How can I clean my silk wedding dress?

[lovingpickles]

I can't afford to pay 100 pounds that the dry cleaners have quoted!

The train and bottom of the dress are very grubby. The rest of the dress is not stained but needs freshening up. It has a bone
corset.

Any ideas or experience of doing this?

I have cleaned silk ball dresses in the bath, with ecover delicate washing liquid (not sure of the exact name). It looked fine afterwards.

I have washed both of my silk wedding dresses in the washing machine - they washed fine but all the stiffener has gone from the silk which means that to wear again they would have to be restarched.

One of them was properly dry cleaned first at a cost of £85 (in 1999) - they didn't get any of the marks out of the bottom though I complained a lot - money wasted imo.

I have a silk duvet which is really lovely to sleep under but the manufacturers do say that a silk duvet can't be washed or dry-cleaned (as the chemicals destroy the silk floss) - but am advised to hang it outside on a sunny day to 'purify' the silk floss. Also, Kaffeeg posted a thread asking for advice as she's worried she's ruined her silk dress. No-one has, as yet, been able to offer her any advice. So it does make you wonder whether it's worth trying to clean silk too thoroughly, especially if it has some major stains on it, as silk is just too delicate and luxurious. As the above post mentions you might get it cleaned and the marks don't even come out.

Also, although they are nice to keep (I think I had mine cleaned and put it away somewhere, I've no idea where it is - probably stashed away in my parents attic!!), fingers crossed you aren't going to need it again! I'd save the money.