Cleaning THIS wedding dress myself?

[DressDrama]

I'm going to attempt to clean my wedding dress rather than pay ££ for it to be dry cleaned.

This is the dress (Pronovias Tadeo): www.fashioninsuitcases.com/lace-tulle/fit-for-a-bride/

Please note this is not me, however this blogger had the same dress as me and from her up close photos you can see what the dress is like - big skirt, lots and layers and detail on the body.

I know some people have put theirs in the washing machine within a duvet cover for extra protection; some have put in the the bath with Vanish and/or hand wash.

The underneath of it is dirty (sand and the usual black grime from a wedding dancefloor) and under the arms there's very slight yellow marks (sweat and fake tan).

Thanks in advance!

My dress is similar (lots of lace detail, no 'flat' fabric) and I washed it on a 40 degree wash for delicates. Hung it up on a solid hangar to dry and it's perfect.

I wouldn’t put it in a washing machine, gentle hand washing with cold water in a bath sounds better.

Thanks both...one for machine washing and one for hand washing! Anyone else have any suggestions? I should start with hand washing shouldn't I, rather than go straight for the machine incase it damages the body

I washed mine on a delicate cycle with no problems.

I just turned mine I side out and put it on a 40 degree wash.

My dress (heavy, lace, beaded) got utterly trashed on my wedding day. It rained, was muddy, everyone kept standing on the bottom of it. When I got home I took it off and threw it in the washing machine on a 30 degree gentle wash. The stains didn't come out but it wasn't harmed in the slightest.

We have a wedding dress from a charity shop in our dressing up box (zombie bride Halloween costume) and I washed it recently- it was fine.

Because I wasn't worried if it didn't survive, I just bunged it on a normal 40c wash and it was fine.

Go for the machine on a cool delicates cycle- hand washing never gets stuff clean and rinsing is always tricky.

I washed my Pronovias dress in the bath with liquid soap for woollens. Washing it was fine, but trying to wring it out and it dry it was a nightmare. It weighed a tonne when wet so I got as much water off as I could then rolled it up in big bath sheets, to get the excess water off so I could lift it.

I then had to hang it from a high branch in a tree in the garden to dry it and that must have taken a couple of days.

Btw, gorgeous dress OP!

I washed mine in the bath with some baby shampoo then dried it flat on towels. Mine had lots of layers and beading. The worst of the street dust came out easily. This was mine so the bottom seems fairly similar.

www.needleandthread.com/uk/all-wedding/ombre-insert-gown

I washed my heavy lace embroidered dress in the washing machine on a 30 it was fine. I sprayed some vanish stain remover on it before I washed it.

Thanks everyone! I'm tempted to turn it inside out, put it within a duvet cover and wash it on a 30 degree gentle wash, as previous PP said it'll take forever to dry...and there's probably only a limited number of dry days in the UK left (we have a garden and washing line thankfully). I'll report back!

I bought it without even considering making any £ back from it so its not like I'm relying on some return from it. If I ruin some of the detail on the body maybe I can donate it somewhere that'll still make use of the skirt part. You shall be hearing from me with an update next week!