Ok group,
After reviewing every post in this thread and consulting with two of the gentleman here (thank you both again for your collective inputs). I decided to conduct a highly scientific and very controlled (cough) experiment in my lab hidden deep within the bowels of my home (laundry room).
I went to my local antique store in search of an example pennant that closely matched the fabric of my 78 Washington Bullets Championship Pennant. After searching this huge place for over 2 hours I finally came across my test 'pennant'. Ernie from Sesame Street will have to do actually, I was freaking tired of searching for a danged hammered pennant.
Funny thing about this search, I have been in this antique store many of times and pennants abound of all different types. From baseball, football, and those danged vacation place pennants. This time not a one to be found. The two trashed pennants I did come across the owner wanted stupid prices for. I wanted to maybe spend around 5 bucks.
So I found Ernie and he was.....5 bucks and the fabric was close enough for me.
First two pictures are front and back of Ernie (please if this thing was rare or whatever, I don't want to know about it....ever.
Because as you can see in the following photos Ernie now has a split personality.
After consulting with other highly regarded scientist in their respective fields (Dr. ooo-ribay and Dr. Duluth Eskimo). Thank you gentlemen for your cleaning acumen and direction.
My experiment consisted of Retro Clean and Oxi Clean. I found a bin top that fit right over my deep well and that became my vat for the experiment. I soaked both halves twice in each solution, following the instructions on the back of each of the packages.
You can see my highly controlled vat that Ernie half is immersed and the very technical weights I used to keep the man down! He was soaked twice over two days using this method.
Th next photos shows dirty Ernie next to Retro Clean Ernie (front and back).
A notable difference for sure but still would need some additional soaks to finish the job. But good enough for this controlled experiment.
I skip ahead to the end result photos of the Oxi Clean soaks of the dirty Ernie in the previous photo and the comparison of the Oxi Clean Ernie and Retro Clean Ernie.
A noticeable difference of clean between the two Ernies. Both front and back.
After careful consideration and munching on some of the ruffles chips in the bag on the dryer, I have come to the conclusion that Oxi Clean will be the method of cleaning I will use for the Bullets Championship pennant (shown below).
I do not have a large enough vat to soak the pennant in laying down and the bathtub is not an option so I will use a modified Dr. ooo-ribay method.
I will use a spray bottle full of Oxi Clean and hang the pennant much the same way in my shower and spray and rinse the pennant over a number of days as long as it takes to get the pennant whiter and brighter. I won't be covering the edge of the pennant as I won't be using any bleach for this cleaning.
One thing throughout this controlled process is that at no time did Ernies red color ever run or any of the colors ever run. So that is encouraging to me and I believe I should expect the same results on my Bullets pennant. But I will watch closely regardless to make sure I stop if I see any bleeding. And will report the results in this thread in separate postings.
I hope you all have enjoyed my technical paper and examples of my masterful work. I have fun presenting it. Regards, a nut-job from Colorado.
NOTE: At no time were any actual muppets killed, maimed, or injured in this experiment. We used only a representation of said muppet and at no time in the future of any Sesame Street watchers will you ever see a Ernie muppet stitched together. -The Management
Cheers!
B.T.