When P arrived home from his travels in the Far East he was a little upset to discover he'd got some unidentifiable mark (he suspects it was food related) all down the front of one of his silk ties. He asked if I could have a go at getting the mark out - and not to worry if it proved un-shiftable as both he and I were pretty sure the tie had been a charity shop find in the first place. But still, the tie was silk and, as P put it, a useful one that went well with a lot of shirts.
Well, said tie hung around the house for a couple of weeks - firstly draped hopefully over P's suitcase and finally moved on top of the pile of hats and scarves downstairs (so I noticed it every time I passed). Eventually, one day last week seemed like as good as day as any to attempt to get the mark out. I filled a plastic bowl with warm water, added some non-bio washing liquid, covered the stain in Ace bleach and added more Ace bleach to the water. I left it all soaking for a few hours (if truth be told I forgot all about it and finally remembered it again when I went back in the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea - the instructions on the Ace bleach bottle say not to leave things soaking for more than an hour!,) hung it totally dripping (no squeezing in case the silk got all wrinkled) over the washing line in the garden and left it out overnight.
I was thoroughly amazed the next morning to find that the mark had gone - result! A light going over with a cool iron and the tie was if not as perfect as it once was, at least wearable again. Both P and I were delighted. It's just as well I don't have to wear a tie as I'm such a mucky eater I'd have marks and stains on every single one I possessed. Seriously, it's a miracle if I manage to get through a meal without dropping something down my front - and it's usually tomato-based so is the devil's own job to get the stain out again.
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