"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message
...

"Brian" --- 'flayb' to respond wrote in message
...

"Tracey" wrote in message
...

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...

The other day, I dug up a big clump of double flag iris, cut back
the
leaves, divided and moved it. Then I bundled up all the cut stems in
my
arms, carried them to the compost heap, and (apparently) wiped my
hands
on my bum. As Judith will understand, this was just one of those
quick
unplanned sorties so instead of gardening in gardening clothes, I
happened to be wearing some of the very few shirts and trousers I
own
which are not battered, bonfire singed or holey. The trousers are my
favourite (purple) pair.

Today, hanging out those clothes after they've been washed, I find
the
shirt front and trouser bum are covered in hundreds of dark brown
stains
from the previously invisible sap. They got another cycle through
the
washing machine, no improvement :-(

So now I'm going to look not just scruffy, but incontinent. Any
suggestions for what might shift the stains?

Janet.

You could try Vanish stain removal soap. I've found that shifts most
stains.

Tracey
~~~~~~~~~~
Iris is very persistant. Vanish, or similar, is not 100% after
washing,
which tends to fix the stain. Janet's language~~ I didn't know that
ladies
had 'bums' or could ever be incontinent?!! She'll be 'sweating' next!
Best Wishes Brian


I have a feeling that one of the iris species's rhizomes is ground up as a
fixative during the dieing process, the name florentine comes to mind but
my
memory is a bit vauge as to why :~)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Iris germanica and pallida are used as fixatives during dyeing.
Probably in the florentine process too.
Best Wishes Brian.