Rescuing a Cursed Blouse

Hi bats! Today I'll be restoring possibly the most heinous, disgusting blouse I've ever had the misfortune of seeing. The tragic backstory is that my best friend bought a Moitié blouse from someone on Facebook in supposedly "good condition" and received...well, this smelly yellowed nightmare. The pictures speak for themselves. It's too gross to put on my fluffy blanket for photos, so on the floor it goes. Beware: cursed images ahead.

This blouse needs an exorcism, stat!

It looks like they tried to button the blouse while their hands were covered in poo and then smeared it all on the collar for good measure.

ONLY THE DEAD CAN KNOW PEACE FROM THIS EVIL!

As you can see, this blouse is in a terrible state. Firstly, it's absolutely filthy. It's straight up greyish yellow when it should be white, and all of the lace is completely yellowed. There are YELLOW pit stains (I'm praying that it's just old deodorant and this person doesn't actually have yellow sweat); makeup in varying shades of brown, black, and red all over the sleeves; a couple of mysterious black stains; and a lovely brown ring around the neck. All of the buttonholes are also stained brown for some reason. Surprisingly, it doesn't smell (much).

Aside from the filth, it's damaged. Every single seam was stretched to bursting on both the front and back, so the blouse has lost its shape and has some small holes. All of the buttons are on the verge of falling off, and the buttonholes are misshapen because whoever was wearing strained them to the max. The elastics on the sleeves are on the way out, too.

The first thing I did was soak it in Resolve in-wash stain remover for about 3 hours in a bucket of hot water. I know you're supposed to mix detergent with it, but I was just too lazy to go all the way to the laundry room in the basement, and I was also curious to see what would happen. Actually, it worked pretty well. The whole blouse is a few shades whiter and many of the darkest stains are gone or significantly faded. The pit stains and makeup are mostly gone, but the lace is still somewhat yellowed.

Already looking a LOT better!

The next thing I did was soak it in hot water, Sunlight laundry detergent, and the same Resolve in-wash stain remover for about an hour before handwashing it in the mixture. Me being me I splashed myself with it and got a lovely red rash on my arm, so this had better be worth it. I tossed it in the washing machine on gentle for good measure.

Aaaaand...success! The blouse is so clean and pretty now, with not even a hint of staining. Smells way better too. All I need to do is reattach all the buttons and possibly replace the elastics. The evil has been defeated.
Chelsea
[Current Music: Siouxsie and the Banshees - Hang Me High]