Out of the blue

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Out of the Blue 04/28/2013 by Camille Myers Breeze In January, 2011, Mary O'Dwyer brought us her grandfather's 1875 christening gown, to see if we could do anything to help her. We could not believe our eyes when she arrived with a pair of lovely cotton garments the color of robin's eggs. The blue was streaky and could not mask a pattern of brown stains, most noticeable on the front.

Mary O'Dwyer's family christening gown and underslip before treatment to reduce bluing.

Although most of us had heard the term "bluing" we had never seen a dramatic example in person of what could go wrong with the treatment. The principal behind bluing is that the yellowing that occurs with aging in both natural and synthetic fabrics can be neutralized with the addition of a light application of blue dye. This same principal is used by some older women on their hair, with infamous results. The active ingredient in bluing is a fine iron powder containing the pigment Prussian blue (ferric hexacyanoferrate). Several brands of laundry bluing were popular from the late 1800s, including Mrs. Stewart's, which is still sold today.

Closeup of the intricate details on this christening gown, as well as the brown stains and blue tinge.


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Out of the blue by Camille Breeze - Issuu