Washing Clothes

[Southlander]

I saw a beautiful Indian dress the other day. It was made from trade cloth with brain tanned deerhide gores in the skirt and some added across the front decoratively.

That got me thinking, how do you clean a dress like that? For that matter, if I'm wearing my buckskins till they're greasy, how does one clean such garments?

 

[Black Hand]

I saw a beautiful Indian dress the other day. It was made from trade cloth with brain tanned deerhide gores in the skirt and some added across the front decoratively.

That got me thinking, how do you clean a dress like that? For that matter, if I'm wearing my buckskins till they're greasy, how does one clean such garments?

Brain tan (and presumably the afore-mentioned dress) can be washed in warm water with a little dish soap and agitation. Rinse well and lay out on towels to dry. You may need to soften by rubbing between your hands. Some people send them through the spin cycle to remove the water before air-drying.

 

[necchi]

Clay; http://www.crazycrow.com/mm5/merch...t_Code=6508-000-001&Category_Code=545-900-000

now that stuff is for white, but the idea is to get some clay on the buckskin, let it dry then break/brush off the clay and dirt goes with it. :idunno:

 

[paulvallandigham]

Once the leather is dry, if its still "stiff", you can put it in a dryer on "Cool", with some tennis balls, and let them beat the leather back into "soft". Old, clean, tennis shoes also work for this kind of thing.

I washed several years of dirt and grease off my elkhide pants, one time, using Woollite, in the bath tub, and hung them there to dry. The pants look almost as clean as when they were new, and they smell much better- enough to get SWMBO off my backside! They came out stiff. I rubbed them over a 2/x 4 for several hours, cramping my fingers, and hands, to get them soft again. The old clean tennis shoes, and old tennis balls( you really don't need the "fuzz") works a LOT better!!!!! :bow: :hmm: :surrender: :thumbsup: