Sunday, April 1, 2007

How to get glitter glue off cashmere

Kelly says:
Hi! I have a cashmere sweater I purchased (supposedly a vintage) on ebay and when I received it, the design has been done with a kind of glue/paint with glitter in it that was popular to use back in the 80's. Can this be removed with heat, a chemical, a product of some kind? It won't just pick off. I have tried!

Oh my gosh. This one is nearly too scary to answer - I don't want to mess up your vintage cashmere sweater! I don't think a chemical would be kind to cashmere. I thought maybe you could heat the glue with an iron or a heat gun and blot the glue off but I'd be afraid I'd burn holes in the sweater.

Judy thinks you could try this and it would be fairly gentle ... here's what she advises Kelly ..

I have no idea if this will work on factory applied set-in paint and I especially don't know what it will do to cashmere, but here is something non-destructive on other materials that you might try:

You can try using Purell or another clear waterless hand cleaner. Lay the sweater out flat. Apply Purell liberally to the area you are trying to remove. Let it sit for a minute and carefully blot/wipe with a clean, dry cloth. If it appears to be working, repeat until glitter/paint disappears. Then wash the sweater following the manufacturer's instructions.

I know that this method works to remove acrylic paint from fabric (shirts, jeans, etc) and on carpets as I have personally used it. On those materials, the last step is sometimes to use a toothbrush with the Purell to get the last of the paint out. That said, I have no idea what it would do on a sweater (I wouldn't use a toothbrush, for instance), let alone on cashmere. I also do not know what process is used to set the paint and glitter in a factory manufacturing setting. It may be something that makes the paint/glitter much more permanent. My application is usually paint that has gotten on my clothes while I am working or, most recently, a bottle of paint that my dog discovered and crushed before I realized she had it--I defy you to find the stain(s) on the carpet.

Anyone else have any ideas?

Hope this helps. Let us know what you end up doing.
Judy Leasure, TDA

2 comments:

Jose said...

thanks so much!!! you just saved my favorite sweater. =)

Trina said...

Thank you!! My son got glitter glue on one of his favorite shirts at school and I couldn't get it out. Hand sanitizer took it right out! So grateful ... love the Internet :)