UBB.threads Forums General Interest Restoration, Conservation, and Maintenance Forum water stains

Hello all,
I was just wondering about water stains on flags. Is there any safe way to remove water stains or is it just better to leave the item as is? I lean usually towards not touching items at all but I do have a flag with some water stains on the white part of the circle. Thanks for any help or info.
Duzig(Bill)

It would be risky, but, since the stains are on the white only, a laundry stain remover or mild bleach applied only to the problem area should take the stains out. However, what probably would happen is the treated areas would be lighter and cleaner than the rest of the white. You might try exposing the stained areas only to prolonged sunlight, perhaps dampening them beforehand. I would not have the flag dry cleaned. Practically anything you might try would have some risk, so it might be better to leave well enough alone.

Hello,
Thanks much for your reply. I most likely will leave it as it is and as you say almost anything I would try might make it even worse then I would really be bent out of shape LOL. I just figured I'd get some input into possibilities of treating the stains. The item is an extremely large DAF banner and I guess I should look at it in terms of it's a "been there" item. I do thank you for your input in any case. It is appreciated
Duzig(Bill)

No problem, Bill. You might check with a museum or antique cloth cleaning and restoration company to see what they use to clean up old and stained cloth. You might also just Google for cloth stain removal products. There might be something that would work without damage. I still think the cleaned area would show up, though. Other than letting things be, the only other thing I can think of is to clean the entire white area.

Hello again,
Just out of curiosity I probably will check with a local museum just to get an idea what they might use, and I agree with you that cleaning just the one area would make the rest of the white area show up diffently. I most likely will leave it as is but I do thank you for your help and info.
Bill