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Original poster

Would you dare to wash a wedding dress?

57 replies

CalmDownPacino · 03/02/2019 08:48

So I bought mine. Secondhand from eBay. It's beautiful and originally cost £1300. I paid £50! It's immaculate except the train and longer underskirts are dirty from dragging on the floor. I absolutely cannot afford dry cleaning so I'm debating putting it in the machine on a handwash cycle. Would you dare?!

OP posts:
FannyFifer · 03/02/2019 08:48

Not s chance.

TeddyIsaHe · 03/02/2019 08:49

No way!! How long until the wedding? Can you save up for the dry cleaning?

Alongwaytogo · 03/02/2019 08:49

Nope. I might carefully hand wash it in a bowl. But the machine will wreck it.

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6demandingchildren · 03/02/2019 08:49

Yes I have, I put it in a duvet cover and washed it on a gentle wash and it came out beautifully clean.

Fortheloveofscience · 03/02/2019 08:50

What’s it made from, and is there intricate beading, stitching or sequins? I soaked the bottom of my dress in a bucket of hot vanish to get the worst of the marks out before boxing it up after the wedding.

Maykid · 03/02/2019 08:51

My daughter just washed the dirty train part and it was fine, the bulk of the dress stayed dry though.

Maykid · 03/02/2019 08:51

Ps hand washed obviously.

hidinginthenightgarden · 03/02/2019 08:51

I wouldn't dare. After the wedding maybe, not before!

lanbro · 03/02/2019 08:52

I washed mine in the bath, didn't come out immaculate but was a lot cleaner and still in one piece!

lightlypoached · 03/02/2019 08:55

Yes. I washed mine I bought from ebay / a vintage 1950s and very delicate

Put draft flakes in the bath of tepid water and put the dress in and gently agitated it. Pulled the plug and rinsed the dress with the shower head. Refilled the bath and washed it again.

Then gently squeezed it to get water out and put flat in a towel. Put it out on the rotary washing line lying on the top, not hanging.

It came out perfect.

supergrains · 03/02/2019 08:56

If it's just the train and underskirts, could you remove these (might just need un-hooking or some stitch unpicking) and hand wash these separately?
If not careful wash the areas needed by hand, making sure you keep the outer layer of the dress completely dry to avoid water marks.

DrWhy · 03/02/2019 08:56

We lived overseas, it was a shop sample as so I got it dry cleaned before the wedding, the dry cleaning wrecked all the beading round the top - I ended up bringing it home to my mum who painstakingly matched beads and reembroidered it. After the wedding our amazing cleaner/housekeeer handwashef it for me in the bath - it came up beautifully. So I wouldn’t put it in the machine, I’d handwash it but depending on the fabric it will likely be fine. I’m not sure you’d be able to do just the train without getting a kind of tide mark.

Original poster
CalmDownPacino · 03/02/2019 08:56

Less than six weeks to the wedding and it's a serious budget affair! Less than £1500 for everything.

The bodice has beading and sequins and the rest is tulle skirts with a thicker train skirt thingy underneath. Maybe I could have a go at handwashing the dirty bits then...🤔

OP posts:
Whydididothatfuckingthing · 03/02/2019 08:56

Depends what material it is. 100% silk no way.

I used to work in a dry cleaners many moons ago. Most wedding dresses that came in were washed (in an ordinary washing machine) and hung to dry unless they were silk. They always came out immaculate. What does it say on the label?

Original poster
CalmDownPacino · 03/02/2019 08:57

Oops, X posted with a few of you, sorry!

I knew it was a risky idea I think I just needed to hear people say NO DON'T DO IT YOU IDIOT! Handwashing it is then...I wonder if mum is busy today 😂

OP posts:
Bobbybobbins · 03/02/2019 08:58

I hand washed mine in the bath with a washing liquid for very delicate fabrics and it came out really well. Good luck!

supergrains · 03/02/2019 09:00

Are there any fabric labels on there?
Can you tell us what fabric it is?
Don't wash silk!

I've got a perfectly clean wedding dress worn once in the loft if yours doesn't work out

Original poster
CalmDownPacino · 03/02/2019 09:02

I'll have to look at the labels. I'm not sure what the material is.

OP posts:
banivani · 03/02/2019 09:03

I used to work in a dry cleaner’s and we washed most wedding dresses in water, in a professional wet clean method. Only water can remove stains like champagne and mud. The chemicals added to the water prevented shrinking. You risk the fabric shrinking around beadwork and sequins creating a puckered effect that you won’t be able to press out. You also risk the fabric losing some shine and puckering along the seams. If it’s silk I’d a lid it - silk can take water of course but it can dramatically change the look of the fabric. Is there a label inside the dress with cleaning recs?

wishingforalotterywin · 03/02/2019 09:03

I would test an inconspicuous area before dunking it in the bath. Doesn't some fabric eg silk? get water marks?

Original poster
CalmDownPacino · 03/02/2019 09:04

This is it

Would you dare to wash a wedding dress?
OP posts:
banivani · 03/02/2019 09:04

Lid it = avoid it 🙄

SavoyCabbage · 03/02/2019 09:04

My mums best friend works in a wedding dress shop and they charge £50 for cleaning and then they just go in the washing machine.

Sparklingbrook · 03/02/2019 09:06

Not really much of a clue re the washing but that's a beautiful dress.

wishingforalotterywin · 03/02/2019 09:08

Beautiful. Is that you in it? Great fit if so