Properly Preserving Your Tablecloth

With Thanksgiving and the Holiday season upon us, we all want our tablecloths to look perfect. It’s not always an easy task. You can’t just throw them into a washing machine and call it a day. Typically these tablecloths used for special occasions are not cheap and require special care to protecting them for long-lasting use. This includes properly prepping them for storage. Here are 5 tips to properly preserving your tablecloth:

1. Don’t Let Stains Sit Too Long – Avoid letting a stain stay on your tablecloth too long. You can often remove minor stains with some grease-fighting dish soap and a soft-bristled brush. For tougher stains, bring to Anton’s for a cleaning.
2. Wash – If the tablecloth is stain-free and only needs to be washed, follow the care instructions and use your washing machine for maintenance cleaning. Set the machine to warm, place the tablecloth in when the tank is halfway full. Household detergents can sometimes cause problems and a good warm water wash will usually do the trick.
3. Dry – It’s important to not use your machine to dry your tablecloth. Place it on a flat surface or hang it outside to air dry.
4. Starch & Press – Once you have cleaned and dried your table cloth and it’s done for the season, we highly recommend starching and pressing it before you store it. You can do this process at home, adding starch to the machine during the rinse cycle, and using an old-fashioned iron. Anton’s makes the process very easy by starching and pressing for you.
5. Store. Once the tablecloth is properly pressed, you can store the tablecloth. Make sure it’s folded nice and neat and then store it in your linen closet. When storing your linens you want to make sure that you are using a location that is well ventilated and avoid using such things as cedar chests, cardboard boxes and plastic bags. Anton’s Closet is a great place to store linens if you need extra space.