The following is the secret for my reputation of having beautiful vintage clothing for sale.
People that come to my market stall, whether it be Byron Bay, Bangalow or Channon consistently remark, how beautiful and clean the clothing looks even though it’s up to 80 years old,some of them find it hard to believe.
So you can look forward to, by following these instructions, (even though they may be a bit dense in text) to surprise yourself with the same outcomes… it’s worth persevering and through trial and error you’ll have similar results…. try your least favourite garments to begin with. It’s a restoration secret I have not revealed before

Here are the tips for clothing care…. Like our environment itself a deeper understanding of the laws of nature will help with washing, for example in winter a person may have a precious cashmere, or Merino that they don’t wash between wears in an attempt to preserve the garment, however the opposite may be happening, the natural oils in our skin, and the shedding of our skin even though microscopic, provides nutrients for bacteria and fungus (these aren’t yucky, why do you think sourdough bread tastes so nice?) But these natural organisms will do what they do on a forest floor and break down material, these organisms would also provide a good environment for a moth to lay eggs in.

So washing will help to avoid this, and putting a fabric conditioner in the rinse cycle will also discourage moths and bacteria.

List 1 for woolen or other organic fibre, such as silk

I have supplied many overcoats and men’s sports coats and suits also women’s highly tailored from the 1930s 40s and 50s and 60s for film and TV productions ….now because these pieces were so well made I have found even though I’ve washed them,carefully, through a gentle cycle jn a washing machine they have come out well ….in more than 50% of cases I haven’t even felt need to iron them so here are the instructions:The first and most fundamental washing advice I would give is to buy a dustpan and brush, for the soft brush, “It would be good idea to also buy a small tarpaulin about 2 m² for about $3 to $6 having done that, lay the garment on the “tarp” on the laundry floor or your back patio, now make up a soup out of the washing powder with about a litre or more of hot water in the proportion you would normally use in your washing machine,(you could use liquid washing detergent,But it is just not as powerful as powdered detergent, And you need the power particularly with vintage stains)   you will need a bowl or even better a oblong plastic dish that the dustpan brush will fit into, and lightly dip the dustpan brush not too deeply! In the liquid and lightly brush all over the garment put extra on the inside and outside of the sleeve and the collar which In vintage clothing will be obviously more soiled… leave for at least half an hour and put in the most gentle cycle on the washing machine with the lowest spin speed.
If you have something really precious particularly an overcoat you could put it in a bath and gently squeeze it all over.
I bought a man’s cashmere coat in Scotland brand-new and did this while I was travelling and I hung it up on a hanger and it would have been superfluous to even bother to iron, it came out so smooth.
 This is the last instruction: which is,to put the garment on more than one coathanger,2 or 3 at least com for support… Now starting at the collar and shoulder on the left …or right hand of the garment ,Pull both ways horizontally, so effectively just gently stretching into shape do this moving down about 6 inches at a time keep doing this until you reach the bottom of the garment and then do the same type of stretching only vertically pulling fairly firmly on the button or buttonholes side ( it might gather a little in this area) and then move across with about six Pull’s till you reach the side seam which also will need a firm Pull vertically as this area tends to bunch up a little bit, finally holding the collar on both sides pull with bit of a stretch I have described here is what I do with overcoats, and  whether with  linen blouse or a ladies dress or men’s shirt the same principles apply
now what I have just described will probably be garments made out of wool
in this case don’t put the washing powder you have used in the washing machine but use  your normal proportion of proper wool washing detergent,… as the washing powder will have done all the heavy lifting and the wool wash will help to neutralise the fibre.
Normally you would not use ordinarywashing powder for wool because it’s very alkaline but the way I have described what your doing is penetrating the surface only for a short time and when you put it in the wash it all washes away so the core of the fibre pretty much remains unviolated, and don’t worry because I have washed old fashion working clothing for men made out of wool that were so dirty I had to actually soak in conventional washing powder and very warm water, and they came out fine, I think this is because it is just a one-off process that you’re doing just remember the gentle or wool cycle itself which has only lukewarm water and minimal movement and spinning on the garment is an important criteria.

Fast spinning will result in wool felting,This is when the soft springy quality of the wool is lost it becomes hard and shrunken.

Finally for a really lovely finish I have used a product for the rinse cycle called “comfort”, which you can buy in woollies and coles and most other supermarkets it is superior fabric conditioner that I think may have lanolin from sheep wool in it that really gives a lovely finish to the garment and doesnt taste nice to moths.

The same process can be followed for cotton, or modern synthetics, only difference being, not so important to just lightly brush, with these fabrics it’s okay to penetrate deep with detergent