Vintage Halloween Costumes question

[johnnystorm]

I'm not a huge collector of these, but I picked this up at a flea market last week. Can't say when I've seen one before, but it's ISIS and the price was right- FREE!
My question is, does anyone know anything about cleaning these up? As you can see, the dress is badly wrinkled & yellowed, i'd be happy with just flattening it out, but I'm afraid to wash & iron it. There's a torn spot at the bottom as well. The mask is not cracked , but it's folded somewhat at the top from storage. Is there a way to straighten it out for display? Any help appreciated!

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[darkmonkeygod]

Your best bet is to judiciously use a clothing steamer on the costume. The yellowing is probably irreversible, but your de looking at lite scrubbing with a soft toothbrush if you were to even try. The mask is very tough. You could tr a hair dryer to heat it and see if it will bend but, obviously, you've got to be very careful not just with the pressure you put on it in bending, but the amount of heat at well. Good luck!

[LordMudd]

Just a couple of thoughts.

Bleach would reverse the yellowing, but would fade everything else. I would put about an inch of warm water in a bathtub and lay the costume out gently in it and let it soak for a while. Then lay it out on plastic and try to smooth out the wrinkles. If you get it flat you might try one of these newfangled bleach pens they have now on it.

For the mask I would try heating a pot of water, not to a full boil, then put the mask in it for a few minutes at a time. As long as you apply heat without any pressure there should be no damage.

CCC.