Using Your Antique Linen

We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.

Do you have vintage or antique linen?  Now, ask yourself, do I use my antique or vintage linen?

If the answer is “no”, my question is… why not??

Antique linen is extremely durable – it was meant to last a lifetime and to be handed down to the next generation.

In the dining room, I’ve just left it on the table for my own enjoyment. No parties here, just me, the husband and the cat.  Oh dear, that reminds me of a story what I’m calling, The Great Accident. We’re off on a detour.

There is a problem with using tablecloths when you have an animal at home.  See the table below?  One morning my cat decided she was going to sit on the chair and bat at the tablecloth that was dangling down.  I had taken this photo the day before the Great Accident. However, her claws got caught in the lace, she got spooked, and she took off… yes, the table was set.

I had taken off the goblets and plates, but my tulipiere remained.  When she took off, the tablecloth went flying with her.  And so did the tulipiere. My husband knew how much I loved this vase and dove across the room trying to save it – however the vase is in three pieces. So he couldn’t decide which one to catch, and all three went crashing down separately and broke.  I was sleeping, and all of the banging woke me up.

I climbed out of bed and came out to see what the ruckus was.  There were tulipiere shards everywhere, flowers and water scattered on the ground, a tablecloth with a few new holes, and in the middle of this mess was my husband laying on the ground bleeding from somewhere. The cat… nowhere to be found. My husband didn’t respond to me at first so I started panicking.  Then the first thing he says “is the cat okay?”  Uh, yes. She is busy pretending she didn’t do this.  So, we cleaned up the mess. I did a little home laceration repair with old medical school supplies on my husband’s cut hand, but the vase… broken forever. And discontinued.

About a year later, we were able to find a new tulipiere at a local store, they had still had one in stock despite it being discontinued from Juliska… yes it was pricey, frankly that’s probably why they still had it in stock!  But alas, I have my tulipiere and THIS time I don’t leave it on my linens unless we are in the room, otherwise up on the counter it goes!  When not in use – in the cabinet, away from the cat!

Okay, back to talking about antique linens.  Yes,  I know I didn’t iron my tablecloths in these pictures –  but I just set them up for me so I don’t care… for a party, fine, I’ll iron them for guests.

Laundry tips for napkins: Don’t do a heavy spin, it leaves creases in the napkins!  If you happen to have a mangle, run through at the mangle. If not, iron – sometimes if you have a difficult wrinkle, I recommend getting your piece wet again and ironing it when it is wet! 

If your textiles have holes that are unrepairable, repurpose them to make sachets or throw pillows.  Also, if you gently tug on a piece and it comes apart in your hand, it has dry rot! It needs to be thrown out. 

Also wanted to mention, Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture is having a Friends and Family sale that runs until June 18.  Receive 20% off your entire order when you enter code SCFF20 at checkout! (affiliate link)

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave