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One of my first big undertakings in the sacristy was to restore some old alb laces found in a suitcase in the top of a closet. The strips were tiny brown balls and looked nothing like lace. After gently unraveling the dirty bundles, the bobbin lace revealed itself in all its splendor. Old laces may never again be truly white-white, but you can come pretty close with some tender loving care and patience.
Most of the best 19th century bobbin lace came from Brussels, Venice, or England. Some convents began lace schools to teach young women a trade. Bobbin lace is worked on a cushion with fine linen or cotton thread, pins and spindle-like bobbins. Hand-made lace is highly collectible and valuable. Eventually machine-made laces proved cheaper and faster to make, but did not have the gossamer delicacy and airy-ness of handmade.
I first called Katy Kliot at LACIS in Berkely, California (see our links) who suggested using BIZ to clean and brighten the laces. I found that soaking the laces, and changing the water as it became soiled, loosened up most of the dirt and dust. Laces must be handled gently while washing so as not to break the “brides”- or the thin connecting threads which hold together the motifs. Sometimes I slipped a spatula under the laces to turn them. Never wring or twist lace, or lift it up while it is saturated- the weight of the water will snap the threads. This takes patience. When the Biz has been added to warm water, agitate the detergent to a froth with your hands , then lay in the lace for the soakings. I like to use a plastic dish pan for this process. When the rinsing phase is through, lay the lace on a clean white terry towel and gently pat the lace in an up and down motion which will absorb a great deal of the water. Gently press the lace out with your hand on the towel, smoothing the motifs into place. I then place the towel on my picnic table out in the sun where the brightening rays will do wonders for whitening the lace. When completely dry, store in acid -free tissue, as flat as space permits.
Insertion laces are easy to spot, the edges will be perfectly straight on both sides. Alb and surplice hem or sleeve laces usually have one straight edge and one scalloped or irregular patterned edge. Insertion lace was applied to hems of surplices or albs, then the back cloth was cut away to reveal the lace in front. Generally priests, bishops, Masters of Ceremony, and older altar servers wear the insertion style laces, very young servers have hanging lace on their cottas at the hem.
In the photo above I am getting the procession ready. Young Lucas has a stubborn cowlick that won’t lay down! Do you have an Acolyte Matron to assist before services? If there is a large acolyte guild, one or two people dedicated to keeping the vestments tidy and assisting with young members can be a godsend- and a lot of fun. Youngsters often need prompting to wash hands, comb hair, stand up straight, be quiet, and be ready on time. The position of Acolyte Matron is seen often in England for servers and young choirs.
Clergy always appreciates clean, laid-out vestments, ready to put on with no worries. Lace is making a comeback in the new vestment catalogues. Mostly it is detachable and synthetic on albs and easy to launder. In the good old days, nuns loosely stitched lace on so it could be removed for laundering. Now we have snaps and Velcro! All photos above are from Saint John the Evangelist in Newport, December 2000.
Yes- that is Father Douglas Burger from Woonsocket in the photo above, serving at Midnight Mass as Deacon in his dalmatic.
In reponse to today’s post on Adelaide’s white chasuble,
“What can you do if you already dry-cleaned the vestment? Is it ruined for life? Also my fabric is more of a brocade or satin type would you use the same procedure to clean it?” YOYA
satins (usually used for linings)
100% silk damask weave (read all about it )http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damask
Brocade (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brocade)
Good question. Yes, it is entirely possible to “set” a stain such as an oil-based neckline stain by having the vestment dry-cleaned. We are blessed in this state to have expert restoration and cleaning services by people trained in conservation at the University of Rhode Island. I call for advice if I am stumped. If you have the slightest doubt- check with someone who KNOWS what to do. It takes seconds to ruin a textile, maybe permanently. If your vestment is really in a bad state, the university (Quinn Hall, see the link on this site or click here http://www.uri.edu/hss/tmd/Test.htm) has experts who will be able to restore and refresh just about anything. I have seen the work done in the lab, and it is amazing what the right resource for your problem can do. If you ever stop by Saint Peter’s -by-the -Sea (and you should!), check out the fantastic vintage chasuble restored by U.R.I. which is in a showcase near the narthex. Amazing- you should have seen what they had to start with! You can call for an appointment to bring in your vestment for a consultation and estimate of cost for work which will restore or refresh the garment. In some cases, you may just have to live with some stains which may never entirely disappear. Others can be made much less visible. Another very helpful link to read is this one http://www.conservation-us.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.viewpage&pageid=634
Prevention is more than half the battle. Proper storage and practices which will reduce soiling and abrasion, insect infestation, proper ventilation, ideal humidity and temperature control, cleaning and handling procedures, etc. will go a long way toward extending the life of expensive vestments and antependia- and need not cost the earth to carry out in your little sacristy.
The way to attack stains before racing off to the dry cleaner is to know what your garment is composed of- this is KEY. There are problems and issues specific to various fiber types, animal proteins like wool or silk, plant fibers like linen or cotton and synthetics. It is also helpful to know the vestment house, and if possible, when the vestment was constructed which may give a clue about fiber content and where to go to start pinning down answers. If it is a memorial vestment, there may be a record of the donation in the office. If you have this information, a call to the vestment house which constructed your garment can often give you helpful hints on the fiber you are dealing with and how best to clean it. Try to keep the neckline tags inside the vestment or parament hem on the textile. Frontals often have dates embroidered on the lining if the set was a memorial. Of course we ALL have things in our closets which have lost all of this valuable information, and we are CLUELESS what the fiber content is. Altar guild secretaries, or sacristans might consider keeping this sort of information documented when new items are ordered, along with the inventory which ALL sacristies should have. Copies of invoices, packing lists, or correspondence when the vestment order is filled can be copied to keep in Altar Guild records. New members will be coming to the guild in the future and any information on sacristy contents, textile or metalware or other material can be vitally important.
You need to know if you have an oil or water-based stain, or a combination of both. Wet-cleaning has its hazards- watermarks, or “tide” marks may be left when using water or detergent solutions.
Finally, vestments usually have more than one type of fiber involved in one garment, maybe a satin lining under silk damask, maybe rayon, cotton, “polyester, vicose, or blends. Trims are loaded with metallic threads, silk embroidery. etc. I would certainly seek out a reputable dry cleaner for silk, silk damask, and satins if the vestment is heavily soiled, or a conservation resource such as found at the university or a museum. Wet-cleaning is not for amateurs and it can weaken some fibers (as I have sadly learned over the years- yes, I have ruined a few things on the way to gaining knowledge!) 
If you would like to send some photos of your damask chasuble, it would be very valuable to see the stains and the vestment.
Thanks for the photos, Adelaide. (scroll down to see the photo slideshow) I am glad to see the hanger is not one of the wire variety. You might consider padding the ends of the hanger with a little foam or batting to ease the stress on the shoulders. Wow- the neckline IS grime-y! Hard to believe that chasuble ever saw the front door of a professional dry cleaners. First, let’s look at those reddish spots. They appear to be rust. Your fabric looks like a light wool in a twill-like weave. I think we will have to attempt spot cleaning on this chasuble. You will need a Q-tip and a bottle of WINK rust remover. First, apply WINK to the Q-tip and test a drop on the inside hem of the chasuble to see if any discoloration occurs. Then with cold water, blot out all traces of the WINK with a white cotton rag (Carbona is another brand of rust dissolver). Now check in a few minutes and see if there is any discoloration. Then proceed to try the WINK on one of those red rust spots. The red should come out very quickly. Apply the cold water once the red is gone and blot out the WINK residue. Blot with a white terry towel to dry . This will be a bit time consuming but worth it. Work “small” with as little product as possible for spot cleaning. Hence the Q-tip!
The grime around the neckline is unbelievable! Oh if we could only convince our beloved clergy to wear an amice again! It costs about 30 dollars for a cotton amice which you can wash in a machine- and $800-$1200 PLUS to buy a new chasuble! Here is what I would try first. Line the neckline with a fluffy white cotton terry towel so it fits all around inside the neck opening. Grime around the collar is oil- based, human sebum attracting and holding the dust and dirt. Summer is the time perspiration and body oils are even worse. *Note to amice-less clergy – wash your necks with soap and water with special care! Get a close shave on the beard under the chin, and make-up and perfumes are not kind to chasubles. So we approach this as an oil-based stain. Read more about oil-based stains here http://www.si.edu/mci/english/learn_more/taking_care/stains.html
This will take plenty of patience and multiple applications in most cases. Let’s start with a couple inches of the grime first. Take one cup of luke-warm water and add two DROPS of “ALL free and clear detergent”. ALL free and clear has no dyes and perfumes and is an excellent detergent to always have on hand. Do not use a sponge. A linen or cotton cloth (white) is the tool to use to apply the detergent. Blot on the detergent/water solution. Blot in one direction, don’t rub back and forth, this will cause abrasion to the threads. You may need to do this procedure several times to get the grime out. Be sure to rinse in clear water to finish and remove all the detergent. Blot up excess water with a clean white towel, patting dry. Let’s try this first and if you do not get the desired result, we will go on to more drastic measures! Keep us posted.
At our church ‘Saint Paul the Apostle’, we have a beautiful chasuble which has not been cleaned for a very long time. How do I go about cleaning it? Someone has tried dry-cleaning, and the chasuble looked like it had not been touched. I dare not put it in the washing machine or use ordinary powder / liquid to clean it. Would you please advise me? I have been reading your very interesting info re: church silver and wine stains: all very helpful.
Thank you very much.
Yours faithfully,
Adelaide Pettett
Dear Adelaide, Thanks for your email. Yes, most altar guild members can share a similar story. Dry cleaning is frequently NOT the answer. Before answering, there are a few things I need to know: 1. What is the fabric (synthetic, nylon, rayon, damask, cotton, blend, silk damask, etc.) 2. Can you estimate how old the vestment is, that often gives a clue. 3. Are there spots like rust or grimey stains around the neck? 4. Is the chasuble trimmed with any ornate or metallic threads worked in the gallooning or vesica? 5. Is there lace or any applied or appliqued trim? 6. How is the vestment usually stored? (flat in a drawer, on a hanger, in a closet, etc.). 7. What is the primary liturgical color? Is it possible you can send us a photo?
A careful vacuuming of a textile is the FIRST STEP in removing dirt. This is done with gentle suction. You can stretch the toe from panty-hose over the nozzle of any vacuum to make it slide smoothly and break strong suction. This takes patience and always vacuum in one direction so as not to catch and break any threads. Usually this does wonders to restore a textile. Dust and grime are by far the most common enemies. I always cover a vestment layout on a counter with a clean white cotton dust cover. Dry cleaners use chemicals- and chemicals must be used with great care and knowledge. Wet-cleaning (washing with water and detergent) can ruin your vestment and is seldom recommended unless you know the fiber content without a doubt. Cottons and linens can stand up to wet-cleaning. Silk can be tricky. You must also know if dyed fabrics are colorfast. Dyed trims can “run” into the ground fabric. I saw the MOST exquisite cope at Wallsingham Shrine in England which had been worn in procession on a rainy day. The ground fabric was creamy white and it was heavily embroidered. The cope was ruined when the embroidery work got soaked and the bright dyes “bled” into the fabric. The nuns were desolate!
Tell us more about your chasuble so I can steer you in the right direction. It is so important to air and rotate vestments regularly, change the folds if they must be folded, and never to store long term in those plastic hanging bags.
While searching out last year’s boxed cards, I found a few photos from 2000 at St. John the Evangelist in Newport. I will post some of these over the next few days leading up to Christmas Eve. This one is probably a good one for this weekend as I imagine all over America the Altar Guild has been busy polishing brass and silver! How I wish I had a digital camera back in those days!
This was our first “”white Christmas”- no red poinsettias. The altar frontal was our oldest dating to about the building of the church in 1893. This was the year of taking out all of our old brass, polishing it like the top of the Chrysler Building(which took weeks of hard work) – and putting up the huge altar cross which had been given from historic Trinity church when St. John’s was a mission on The Point. The altar decoration was copied identically from one of the oldest photos in the church archive. I forget exactly how many candles went up- over 40- but Father said the heat was terrific and he needed oven mitts and an asbestos chasuble!
What did our brass squad use? MAAS metal cleaner-much better than Brasso or Never Dull. And for silver?- Wright’s silver cream!
Outside were white bag luminaries up and down the street and up the front steps of Washington St. White velvet ribbons, white poinsettias and white roses on the altar- truly a Night of Light to remember always.
Fourth of July weekend is a great time to be out and about at flea markets, yard sales and antique shops. Who says sacristies cannot also be beautiful as well as orderly, neat, and clean? I enjoy finding little treasures when I am out on the antique trail which will add a little something special to the sacristy towel rack and linen drawers. The towel to the left is of a soft 100% cotton, loose weave. These were very popular in all sizes during Victorian-Edwardian times and even into the the 1920′s. Sometimes these are called “birdseye” due to the little tiny dots all over in the pattern, or sometimes hock cloth or huckweave. This fabric is very soft and absorbant and nothing is better for drying glass and silver. Often there is a dainty lace edging made of filet crochet, tatting, or bobbin lace- but more often the larger towels have a hemstitched plain end or fringe. Sometimes they are monogrammed. The more you wash them, the softer and more absorbant they become. Yes, they look best when ironed, but it is a very small price to pay for the look of a gleaming towel bar over your sink, lined with these lovely and durable towels. They also dry quickly after using if stretched out to air on the towelbar. I have tried terrycloth and linen towels and nothing beats these wonderful old vintage white towels. I see them everywhere in the $ 2-$ 8 dollar range-a little more for the larger size. $4 is on average for the hand towel size. And keep an eye out for lace trims (hand made), neat Irish linen tea cloths, linen napkins, damask weave cottons, and other white vintage textiles which can be transformed into amazing credence cloths and lavabo towels! Sometimes the exquisite whitework embroidery, all hand done is a FRACTION of what those expensive catalogues want -and the fabric and work far superior. This can be a fun project for your altar guild this summer-finding little treasures which are useful, practical- and beautiful!
Hardware stores and automotive stores, and I hear Crate and Barrel and also William Sonoma stores carry Maas products. If you are having trouble finding it, please visit the official Maas website for information on their products and direct ordering. Click on the PRODUCTS tab at the top pf the page to see all the products in the Maas line including metal protector, polishing gloves, cleaning cream and aluminum cleaner, plus combo package deals. http://www.maasinc.com/index.asp
Perhaps the most unpleasant item on the to-clean list of brass or silver is a thurible which has a heavy build-up on the inside of the top. The outside is easily taken care of with MAAS- a product for cleaning metalware. I prefer this to Brasso, hands down. MAAS can be purchased in hardware stores and comes in a can, bottle or a tube. Smoky thurible chains are always a challenge. The trick to keeping a shiny thurible is not allowing a build -up to accumulate. I always 
line the charcoal brazier with heavy duty aluminum foil. It will not show when the thurible is closed and it makes for an easy clean-up when the ashes are cold inside.
The hard work comes in cleaning the inside of the top where the smoke exits through the openings and up inside the very top nooks and crannies. I took a trip to the Greek Orthodox monastery of the Holy Transfiguration in Brookline, Massachusetts to see how they make incense there and most importantly to see how they clean their hand censers and chain thuribles which had delightful jangling jingle bells on the chains. I also visited Church of the Advent on Brimmer Street in Boston and asked the same pressing questions. Seems like there are a few favored products for cleaning out the residue from dry cleaning fluid to acetone. Acetone got the most thumbs up but one must be sure to wear gloves, and work in a well-ventilated space. Acetone is also the active ingredient in fingernail polish remover. Mineral turpentine and even olive oil have been suggested. I tried the olive oil and it takes a LOT of rubbing to get results. Once the inside of the top is spic and span, spray it with PAM non-stick spray for cooking , and wipe away the excess which will help prevent the resin and smoke from sticking as much. This also works on the candle snuffer “bell” end. Tomorrow we will have a chat about incense and self-light charcoal wafers. Using the right products can make a difference in leaving less residue. 
If Wine Away, Shout or a mixture of blue Dawn liquid and hydrogen peroxide does not “get the red out”, one of our readers says:
“. . .,try ZOUT which is available at local grocery stores . . . sometimes even Walgreen’s. Our wine stain on a stole that was untouched by Wine Away was totally removed with ZOUT”- Thanks, Jenny!
A few inquiries have come in this month already. One concerns a white damask chasuble with gold satin lining which has suffered a very extensive wine stain which has “set” from a long time ago. The hydrogen peroxide and dishwashing liquid Dawn spot cleaning has only been somewhat successful in lightening the dreadful stain. Even the local drycleaner is baffled. The problem is greatly compounded when the wine stain has had a long time to set in. There is a product called Wine-Away which can sometimes work on tough red wine stains. They have a toll-free number: 1-888-946-3292. I have spoken to the Wine Away folks at Evergreen Labs in Washington State (very nice people too!) and the product may be purchased over the phone using Visa or Mastercard. The liquid comes in a variety of amounts:
2 ounce bottle, 8 ounce, 12 ounce, gallon, emergency kits mini-packs, and duo kits of all ounce-sizes featuring TWO bottles in each quantity. The most economical is the gallon size which costs 45.00 which comes with a sprayer and an empty 12 ounce bottle which you may refill. The shipping on this gallon size will be $14.00. If you are viewing this site from the UK, go to Lakeland.com to order this product. Wine Away has NO DYES OR BLEACHES.
When the elastic has finally stretched out of your cotton gym socks, give them a new life in the sacristy sock bag! They make great “mitts” on your hands for picking up polished brass, dusting and polishing cloths. You will want only 100% cotton socks. Worn toes and heels won’t matter at all. They can be laundered many times and will continue to grown softer and more serviceable. Men’s old cotton teeshirts are another candidate for polishing and cleaning cloths. Once upon a time birdseye baby diapers made great cleaning and polishing rags -but now, of course nearly everyone uses disposables!
Usually sometime during the week after Easter Sunday, a cry of dismay is heard in the sacristy. The new fair linen, chalice pall, corporal, the priest’s new alb, etc. has come back covered in pollen. And it does not have to be just Easter with the availabilty of lilies and other heavily pollen-laden flowers all year now, pollen is almost a year-round concern. But lily pollen must surely be the most treacherous, and very difficult to remove. The problem comes from the very tips of the long stamens which burst forth from the deep “bell” of the lily. These thin filaments end in a fat oval-shaped “anther” which is loaded with many grainy particles of pollen. Pollen stains are usually bright yellow or orange. When the lilies are very fresh, the pollen is still tightly packed inside and may look harmless, but don’t be fooled! In a warm room, the pollen will soon be bursting out in all its glory, just waiting for someone to brush against it and release a veritable cloud of saffron-colored grains all over the white linen and anything else which comes in contact.
Naturally the best cure is prevention. The minute the potted or cut lilies arrive, REMOVE all of the anthers on the ends. I hate to pinch out the entire cluster of stamens because they look rather nice left in and will not harm anything. Rather than pinch off the pollen-filled anthers, I prefer to take small, sharp scissors and neatly clip them off over a saucer or dustpan. Then tie up those little pollen bombs in a small plastic bag to keep it from being touched or spilled by accident, and throw it away immediately.
So, the worst has happened. Some of the lilies did not get “de-pollened” and over the weekend catastrophy has struck. How do you get the stains out when the damage is done?
The first thing is to remove as much of the dry pollen as possible. Shake the textile outside and snap as much loose pollen as possible off the fabric surface. Then I use a child’s DRY toothbrush because the bristles are thin and soft. Gently flick the brush lightly over the affected fabric stain, and immediately you will see a great deal of the pollen fly out from between the warps and wefts. If there is any pollen left, try using the suction from a vacuum cleaner hose to lift off more pollen by using an up and down motion-not side to side as you will simply spread the pollen. Apply a good dusting of bicarbonate of soda (Arm & Hammer brand) and let it sit for a few minutes and try the soft dry toothbrush technique once more. Sometimes the pollen will adhere to the baking soda. Still no luck? Take a piece of cellophane tape (duct tape, masking tape, or almost any sticky tape can work) and go over the spot with the tape which will pick up more pollen. Dry pollen is much easier to remove than after it has been wet and “spreads”. Sometimes hot water will set that yellow stain even more and the yellow stain is worse than ever..
When you have removed as much as you can by the dry removal method, and if there is still some residue, here are some old-fashioned remedies which may work after the DRY method has been attempted.
When you have removed as much of the pollen as possible, rinse the stained area with cold water from the back of the pollen stain. If the pollen stain remains, soak in cold water for 30 minutes. Rinse thoroughly. Repeat until as much of the pollen stain as possible is gone. As a last resort, apply a spot stain remover stick, spray, or gel and wash in the hottest water. Tide liquid detergent has also produced some good results when applied on the remaining pollen residue, then used in the hot water wash. It will take a lot of patience and effort to get pollen removed. Makes sense to “nip it in the bud” and avoid the whole process!
* note: I have just heard from a reader that baking soda and a few drops of white vinegar applied to the spot, then left in the sun to bubble up and whiten had good results. Do you have a remedy to share?
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