How to Clean Vintage White Gloves

I bought these lovely white gloves at an antique store. They make my hands look petite, which is something my hands definitely are not. 

Unfortunately they were dingy. The above photo makes them look much nicer than they were. The gloves weren't dingy from wear or use, but just from sitting in storage for 50-odd years. Let's see how yoooouuu look after sitting in storage for 50 years.

Sorry. Moving on. I'm a bit leery of just tossing vintage stuff in the washing machine until I've cleaned it a few times by hand, so this is how I hand wash gloves.

First, fill a sink with tepid water. Put your gloves in the water and swish them around for a few minutes. Be gentle. Gentle like a bunny. Just doing this can remove a lot of stains from cotton gloves.

Next, repeat, but with gentle soap. Add a bit of soap to the sink when you fill it with water, or gently rub bar soap over the gloves. If there are any stains, rub a bit of soap onto them. Swish the gloves around in the water, gentle like zee bunny, and let soak for 10 - 30 minutes. Then drain and rinse well with cold water.

If you still have stubborn stains, lay your gloves on a flat surface. Mix a small amount of hydrogen peroxide with baking soda. Spoon this mixture onto each stain. Really saturate the stain with it. Go for the gold. Let sit for 5 minutes. Rinse well with cold water. Repeat if necessary.

And finally, if you want dazzlingly white gloves, hammer the bleach to 'em soak them with a bit of bleach. Fill your sink with cold water. For every gallon of water, add 1/4 cup of bleach. Soak the gloves for 5 minutes. This should brighten them considerably. Rinse the gloves with cold water. Gently squish them to wring out any excess water, and then hang them up to dry. You can also dry them by laying (lying?) them flat.

And that's that. Now I may wear my gloves with impunity, to go forth and get stained and dirty in some other manner. Huzzah!