Smoke stain

[kmaivci93]

My parents gave me 3 barbie dolls in which my great grandma crocheted 3 beautiful dressed. My dad was going to throw them away but I wanted to keep them because she has passed away and these are too beautiful and I wanted something to remember her by, unfortunately my parents smoked in their house and these beautiful white dresses are now gross looking. Does anyone know of a way to clean them without throwing them in the wash as I'm afraid it's going to ruin them?

[Granny Square]

I wouldn't ever throw something delicate like this in the washing machine.  

I would  soak them in Borax or an Oxy-type product (variations of the same chemical, sort of strong baking soda), for days if need be and changing out the water solution daily, not scrub the items but maybe squeeze them gently to get the yuck out and rinsing between soak changes.  It might take a few cycles of repeating this. 

I'd first remove anything that wasn't crocheted (and re-attach them after cleaning the rest), especially the blue ribbons - some colors run, red is notorious for this but I wouldn't take the chance the blue would.  

[ReniC]

Very pretty outfits!

I agree with Granny Square's advice. Oxyclean works wonders. Make sure the Oxyclean is completely dissolved and use only cool water for washing and rinsing. I also add 1-2 teaspoons of mild laundry detergent to the bucket. Be sure to take photos of the dolls before undressing them so you will know where to replace everything. I gently press/squeeze crochet pieces in a clean terry towel to get the excess water out then air dry. Hope it works out for you.