Wedding dress in washing machine?

cazziebo

I often find the wisest advice on the whole t'internet is to be found on this board so coming looking for some help..

I'm getting married in October and as an old bird, grudge spending money when I don't have to. It's my OH's first time, and his parents are so looking forward to it so I do want it all to be nice.

I got the luckiest purchase from ebay - a stunning wedding dress which retailed at £1200 and I got it for £90. It's had minimal alterations (cost £35). It now needs cleaned. On another board it was suggested that wedding dresses could be machine washed. The advice was put it in a white duvet cover, delicate setting and non bio liquid.

What do OSers think - worth the risk?

carlamarie_2

A friend of my mums put her wedding dress in the washing machine, it was hired and at the end of the day was in quite a mess (drink spillages and the bottom was black for being pull along the floor) it came up lovely and she got her deposit back!

I don't know how she did it, but it did work

notanewuser

I had a very simple satin dress which was beaded under the bust. Mum chucked it on the washing machine while DH and I were on honeymoon and it came out lovely!

Nicki

Mine was a thick damask cotton and it also machine washed well. I didn't get round to doing it until about 15 years after we got married but it did come up nice and white when I did.

I think it very much depends on what it is made from and what loose decoration there is on it.

thriftwizard

As Nicki says, a lot depends on the fabric & the style. I often wash vintage wedding dresses & haven't lost one yet, but then I'm not getting married in them, merely selling them on, and if I did lose one I'd only be losing a few quid as I buy them at the stage just before being turned into j-cloths, usually dirty from years rattling around in a filthy loft, & often in need of some stitching too.

Your main risk is that some parts may shrink & others won't; for example, the thread sometime shrinks, causing puckering, which doesn't matter on, say, a ruched dress but would look dreadful on something smooth. Or the lace (if any) may shrink & pull against the main fabric, or the main fabric shrink & not the lace, which then looks curiously baggy! But mostly it doesn't happen. I wash them on a silk setting, tied in an old white cotton sheet, using a very gentle detergent, and hang them out on a hanger, never in the dryer.

I got the courage to do this from excavating my own wedding dress (polyester taffeta with lace, no beading) from the loft & realising I'd stored it for 20-odd years with coffee stains down it. I thought maybe one day one or other of my DDs might want to wear it (ha ha!) so I chucked it into the washer without a second thought & it came out absolutely fine. But I did know it wasn't in any sense delicate, as it was made (beautifully) by a family member. So - in your shoes, I'd go for it, carefully.

camNolliesMUMMY

Mine was worth the same and was bought off eBay for £125.
Lots of crystals n gems on it.
I put mine inside a quilt cover a white one! And I put my dress inside out.
I put it on a hand wash programme with a small amount of powder.
The hand wash programme doesn't n fully turn the drum on my washer it just rocks it side to side.
It came up gorgeous

Vala-Mal-Doran

Do it!

I bought mine off ebay - added a lot of hand glued (permanent fabric glue) sparkly stones too it and sewed a jewelled applique to it an it got FILTHY on the wedding day.

I put it in a cream pillow case, sewed up the edge so that if any stones became unstuck they would stay in the case!!

I put it on handwash setting on something like 30 degrees which as above - just sways it fom side to side without turning it over. This didnt totally clean mine but it was a lot better than it was (I was outside on my day a LOT) so I ended up putting it on a woolen setting on a 40 degree wash which did spin a little but it came out PERFECT!

I did wonder what the neighbours thought about it being on the washing line later on...:rotfl:

cazziebo

THANK YOU!

Took the plunge. Put the dress inside a plain ivory duvet cover and it has come out sparkling.

Now on the washing line and I'm praying it will dry before the next shower, or before a bird splats on it.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

Can you show us a pic?

I gently handwash all my "dryclean only" dresses and they've never dissolved or spontaneously combusted.

cazziebo

I'm back! And married! :j

But looking for more advice.... the day of the wedding there happened to be a tropical storm. It was the only rain we saw in the whole fortnight! However, it all added to the fun.

It does mean my beautiful dress is absolutely manky at the bottom. I put it in the machine again, delicate wash, non bio liquid but the bottom is still stained.

Any ideas? I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it - it's too lovely a dress to throw out. I'd like to clean it and then hand it in to a charity shop.

cazziebo

cazziebo wrote: »

I'm back! And married! :j

But looking for more advice.... the day of the wedding there happened to be a tropical storm. It was the only rain we saw in the whole fortnight! However, it all added to the fun.

It does mean my beautiful dress is absolutely manky at the bottom. I put it in the machine again, delicate wash, non bio liquid but the bottom is still stained.

Any ideas? I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it - it's too lovely a dress to throw out. I'd like to clean it and then hand it in to a charity shop.

Anyone?