How to wash| Occasion Dresses |Embellished Dresses

Wash care

Always check the garment's care label instructions before starting. Remember that delicate items are usually less soiled than heavier-duty garments and require a minimum of handling during the washing process.

Hand washing may feel foreign to many of us as we are so used to having the use of a washing machine, although it still maybe the case with some people who do not have a washing machine, otherwise  the instructions are still the same.

When it comes to our valued garments, wash care of garments can be can be somewhat confusing but the first place to find out is your local dry cleaner who can advise on your care label washing recommendation.

Dry Cleaning

A rule of the thumb that I use is that your treasured garments should generally be dry cleaned.

When you take an item to the dry cleaner, you need to be specific about your concerns and ask how the cleaner plans to approach cleaning your garment. As an extra precaution get them to test your garment before commencing.

To further calm your doubts, ask your dry cleaner if he has insurance, to cover reimbursement for damage or offers a guarantee. If not, you may later feel uncomfortable asking a small-business owner to re-reimburse £2,000 to replace your ruined expensive garment.

5 Steps | To Hand Washing your Evening Dress

Prepare Your Clothes for Washing

Prior to washing your garment, you will need the following items to wash and dry your garment.

Step 1

The bath is large enough to fit your evening dress or garment. Run a bath of cold/lukewarm water. Add a small amount of non-biological liquid detergent. Stir the water to dissolve the detergent until bubbles can be seen.

Step 2

Submerge the evening dress into water and gently stir it around to loosen any dirt. Hand-wash your garment lightly and do not let it stay in the water for a long period of more than a couple of minutes. Do not twist or wring the embellished garment.

Step 3

Drain the soapy water and refill with clean cold water. Gently stir the evening dress around to remove the soap. Repeat until the dress is free from soap residue. Embellishment can get tangled up with delicate fabric during washing, therefore try not to stir the dress around too much

Step 4

The best method to dry your dress is to air dry it. Zip up the dress and close all the hooks and buttons. Do not place it in direct sunlight because your clothing might fade and the sunlight will decrease the adhesive that your embellishment is attached to. Carefully turn the evening dress inside out and place in shady and breezy area flat on a clothes dryer.

Step 5

Keep your embellished garment in a place in your closet (wardrobe) where it won't rub against other articles of clothing.

It’s best to use a plastic cover over your garment to keep it safe from dust and to protect the embellished stones.

Keep the item separate from the rest of your clothes in order to keep it looking nice.

Spot cleaning Tip

• Soft damp cloth
• Tough stain or oil based then use a laundry detergent
• Gently dab the area with the stain with your soft clean cloth, apply more detergent by rinsing cloth for tougher stains
• Once the stain is removed place the garment on a towel to dry

IRONING an Embellished Dress

About ironing embellished clothing; “NEVER LET THE IRON COME IN DIRECT CONTACT WITH STONES OR THE FABRIC AROUND THEM”.

• Before ironing, you will need to use a piece of cotton fabric that you place between the iron and the garment, to stop overheating and burning the garment denoted by a shiny surface.
• Move the cotton cloth with the iron.
• Keep your iron on medium heat and do not let the fabric or the stones get to hot...It will melt the adhesive and the stone will reposition itself and leave a not fixable glue smear.
• Its best to iron the fabric as directed, but do it a section at a time. You will iron the front and before moving the fabric to iron the next area, let it sit for 5 minutes and cool down. This way you can be assured the glue if it did start to melt won't run or smear when the item is moved. If your embellishments are large do not put the iron on them even with the cotton fabric. You will have to go around them with the iron.

I hope you now have a better understanding how to care for your embellished evening dresses. When you give all the attention it needs, you’ll be rewarded with an investment that last a long time. Make your embellished evening dress worth it!

Summary

Never throw rhinestone embellished clothing in the washing machine, they may or may not survive. 

• Wash them by hand in cold water mild detergent
•  Rinse well
• Don't twist or wring the item.
• After washing place the dress on a clothes dryer and air dry (as illustrated).
• Dry cleaning is not usually recommended for rhinestone embellished clothing. Check with your local dry cleaner some items may be able to be cleaned.