A wedding dress at a wedding ceremony should look impeccable. A bride in a snow-white dress and a wedding veil is the height of perfection and elegance. But even the most careful girl finds it difficult not to stain her dress, especially if the celebration takes place outdoors - in the mountains, on the beach. After the celebration, the dress often needs to be returned to its original appearance, so dry cleaning of a wedding dress in a specialized service or at home is a must. Experts recommend not to delay cleaning the fabric if there are stains on the canvas - fresh stains are easier to remove.
In what cases is it necessary?
Every girl at least once imagined herself as a bride dressed in an elegant wedding dress. Dreams come true, but reality requires you to behave very carefully at a wedding so as not to stain your outfit. Dust and dirt may remain on the hem, it is easy to “plant” stains from drinks, candles, and a wedding cake on the fabric. Professional dry cleaning allows you to easily clean your outfit and restore it, since not all types of stains can be removed by classic washing at home. When you need to contact a specialized service:
- If the dress is rented, the condition of the outfit will be carefully checked upon return. Self-cleaning may not cope with all types of dirt.
- Wine, grease, candles, and champagne stains are very difficult to remove from some fabrics. In this case, it is worth entrusting the matter to professionals.
- Dry cleaning in a specialized service is necessary to clean a dress made of delicate material. The masters use gentle compositions intended for different materials.
- Dry cleaners will clean clothes made of different fabrics, regardless of the trim and complexity of the drapery. When the item is handed over to the dry cleaner, the craftsmen will rewrite all the decorations.
- If the bride plans to sell the dress after the wedding, it needs to be returned to its impeccable appearance. Buyers will be meticulous in examining the condition of the dress.
In modern services, dirt on complex fabrics is removed in two most effective ways - dry cleaning or aqua-cleaning. In the first case, the material of the wedding dress is treated with special non-aggressive solvents that effectively cope with different types of dirt. High-quality products do not spoil the structure and color of the material, after treatment, the items do not cause allergies, do not emit a specific odor. If the composition of the fabric does not allow the use of solvents, the bride will be offered an aqua-cleaning option using water and detergents. After treatment, the items are ironed and steamed, returning the original beauty to the wedding dresses.
During the wedding ceremony, damage to the dress, decorations, lace trim is possible. To restore the appearance of the product, it is worth contacting a dry cleaner with additional restoration services - the craftsmen will sew on frills, check the condition of the seams, replace broken zippers, restore the decor (rhinestones, stones, sequins).
Is it possible to clean a dress at home?
Before going to a professional dry cleaner, you should check the price list - the services of professionals are not cheap, but your wedding dress is guaranteed to be in good condition. Simple dirt and fresh stains can be removed independently using gentle detergents. At home, you can clean the item from dust on the hem, sweat stains, traces of drinks and grease. If the bride used long-lasting perfume, hand washing with soapy water will help remove the scent of perfume. To independently clean a wedding dress from simple dirt, you can use a soap solution and steam:
- You need to prepare warm soapy water, an old toothbrush, and a liquid non-aggressive detergent.
- The soiled hem or other part of the item is soaked in a basin for a couple of hours – but only the soiled part.
- If the contaminated material is not cleaned after soaking, apply a gentle cleaning agent to the toothbrush.
- Carefully brush the entire hem; do not rub the fabric vigorously to avoid tearing the dress.
- The lining and the bodice are treated in the same way on the inside – stains and the smell of sweat could remain on it.
- The areas where the soap solution was applied are rinsed in clean warm water two or three times.
After hand washing, the item should be carefully examined. If there are stains left on the dress, they are removed with a stain remover. After finishing the treatment, the item is completely rinsed in warm water, it is advisable to repeat the procedure several times. The item should be dried on a horizontal surface so that the material does not stretch. When the water drains and the fabric becomes damp, the outfit is hung on a hanger or a mannequin. The dress should be ironed with a warm iron, if possible from the inside out.
To remove grease, wine, champagne stains from a wedding dress, you can use gentle stain removers. They should not contain bleaches, acids, alkalis or other aggressive reagents. You can clean stains with stain-removing wipes, sprays, liquids. Chemical agents absorb grease, oil, coffee, berries, drinks and gently affect the fabric.
When hand washing, you can use a concentrated salt solution (removes stains and sweat odor), hot soapy water (removes wine stains), ammonia with laundry soap (removes grass stains). To wash a dress by hand, choose washing powders for delicate fabrics.
How not to ruin the fabric
It is recommended to take your wedding dress to a dry cleaner if the dress was rented or the bride wants to sell the item. The service's experts first conduct an examination of the fabric to select the optimal composition of solvents or cleaning agents for a particular material. In addition to dry cleaning of a wedding dress, a professional service can offer restoration of the outfit. When cleaning an item at home, you need to follow the advice of the experts:
- Fresh and old stains are removed with delicate stain removers. Before using any product, you should carefully read the manufacturer's instructions and composition. The stain remover should not contain aggressive components; the packaging may indicate restrictions for different types of fabrics.
- It is forbidden to use bleaches with chlorine. Traces of the product will be invisible on white fabric, but when applying a chlorine composition to colored or dark dresses, a discolored stain will remain on the material. Even compositions that do not contain chlorine should be tested on an inconspicuous area beforehand. To ensure that the fabric is not damaged, it is better to use a stain remover.
- You can use improvised means - solutions of ammonia, salt, laundry soap. The fabric does not need to be rubbed with your hands in the classic way - it is better to use a toothbrush so as not to tear or wrinkle the item. Complex areas decorated with beads, rhinestones, sequins, stones are washed very carefully.
- It is recommended to wash a wedding dress by hand. But things without puffy skirts, complex drapery, a large number of decorations can be washed in a machine in a delicate mode at a temperature of +30 ° C. The spin mode cannot be used, the compartment is filled with liquid and colorless powders. Before placing the dress in the drum, it must be placed in a clean fabric cover.
- You must not wring out the item after washing in any way. If the dress has a corset, washing it in the machine will irreparably damage it. Dry the outfit on a flat horizontal surface until most of the water has drained. Then hang the item on a hanger and carefully straighten out all the folds. Do not dry the item in the sun, near radiators or heating devices.
- To iron the item thoroughly, lay the dress on a clean ironing board surface, laying a light sheet. Clean the sole of the iron and turn it on to a low setting. Iron satin fabric only from the inside out, lace clothing through gauze, clean fabric, tulle and chiffon with steam in a vertical position or use a steamer.
Cleaning a wedding dress is a delicate task that cannot always be done at home.
The dress should be cleaned carefully, using non-aggressive compounds and products. Dry and iron the dress correctly and carefully so that the fabric does not stretch. You can use stain removers to remove stains - these products effectively remove fresh dirt. It is very important not to put off dry cleaning the dress for a long time - stains and dirt are easier to remove immediately and return the beauty, freshness and cleanliness to the wedding dress.
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