13 cleaning products we love for cleaning vintage

When you’re a vintage hunter and picker, sometimes you have to clean off a few layers of yucky “history” to preserve a bit of history. Interesting vintage stuff hides in the nooks and crannies of barns, attics, basements and sheds–and so do dust, grime, grease and cobwebs. Bringing vintage back to life takes a smorgasbord of cleaning products because there are so many different things to clean and so many different things to clean off. With all our combined years of collecting and selling vintage, we have lots of tricks for cleaning vintage.

We’ve found some products we count on. And no, we don’t have an endorsement deal with any of them! As with all cleaning products, read the directions and always start simply and gently so you don’t damage the piece you are trying to clean. Cleaning vintage requires a slow and steady approach.

13 products for cleaning vintage that we love

Awesome All Purpose Concentrated Cleaner: This bright yellow liquid magic works wonders on grease, grime, and all sorts of gunk. And it’s available at most discount and dollar stores.

Bar Keepers Friend: A powdered cleaner that comes in a cardboard shaker canister, this is not to be mistaken for scouring powders. It can get a lot of cooked on misery off Pyrex, stainless steel and others tough materials.

Clorox Disinfecting Wipes: Head and shoulders above all other wipes for cleaning pottery and china. Tackles grease, grime, hardened bits of this and that and doesn’t streak.

Compressed Air:  Can remove a lot of dust and dirt from larger less frail items.  Use an air compressor or you can buy a can of compressed air in the electronics department.

Dawn Dish Soap: De-greases wildlife after oil spills and it cuts grease on all kinds of things.

Febreze: Takes more kinds of horrible smells out of all kinds of things than you can imagine, especially when paired with sunshine and fresh air as a booster. We’re not fans of things with scents, but it’s not the scent that does the work here. We favor the fragrance-free variety.

Goo-Gone: Makes sticky residue disappear in a flash.

Magic Erasers:  Removes crayon and marker from hard surfaces.  I especially like it for removing black marks from vintage luggage.

Mrs. Stewart’s Liquid Bluing: Add a couple of drops to dingy old white linens and bring back that bright white color in a jiffy.

NOVUS 123: Great stuff for removing scratches on vintage plastics and acrylics.

Restoration Hypoallergenic Powder laundry soap: It’s pricey, but it takes stains and discoloration out of vintage linens like a magical elixir when mixed up as a soak.

Vulpex Liquid Soap: A safe cleaner for practically everything from paper to stone. It’s used by professional restoration experts and conservationists.

Wenol Metal Polish: Gentle and good on most metals. Not especially effective for heavy tarnish or oxidation.

And of course, the three most important cleaning products: patience, determination and elbow grease. Regrettably, not available in stores.

We’ve cleaned a lot of things, and sometimes things do go as planned. We wrote about that: cleaning vintage mistakes not to make.