How to Clean a Pennant?

[brownscollector78]

Originally Posted by JMEnglish27

Yeah, my findings have been keep the bleach AWAY from anything wool/more vintage. 70s synthetic on forward you're good, though I wouldn't submerge. Mask it off where needed and spray, let sit, then hose off

Oh...AND...for some reason your spots/staining might come back over time. You're not eliminating them, just whitening them. Know that...and also remember that you can only do this a few times before making the pennant brittle

Interesting, because based on the previous fella, he said bleach worked quite well on the older pennants and made the newer ones bleed more. (unless I completely misunderstood him)

I bought that retroclean stuff and im gonna try that first since its less abrasive. Hoping that works so I dont have to use anything stronger.

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by brownscollector78

Interesting, because based on the previous fella, he said bleach worked quite well on the older pennants and made the newer ones bleed more. (unless I completely misunderstood him)

I bought that retroclean stuff and im gonna try that first since its less abrasive. Hoping that works so I dont have to use anything stronger.

Bleach. 1961, 1962 and 1964. I don't have any older pennants that are white.

[Vintagedeputy]

Originally Posted by ooo-ribay

Bleach. 1961, 1962 and 1964. I don't have any older pennants that are white.

Those came out great Rob!

[brownscollector78]

Awesome!!

[bocca001]

Bleach works well on cloth pennants and it looks like your Browns pennant is cloth. Most graphics colors do pretty well with bleach on those cloth pennants, but red does not, and the brown color on that pennant looks reddish. When I first saw it, I actually wondered if someone had already tried to clean it and ended up with a bit of color running.

As for retroclean, I did have it mess with the yellowish/white graphics on an old single bar Houston Oilers pennant (cloth). So I'd watch that carefully when using just to make sure you stop any problems as quickly as the arise.

Oxyclean works great on the stiff pennants from the 1970s and 1980s. Especially the white ones that turn brown/yellow over time. You often need to let it completely soak through that stiff stuff, which can take 15-30 minutes. I've had the graphics on some of those pennants dull just a bit given the amount of time it takes to whiten up one that is really yellow/brown, but they always look better than when I started. I've also used it on a stiffer orange pennant from the same era and it brightened that up as well.

[brownscollector78]

Update on pennants...

Initially I tried the retro clean with minimal results...so then I moved to bleach (40% bleach, 60% water)

I tried a white Browns pennant with brown script from the 60s (soft fabric) and bleach worked wonders. Its very nice and white now and there was no color run.

So then I tried to do the pennant I put a picture of earlier in thread (white soft fabric with orange script). I taped it backwards and only sprayed the back with a 40% mix of bleach and water. It was good until I ran it under warm water to clean off the bleach. The orange script ran everywhere. At this point it appears anything with red or orange will run. So now im letting it dry and contemplating my next move...........