Help with grandmothers veil

Gumby68

I was super excited when I asked my grandma if I could use her veil for my wedding, and I was even more excited when I saw it was still in great condition. It's currently on a headband, so I thought the only thing I needed to do was convert it to a comb. (any tips on doing so would be appreciated).

Unfortunately, I pulled it out again today, and after looking at it more closely, I realized it has yellowed in the 60 years since it was last worn. It's a very simple, short, two-tier veil that she made with mother before her wedding. There are no extras on it (beading, etc), so I assume it should be fairly simple to clean, but I don't want to do it wrong for fear of ruining it. 

It was originally white, and my dress is white, but I'm perfectly ok with it not coming out perfect as I'd much rather wear her veil even if it's not perfectly white than buy a new one that has no meaning to me. 

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Peledreamsofrain

It depends on the condition of the veil.  If it appears delicate and looks like it may fall apart, either leave it be or take it to a professional cleaner.

However, if it looks to be in pretty good shape, this is a helpful site with cleaning instructions:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5054859_clean-yellowed-wedding-veil.html

Sue-n-Kevin

I have cleaned old veils before. I used warm water and Ivory Snow detergent (the kind they make for baby clothes). I put the Ivory Snow in the bathroom sink, ran warm water and made it bubbly. I then put the veil in, working the suds through the veil, then let it soak for a while. This can be done more than once if you are gentle.

Drain the water and repeatedly rinse the veil until the water is clear. Then take a large towel, lay it out, lay the veil on it and roll to get as much of the liquid out as possible (similar to the link in the post above).

Removing the headband may be trickier without seeing it. However, they make "stitch-rippers" that you can pick up at a fabric store that have really tiny sharp edges you can use to individually pick the stitches out of the veil where it is attached to the headband. REALLY sharp tiny scissors would also work. If you are afraid of this, you could look up a local seamstress and have them help you.

Because it is probably really delicate, I probably wouldn't even attach it to a comb. You could simply use small bobby pins to attach it to your head.

Good luck.