r/irishdance • u/Content-Telephone606 • 21d ago

How do we clean solo dresses

Hey, I just bought my daughter her first ever solo dress. It REALLY needs a clean. How do we clean it.

3 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

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8

u/NorwegianRarePupper 21d ago

Not guaranteeing anything bc I’ve always heard they can’t be washed or dry cleaned, but I had a revoltingly stinky used dress I bought online and it was unusable as it was. Washed the top half in cold water with woolite in the laundry sink, rinsed super well, and then dried it with fans and a dehumidifier after patting out as much as I could on towels. Looked great and smelled like nothing which was a huge improvement, but it was absolutely terrifying.

This was after trying all the usual less invasive stuff: spritz with vodka, turn inside out in the sun, dryer sheets in the pits, natures miracle, another enzyme deodorizer. Try those first.

3

u/Content-Telephone606 21d ago

I heard that too. But it needs a wash. Part of it is white. And it’s definitely NOT white right now.

1

u/endlessotter 20d ago

I use this method in cold water in my tub every few months. I let my daughter’s dress soak for about an hour and stir very gently by hand. The water turned brown the first time and I wanted to gag. The only thing that’s ever happened is one or two small gems came unglued.  Our dress doesn’t have any white on it so I can’t speak to whitening whites, but if it’s sweat causing the discoloration this method might take it out.

6

u/unsulliedbread 21d ago

French clean the inside. French clean is half water half vodka ( the cheaper the better) in a misting sprayer. Spray until damp but not wet and let dry fully and it will take away much of the stink.

2

u/Ginger_Libra 19d ago

☝️ This is how costumers and historical garments are handled.

2

u/Rude-Front-420 18d ago

my mom always used vodka and water in a spray bottle for mine 😅

3

u/Content-Telephone606 18d ago

I want it mostly because I want it to look clean. It doesn’t smell. Just needs to be refreshed

1

u/Rude-Front-420 18d ago

ah yeah no can’t help you there op sorry i let all mine turn yellow inside idk how to not. maybe like stain wipes on the inside? 😫😫

1

u/strwberryk1w1 Retired dancer 21d ago

You could try spot cleaning? Whats the material of the part that used to be white and needs to be cleaned?

1

u/Content-Telephone606 21d ago

I’m not sure the material for the white it’s more of a sturdy material. But the other side is black and like a velvet type material.

1

u/needsomequiet 6h ago

The first dress we ever bought for my daughter smelled TERRIBLE, so I washed it. I filled my bathtub with lukewarm water, added baby safe laundry detergent, then submerged the dress and let it soak for about 30 minutes. After I took it out of the tub, I carefully folded the top half over the skirt, slid it carefully into a large pillow case without any further folding of the dress, tied the end of the pillowcase closed (I also used a rubber band to secure the tie), and put it in my washing machine on the spin cycle to get rid of the excess water. After that, I hung it up and let it air dry. It worked really well and the dress smelled great after that. There were a couple loose stones in the pillowcase that I had to reattach, but that was it.