Dress can't be washed or dry cleaned! What to do?

rosie383

I got a dress from fleabay for my DD1 for a wedding in the summer. Gorgeous but needs cleaned.
The label says DO NOT WASH. DO NOT DRY CLEAN. MAY BE SPOT CLEANED IF NECESSARY.

It needs more than a spot clean to be honest after having a sweaty teen inside it for hours, and after the cream train at the back went over some nice orange dusty ground.

It is made of polyester, has a very small amount of bead work on the bodice and I really want to wash it. It has been sitting in a suitcase for a couple of months along with a couple of other dry clean only dresses.

What is the worst that can happen if I put them in a cool, gentle wash?

Marsie

Well assuming that it's not wearable now, surely there is no worse scenario? As long as you didn't pay a fortune for it, I'd turn it inside out, put it in a pillow case/duvet cover depending on size and chuck it in a cool 'delicates' wash.

rosie383

That's what I'm thinking Marsie. It definitely isn't wearable the way it is. Inside out and in a pillowcase is a good idea.
I just had a thought, I'm wondering if it maybe isn't colour fast. It is aubergine with cream trim. Maybe that's why it can't be washed.
I was going to put a few different ones in together, but I'm thinking I may have to do them all separately.

Stevie_Palimo

I'd try the dry cleaners as a safer option here.

HappyMJ

I'd hand wash it in a bowl/bucket/sink. I wouldn't trust the delicates wash at all.

Hand wash with water around 30 degrees with only a very small amount of liquid detergent I would use just a teaspoon mixed through the water first before immersing the item and agitate for only a few minutes. Rinse well with a lot of water. You could put it in machine for the spin bit on the lowest spin speed instead or wringing the water out. Then drip dry away from a source heat in a very well ventilated area.

I put something that was red and had white trim in the machine on delicates and a reduced cycle time on the coldest setting. The white trim turned pink.

duchy

I agree with this.
Cool hand wash- I wouldn't put it in the machine either

rosie383

I can't take it to a dry cleaners as suggested above as they would (quite rightly) take one look at the care labels and not touch it!

As for hand washing it, mmm... it is a lot of material to try to handwash. It is going to be really difficult to wash it without letting the colour bleed if that is what the problem would be. It has a cream border around the top of the bodice but even that has embroidered leaves in the dark aubergine colour. And the train is up under the skirt at the back.

The other items which are ivory shades may be okay to wash? Why can things not go in a delicate cool wash?

HappyMJ

rosie383 wrote: »

I can't take it to a dry cleaners as suggested above as they would (quite rightly) take one look at the care labels and not touch it!

As for hand washing it, mmm... it is a lot of material to try to handwash. It is going to be really difficult to wash it without letting the colour bleed if that is what the problem would be. It has a cream border around the top of the bodice but even that has embroidered leaves in the dark aubergine colour. And the train is up under the skirt at the back.

The other items which are ivory shades may be okay to wash? Why can things not go in a delicate cool wash?

How about the bath then?

The delicates cool wash cycle is too long and you're trusting the machine. If you're hand washing and notice the colours start to run you can remove it from what would now look like coloured water with detergent and immediately start rinsing in copious amounts of water stopping any further running and hopefully before any has run into other parts of the fabric.

Marsie

Do you have colour catcher sheets? Have never tried them on such a contrast, but my sister has completely converted me to them.

Get a baby wipe and rub at a bit of the darker trim in a fairly inconspicuous place to see if it loses colour.

Honestly though, if it can't be worn without being clean, you're going to have to bite the bullet somehow.

rosie383

A baby wipe is a good idea to give me a clue. And thanks HappyMJ for clarifying why I shouldn't put it in the machine. My brain is tired and I couldn't figure it out.

busiscoming2

I'd try a cold wash with a colour catcher sheet. What have you got to lose?