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How to Get Stains Out of Vintage Denim – Best Way

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Afraid to remove any stains on vintage denim clothing? From denim jackets to jeans, vintage denim garments last long and never go out of style. 

But the durable and worn fabric does require a bit more care to maintain its value and appearance. First and foremost step is to remove any stains before washing and drying, if a stain gets dried into the garment with high heat, then it could become permanently set-in. 

How do you get stains out of vintage denim? Depending on the oil or non-oil based stain, select the correct method to remove stains

Use a damp cloth or old toothbrush with a mild detergent to remove any small stains. Avoid spot cleaning on raw denim due to it can remove the dye and end up creating white spots. 

Repeat the process until the stain completely disappears before proceeding to hand washing the entire vintage denim garment.

Maintaining a perfect pair of vintage denim is quite a bit of work because it requires special care to keep them in optimal shape. When dealing with vintage jeans, there is a lot to consider. 

Whether you want to shrink jeans or denim jacket, it’s important to get rid of any stains before doing so.

In most cases, people stain their favorite vintage denim and consider replacing them before other options. The reason is that stains make vintage denim look used and shoddy. 

Nonetheless, removing these stains can be cost-effective and easier than you can imagine. Answered below are frequently asked questions for you to learn everything about removing stains out of vintage denim.

Can you remove stains out of vintage denim?

Yes, stains can be removed out of vintage denim. With a few simple steps, easily remove stubborn stains before they become permanent.

It is annoying if they get stains in your favorite vintage denim. 

Fortunately, it is easy to get rid of these stains and leave your favorite vintage denim jacket or jeans looking sharp as new in just a blink of an eye. All you need is to follow the proper steps, and everything will work itself out. 

For an ideal result, experts recommend pre-heating the cloth, soak, and washing the stained fabric with Vanish. It actually does wonders while protecting the clothing color with no worries about fading. 

The Oxi Action Powder is also a stain remover that will help treat dinginess if any. This implies that you can remove any stain in just one wash, no matter the color of your vintage denim.

One problem linked to vintage denim is that too much washing will lead to fading over time. Luckily, using vanish in cold water will work great, making it easy to preserve the color of your vintage denim for long.

What do you need to remove stains on old denim

All you need to remove stains on old denim is vinegar, baking soda, mild homemade laundry detergent, water, lemon juice, and 3% hydro peroxide.

Removing stains on old denim is easy, including classic, old, and bold denim clothing, and it is worth maintaining a great look of your old denim. In fact, you can make that old denim look beautiful and bright for a long time. 

Never again worry when an accident occurs and ends up staining your favorite denim. Pre-treating the stains and your old favorite jacket or jean will look sharp once again.

How to get stains out of vintage denim

There are different types of stains that you may need to remove on your vintage denim. Different stains, therefore a different approach to remove. 

Let’s have a look at how we can handle specific types of strains on vintage denim:

  • Any stains: Consider using vinegar to saturate set-in stains. After that, the stained area can be rubbed using a paste of equal parts baking soda and vinegar. If the stain persists, consider adding laundry detergent and vinegar to a bucket of cold or warm (40 degrees Celsius or 104 degrees Fahrenheit). Rinse and wash the stains away.
  • Grease and oil: There are different grease-based stains ranging from cooking to beauty products and gasoline. In most cases, they are hard to notice on denim. Therefore, double check your garment carefully prior to washing. If you find any oil stain on the old denim, use warm water with laundry detergent or dishwashing liquids to latter. Hang the cloth to dry but never use a dryer. Basically, an oil or grease stain will appear to diminish when the cloth is still wet, but you won’t really know until completely dry.
  • Sweat stains: Identify the sweat stained area and apply a mixture of water and lemon juice. Pour the mixture on the stained area directly and rub the area before laundering. Soak the cloth for up to 30 minutes and rinse. Blend warm water and baking soda to create a paste and rub it into the stained area. Run the material under cold water to completely remove the stain.
  • Blood: To help get rid of blood spots from vintage denim, sprinkle with regular table salt and use an old toothbrush or a clean nail brush to scrub the salt into the fabric. Rinse the toothbrush in cold water to clean and repeat the brushing. When the blood stain has lifted, rinse the salt off from the vintage denim using cold water.
  • Rust: If your vintage denim encounters rust, either use lemon juice or white vinegar. This is easily done by laying the garment on an old towel and pour a small amount of white vinegar on blemish. If you are using lemon, just rub the juice on the stain and use a clean white towel to blot the stain away. Lay the cloth in the sunlight and launder it when you see the stain fading.

Tips to get stains out of vintage denim

Vintage denims is trickier to care for compared to commercial denim jeans. Due to fragile fabric surface and condition, they need to be washed and spot-cleaned carefully. 

Investigate the origin of the stain and use these tips to get stains out of vintage denim so you can keep your vintage denim jeans stain free:

  • Avoid using bleach to spot clean as it can remove the dye.
  • When using vinegar, wash with clean cold water to thoroughly remove any odor.
  • Remove any excess chunk of debris before saturating the stain with a cleaning solution. Last thing you want to do is make the marking larger.
  • If baking soda is not available, use regular table salt to sprinkle on a wet spot. It is a surfactant that will soak up some of the stain so that it doesn’t spread any further.
  • Do not use regular hydrogen peroxide to remove stains on denim because it can bleach and damage the fabric. 

When treating the stain with cotton-tipped swabs or toothbrush, gently rub to clean directly on the spot. If needed, place a blotter underneath the spot you are cleaning to absorb the stain on the backside so that it doesn’t bleed through and spread further.

Best way to get stains out of vintage denim

To revive your favorite vintage denim piece, it is important to wash and dry properly to keep in good condition. 

Prior to this process, removing any stains is the first thing to do. The longer the stain is uncured, the longer will take to remove the stains.

The best method that I came across to remove any stains out of vintage denim jeans are using home good items such as baking soda, vinegar, or lemon juice.

Depending on the type of stains, you will need to approach with the appropriate method. 

Use a clean damp cloth or soft toothbrush and sprinkle the mixture on the stained area. Start with small amount and gently rub to see if the stain starts to disappear. 

Repeat the process until the stained spot is removed, then hand wash the denim and air dry to preserve the article of clothes.

How to get stains out of vintage denim

Removing Stains from Vintage Denim: Conclusion

Vintage denim are uniquely made and should be kept stain-free to showcase their lustrous appearance. No matter the type and size of stain, various options can help keep the blemish at bay. 

The secret is pretreating and removing the stain before washing and drying. However, it is really important to test the cleaning solution on a hidden area of the garment before proceeding any further, therefore you know that the approach will not cause further damage to the material.

In order to get stains out of vintage denim, start by finding out the type of stain. This will help you to create the right solution to apply to the marking. 

Use a clean cloth or old toothbrush and add stain solution to start gently rubbing. For any small area with delicate denim fabric, use cotton swabs to absorb as you blot the fabric. 

Add baking soda on the stained area to help absorb the removed stain from the area. Evaluate the stain and once it is completely separated, rinse with clean cold water to get rid of the stain and baking soda.

Once the stain has completely disappeared, you may go ahead to hand wash and air dry the vintage denim. Avoid using a washer and dryer when it comes to cleaning vintage denim, depend on how old the denim fabric, it may damage, discolor or fade the fabric which is something you may not want to happen. 

Use these clothing cleaning tips and methods to refreshen your favorite vintage denim garments. Pretreat the vintage denim fabric so that you catch the stains before they become permanent.

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