How to whiten linen that is stamped for embroidery without losing the pattern?

Question

I ordered online a linen tablecloth that is stamped for embroidery, assuming it would be white as it appeared online. In real life, however, its got that sandy linen color. I'd like a white tablecloth, but am afraid that soaking the cloth in a bleach solution will also bleach out the embroidery pattern, ruining my project before i even start! Any ideas on how to whiten the linen without removing the embroidery pattern?

Answer 1

Yikes, do not put preprinted embroidery in any type of solutions prior to working the embroidery. This type of printing is made to disappear in the presence of water and some of them from heat so do not iron either. As for the color you can always return the item to the company. Or test a small inconspicuous spot with a whitening technique to see if the color will come out. But it sounds like that it is not the fabric that has colored with age but that what you see is the color of the fabric as it came from the manufacturerer.. That is my two cents on this matter. Good luck in whatever you choose to do.

Answer 2

That's a sticky one. What if you go ahead and do the embroidery, then lighten the whole thing, then go back thru with fabric dyes and a paintbrush, and re-color the embroidery?

BTW did you know RIT has a fabric whitener/color remover you can use? It would be a lot easier on the linen than the bleach. Bleach can really weaken the fibers and pretty soon you have holes in it.

You can also use blueing, which will have to be re-done every 5 washings or so.

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Answer 3

Try one of the colour safe bleaches. Clorox ones work well. I use it on all my white clothes with other colours and they're fine.