Any help gratefully received

It’s a shame that it’s happened now. If it was a few weeks ago you could have mixed lemon juice with water and put in the hot sun. The lemon juice reacts with the sun.

I did get a strawberry stain out of a cotton t-shirt with a mixture of white vinegar and bicarbonate of soda.

It depends entirely on the material the christening gown is made of whether anything at all can be done to lessen the discoulouring.

If it is silk - please do not try anything yourself, but ask the advice of a dry-cleaner used to dealing with natural silk.

If it is 100% cotton, either batiste or lawn, or some other fine cotton, it can stand being washed in fairly warm water, but I would personally not risk bleach on a fabric that is, I assume, at least 20 years old now.

My grandmother bleached fine fabrics, including lace, by washing them in plenty of lukewarm water, rinsing them well and hanging them out to dry, spread over a towel and with a cloth between the pegs and the garment in frosty weather.

Now frost is not very likely right now, so try half-drying the gown then wrapping it in a white towel and putting it in the freezer for an hour or so.

If it is poly-cotton or some synthetic fibre none of this will work and may well do harm, but you could try steeping the gown in buttermilk, overnight then rinsing it thoroughly and re-washing it. This was said to work with nylon that had turned greyish.

Our 150 year old lawn family gown (will it ever be worn again, I wonder?) is kept in acid free tissue in a box in the airing cupboard. Last time it was worn I washed it in Fairy soap suds and line dried it in the sun and it seems to be still white.

Old christening gowns tend to be small as babies were christened as soon as possible whereas now they are usually six months or more and won’t fit into the family robe.

Would a weak-ish solution of Napisan work? It does keep white things bright.

Bluebell, I foolishly washed my white trousers and put bleach on a stain, it died it pink. I tried everything before reading the label, I know too late, it said no bleach or hot water. I tried a variety of remedies, lemon juice bicarbonate and nothing worked, then on a very hot day I had a last ditch attempt, sprinkled white vinegar over the really big, now yellow stain, then covered it in bi carb, it fizzled straight away, I then put them out all day in hot sun before washing in warm water, they came up pristine. Know the hot weather has gone but I would try lemon juice and sprinkle with bicarb or vinegar and bicarb, they shouldn't damage the fabric. You’ve lost nothing as you can’t use it stained anyway. Good luck.

I’m sure when I visited Pompeii we were told that urine used to be used as a whitener, not tried it though ?

Oh that gave me a laugh weeing on the christening gown ?
Thanks so much for all your input I ve passed them on and will let you know I what works ?
Auntiflo funny you should mention that a friend has just told her to try that too

auntieflo wins she tried the napisan route and it came up sparkling
Thanks everyone for your ideas

I'd ask a dry cleaner about it.

Just seen this, and I have come first in something!

Due credit though should go to a friend who always had whiter than white whites. IYSWIM

So, I always keep some in the cupboard now.

When I got my wedding dress out of storage, after nearly 40 years, it had similar stains. I shoved it in the washing machine with Ariel on a 40 degree wash and it came out sparkling!