Best Tools for Cleaning Vintage

For all the years I've been buying vintage, there has been one thing plaguing me; how to get it clean, where its good-as-new looking. For many years, it just took the right cleaners and a good amount of elbow grease. Now we have something magical. Magical, indeed.

Magic erasers are excellent for cleaning vinyl furniture. Nothing will work better. Nothing! Its great on fiberglass, wood, metal, etc. Anything with nooks and crannies of a very small nature. Once, Morgan was selling this pair of vinyl chars he picked up and nothing would get them clean. Rags and sponges just cannot match the work ethic of the magic eraser. I got a few from the store and it cleaned them up good! and no real 'scrubbing' was involved.  I should warn against using said erasers on certain things, as they will not clean, but ruin them: CD's, DVD's,  and it will scratch/scuff vintage plastic/acrylic items. You're best off with soapy water and/or  a soft cloth with those.

You know what else is great? Steel wool.

I found this adorable tea pot..but inside was grossly tea stained for who knows how long. All that I tried did not work...til one day when I found some steel wool lying around and decided, if I could be gentle, I'd try it. Lo' and behold it worked like magic! It got it to shine like new! Just look at that......amazing.

Now, of course, you can't use steel wool on just ANYTHING because it can take off more than you want in some cases. Even on some metal items, you must be careful. I'd google the best way to clean a certain item if you're not sure.

Ok, last little miracle worker is vinegar. I found these adorable Melmac cups, but the insides were coffee stained - or at least I hope it was coffee. I read online that soaking them in vinegar water overnight helped and it totally works. I used a 80% vinegar to a 20% water solution for very tough stains.

I hope this helps out someone out there. I know it took me long enough to discover a few simple cleaning tips!

Posted in: cleaning, Go Green, Home