White wedding dress always tends to the symbol of holy and pure love. But however, it is very easy to get dirty especially for the full shirt wedding dresses. Though wedding dress is only wore once in a life, many people choose to treasure it as if it is a kind of happiness that can be touched. To the wedding dresses of different material, there exist different ways to wash. How to clean them? My friend Jenny give the wonderful ideas. Today everytide would like to share the clever move with you. The most popular materials are silk and polyester.
Silk wedding dresses are often treated with quite a bit of sizing to give the fabric body. Once you clean the dress by any means, the sizing goes and you may end up with a limper dress than you expected. If you can live with that, you can hand-wash a white pure silk dress in the bathtub in cool water with a mild dye-free liquid soap like Tide Free and very careful hand agitation. Do not use the washing machine or the dryer for any part of this whatsoever – either could ruin the dress.
Try to use Tide Free liquid if you can get it. Powdered detergent, dyes, and even perfumes can leave a residue that can make your silk look dirty. So-called “gentle” detergents like Woolite and Zero are actually not as gentle as Tide Free and are usually more expensive per use.
If your dress isn’t pure white, first test an inconspicuous area to see if the dye runs. The inside of the hem near the side seam is a good place. Get a cup of cool water with a teaspoon or so of detergent, wet a clean rag, and blot the silk. If the dye runs, it can’t be washed successfully.
Otherwise, add about 1/4 cup of detergent to a full tub of cool water and gently lay the dress in the water, moving around gently to make sure the water gets to every thread. Let it sit in the wash water for a few minutes, then move the dress to the top of the tub and let the water run out. Rinse in cold water three times, filling the tub quite full with every rinse, moving the dress around gently to dislodge any soap, and letting the water run out of the tub; in the final rinse add 1/4 cup white vinegar – this will make the silk shinier, although it will never completely return the shine unwashed silk will have.
Don’t wring the fabric at any time. Let the water run out for about half an hour after the final rinse, then when as much water has run out as is possible CAREFULLY lift the dress out and place it on two or three large towels – however many you need to put it on – then roll it up carefully. Press gently to get out as much water as possible, then unroll and replace the towels. You’ll probably need 15 towels or so (or dry the towels in between).
Once the dress is no longer soaking wet but just damp, put down three or however many dry towels you need on a surface that won’t be damaged by water, preferably in a warm room with ventilation. Place the dress on the towels. If you have a fan, let it run in the room. Replace the towels every three to six hours, carefully turning the dress over every time you replace them. Don’t try to rush the drying by using a heater or a blow dryer.
Once the dress is completely dry, it then needs to be pressed. Put your iron on its lowest setting and test the inside of the hem. You may need to go up to 2 or 3, but don’t go too high and iron only on the wrong side. Don’t add starch since this will only stain the silk.
If the fabric and lining of your wedding dress are polyester, you should easily be able to clean your own wedding dress by hand-washing it. Wet cleaning will often clean your gown better than dry-cleaning because dry cleaning solvents do not remove water based substances including perspiration and most food spills.
Silk wedding dresses are often treated with quite a bit of sizing to give the fabric body. Once you clean the dress by any means, the sizing goes and you may end up with a limper dress than you expected. If you can live with that, you can hand-wash a white pure silk dress in the bathtub in cool water with a mild dye-free liquid soap like Tide Free and very careful hand agitation. Do not use the washing machine or the dryer for any part of this whatsoever – either could ruin the dress.
Try to use Tide Free liquid if you can get it. Powdered detergent, dyes, and even perfumes can leave a residue that can make your silk look dirty. So-called “gentle” detergents like Woolite and Zero are actually not as gentle as Tide Free and are usually more expensive per use.
If your dress isn’t pure white, first test an inconspicuous area to see if the dye runs. The inside of the hem near the side seam is a good place. Get a cup of cool water with a teaspoon or so of detergent, wet a clean rag, and blot the silk. If the dye runs, it can’t be washed successfully.
Otherwise, add about 1/4 cup of detergent to a full tub of cool water and gently lay the dress in the water, moving around gently to make sure the water gets to every thread. Let it sit in the wash water for a few minutes, then move the dress to the top of the tub and let the water run out. Rinse in cold water three times, filling the tub quite full with every rinse, moving the dress around gently to dislodge any soap, and letting the water run out of the tub; in the final rinse add 1/4 cup white vinegar – this will make the silk shinier, although it will never completely return the shine unwashed silk will have.
Don’t wring the fabric at any time. Let the water run out for about half an hour after the final rinse, then when as much water has run out as is possible CAREFULLY lift the dress out and place it on two or three large towels – however many you need to put it on – then roll it up carefully. Press gently to get out as much water as possible, then unroll and replace the towels. You’ll probably need 15 towels or so (or dry the towels in between).
Once the dress is no longer soaking wet but just damp, put down three or however many dry towels you need on a surface that won’t be damaged by water, preferably in a warm room with ventilation. Place the dress on the towels. If you have a fan, let it run in the room. Replace the towels every three to six hours, carefully turning the dress over every time you replace them. Don’t try to rush the drying by using a heater or a blow dryer.
Once the dress is completely dry, it then needs to be pressed. Put your iron on its lowest setting and test the inside of the hem. You may need to go up to 2 or 3, but don’t go too high and iron only on the wrong side. Don’t add starch since this will only stain the silk.
If the fabric and lining of your wedding dress are polyester, you should easily be able to clean your own wedding dress by hand-washing it. Wet cleaning will often clean your gown better than dry-cleaning because dry cleaning solvents do not remove water based substances including perspiration and most food spills.
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