Handwashing- am I missing something?

[Acunningruse]

I have a dress which is dry clean only which I don't really want to get dry cleaned as its a) a faff and b) expensive- £20! The dress is 97% cotton 3% elastane so Google says I am pretty sure handwashing should be ok.

But I am not actually sure how to handwash something . Do you just put the dress in some water (warm? cold?) and swish it about a bit? I am not sure how that would get it clean? I wore the dress this weekend on a hot day so it does rather need freshening up.

Any tips appreciated- I've only ever handwashed pants before!

Have you got a hand wash cycle on your machine?

I do, and I have used this previously for wool jumpers with no problem, I'm just a bit nervous about this as its a £120 dress. I should just get it dry cleaned shouldn't I. Gah.

I would handwash in warm water -ideally with a handwash liquid, rather than powder, then spin on about 900 rpm for a very short time.

Hang on a hanger and dry (outside?)

Your biggest problem might be ironing it, to be honest. I can never get things to look as good as when they are dry-cleaned, although steaming is often good, if you have this function on your iron?

I'm a bit 'meh' about dry-cleaning too - never seems to 'freshen' things?

When you handwash use a handwash liquid or a small amount of washing powder, but make sure powder is properly dissolved. Use warm water. Pay attention to areas like the underarms or anywhere the dress is close fitting to the body. I'd wash it inside out if I were you and give the underarms a gentle rub together with some of the suds and then concentrate on squeezing the water through it. If it's never been cleaned, you may get some excess dye coming out - the colour of the water might make it look as though it was filthy, but don't be alarmed - it's the reason the labels on clothes say things like, 'wash dark colours together'.

Then make sure you rinse it well with fresh water - it can be cold - a couple of times to get any soap residue out. Once you've done that, add some fabric conditioner to clean water (follow the instructions on the bottle for how much to use for handwashing) and give it a good dunk in that. Then squeeze out as much of the water as you can without wringing the dress (might pull it out of shape if you wring it) and give it a spin in your washing machine. Then hang it up to dry.

I would say you should be ok giving it a quick handwash , either in a bowl or on handwash cycle. However, I would say , if you are not prepared to accept it may be ruined, then don't risk it and have it dry cleaned. If you could cope if it ruined, then handwash.

If its cotton it could shrink a little bit, is there room for any shrinkage.

I'd do as wowfudge suggests but, if you want to be super cautious, instead of spinning, I'd press it between two clean towels and then roll them up.

I hand-wash nearly everything that says 'dryclean only', including expensive items. Drycleaning is pricey, v environmentally-unfriendly, and mostly unnecessary. Manufacturers slap 'dryclean only' on anything these days, mostly to cover their own arses. I started hand-washing years ago, and gradually got more confident about not dry-cleaning. Haven't been to a drycleaners for years.

The only things I wouldn't hand-wash are heavily sequinned/beaded things.

This is my method:

1. cold or lukewarm water. Warm or hot water can shrink things. I use liquid detergent for 'delicates', which says on the bottle that it is suitable for hot and cold water, and it gets things perfectly clean and fresh.

1. dissolve a cap of liquid in a bucket of water, swish around. Turn garment inside out. Immerse in water. Let it sit for a few minutes only (don't soak it, though, or you can lose too much colour).

1. gently squeeze water through the garment, lifting it in and out of the bucket to let the water run through. Swoosh it around in the bucket a bit. Do this for a few minutes. It is quite meditative.

1. empty & rinse bucket. Fill with fresh cold water, and fabric softener if you wish. Repeat process.

1. Press (do not wring) excess water out of garment with hands, until it's damp rather than dripping wet. Then take a clean white towel and lay it out on a table. Lay garment flat on towel. Roll towel up and press with both hands to remove excess moisture. Do this a few times (with the same towel!)

1. Lay flat over a drying rack inside, until dry.

I would not risk using a spin cycle or tumble dryer on a special item. If you follow this method, you are unlikely to do any damage to anything that isn't, say, antique fabric or very delicate.

Good luck!

Wowfudge's detailed instructions sound spot on.

However, if it were me, I'd be chucking it in the machine. I ignore all 'dry clean only' labels, and everything has survived... (touch wood). I mean really, a cotton dress that you can't bung in the wash? No matter how nice it is, I don't think I'd ever wear it because I'd be remembering what a pain it is to clean it.

Hope you were successful, OP.

Can you still get those dry clean sheets you put in the dryer?

I cannot remember the last time I actually hand washed anything! I just use the hand wash or delicates programmes on my washing machine with hand wash/delicates washing liquid and I can select the temperature so I either go for 30 or cold, depending on how robust and dirty I think it is.

I often put dry clean only stuff in the wash - depending on what it's made of.