a dish cloth??)
Once everything is washed, allow to air dry, (preferably in the sun!) then set to work with the iron. I know it isn’t normal to iron your dishclothes, but humour me, this is a once in lifetime chance
to make even the most mundane little objects in your life, lovely.
Add scrumptious perfumed ironing water to your iron…
Recipe for Lavender water:
3 cups of distilled water
3 ounces vodka
15-30 drops essential oil of lavender
Sterilize a glass container by placing it in boiling water for 3 minutes. Allow it to cool.
Pour the distilled water and vodka in to the glass, then add the lavender oil and stir.
Then press everything perfectly, fold into piles according to tasks and put away into a drawer, or basket lined with oilcloth, and get ready to keep a beautiful house…
More
1. Patch worn teatowels with scrumptious darned floral patches.
2. Monogram your bestest glass linen cloths
3. Sew yourself a rag
4. Simmer fabric conditioner in a saucepan as you sort through your kitchen linens…
5. Embroider your teatowels with the days of the week.
(An abbrieviated version of this post was included in my Vintage HouseKeepers Circle in March 2005 )
Other Things To Do At BrocanteHome
Browse the Bookstore
Discover a curated list of books to enhance and support life the BrocanteHome way
Life Love & Vintage Housekeeping the by BrocantePrintables on Etsy
Create your own Brocante Life Book, plan Christmas, set up routines and rituals or live life the BrocanteHome way with my guided workbooks and planners.
Take a Course
Discover mindful, meaningful days with self-led, habit-coaching courses from BrocanteHome.
The Slow Scrub Challenge at BrocanteMe 
Goal Setting for Homemakers 
The Brocante Round-Up! 
The Brocante Round-Up!
Allison, these posts just make my day. Who knew about the vodka? This doesn't mean less martini's for me, does it?
I tell ya, this is why I need this site. Am I going to go home and go through my towels (they're all pretty new) or iron them? Sorry but no. But I am going to take the basket that sits out and holds all the plain workhorse cloths that I didn't have room for in the drawer and the drawer with my pretty towels and switch them. I mean, as Brini would say, now why didn't i think of that?
P.S. In referece to the pressed flower puttery treat o' the day- mine always get moldy. How do you press them in a book with out such nasty side affects?
Jen, try microwaving the flower in between two sheets of kitchen towel for a few seconds at a time before you press it between the pages of a book…
My mom tells me that it takes cotton a couple days of being soaked in water for the fibers to fully "open" and release stains. She adds non-chlorine bleach, and she has many crisp, clean, vintage linens to her credit.
I will be trying the lavender water soon. 🙂 Thanks for the recipe.
here in Florida we have a nasty problem with "Florida rust" which is a brownish stain that forms on linens when you store them. Tablecloths, napkins, runners, everything, you put them away and when you take them out they have horrible brown stains that CANNOT be removed. Can anybody help me?
I work for a cruise company and my biggest problem is heavy stains caused during cruising. Normally the it takes 6-7 days cruising and we don't have a proper laundry on the ship for laundering these heavy stains normally our linen are white. Pls can you give me an insight on how to tackle these problems.
Thank You.
Mereoni
I work for a cruise company and my biggest problem is heavy stains caused during cruising. Normally the it takes 6-7 days cruising and we don’t have a proper laundry on the ship for laundering these heavy stains normally our linen are white. Pls can you give me an insight on how to tackle these problems.
Thank You.
Mereoni