cleaning vintage mego clothes

[MegoCapnMike]

Not sure if this should be in another area or not, but I didn't see anything that stood out as being a better place for this. I am curious about stain removal on vintage mego clothes. I hear in some cases these items can be washed. But lets take a bit of clothing that has an original sticker on it, Superman, Star Trek, etc. Obviously you don't want to dip a surviving original sticker into water. My question is, has anyone tried the "Tide stain removal pens"? They are supposed to be color safe and I hear work really well for what they are designed for. But Ihave never heard of anyone using them on a mego. Any thoughts anyone?

[MegoCapnMike]

wow, nobody has tried this? I am surprised...

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

It's an interesting idea. I think you'd have to be careful around an original sticker; I imagine there's some seepage from the stuff in the pen as it's absorbed into the fabric. The old Mego stuff is a weird material; they don't make it any more, and I've heard all sorts of horror stories of it's disco properties interacting with newer cleaners.

Don C.

[The4thDoctor]

I have a Tide pen, and it works ok, i guess...if your Trek figure has the foil off of the insignia,if just the gray piece is there,it can be Tide pen'd and washed..i haven't had a Trek insignia come off yet..let it air dry...they do come up a little better....stickers,well, that is another story...post pics if you can..i have to clean up a Trek shirt today, i think i'll document it for you guys...Wayne

[The4thDoctor]

Scrubbing,cleaning and Tiding now...results to follow....doesn't look too promising,folks....

[The4thDoctor]

Ok, here you go..not too good....it appears to have black marker on the front,sides and back that soaked thru to the inner side,some ring mark on the belly,discoloured blue overall and the left arm has some yellow/maybe reddish stain on it...so those are what i tried to remove....




I used the Tide pen and scrubbed the living daylights out of all stains,to not much avail...i have done this to fresher stains,with results...these old,old,OLD stains are a bugger...



I then soaked it in Resolve for awhile, then used hot water and Gain and a toothbrush to really scrub it..
And here is what i got....


So, as you can see, old stains(stubborn ones such as marker,pen,blood..), just like old habits, are here to stay

It did come out a little bluer,the emblem stayed in place, but still not good...Hope this helped..

[MegoCapnMike]

Definitely much cleaner. I have a couple of Trek uniforms I may try this with. The stains are not quite as severe as what you are working with. Maybe I will get lucky...

[The4thDoctor]

Definitely much cleaner. I have a couple of Trek uniforms I may try this with. The stains are not quite as severe as what you are working with. Maybe I will get lucky...

They do come out cleaner and brighter....my shirt had a 1/2" circular stain around the belly region,plus the marker/ink which goes right round the tunic...I used everything you see in the pics....Tide stick,Resolve and Gain detergent,hot/cold water for wash/rinse...i then lay it on a rag on my fireplace to dry nice and fast...

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

I think the black smudges are from the belt. The colour bleeds from the belt and spreads into the fabric. It doesn't come out. On the up-side; it's fairly easy to get replacement tunics for the Trek guys.

Don C.

[The4thDoctor]

Hmmmm....

I think the black smudges are from the belt. The colour bleeds from the belt and spreads into the fabric. It doesn't come out. On the up-side; it's fairly easy to get replacement tunics for the Trek guys.

Don C.

The belt,eh?? Could be,looks like black magic marker,but is the width of the belt,and encircles the tunic...in that case, they bleed RIGHT THRU!! I don't care,i just wanted to test that for MegoCaptainMike.....Thankz Don