Man! Do I have Ba!!$ or what?!! Check this out!

I just came back form the laundromat!!!
I washed my oun wedding gown!
I know you are all going to think I'm nuts.
I just couldn't spend $250 to clean a dress that cost me $350.
I read in 'Bridal Bargans' That you can do it yourself, so I did!
Even the lable in the dress said wash in the tub.

By the way, it came out perfect!!
I was terrified putting it ino the washer but I just did it before I lost my nerve.
I'm so glad it worked out. I would have lost my mind if something happened. I know this is not for everybody,I just wanted to let you know how it went.
I will follow some of the instructions I posed a few days ago about preserving it. I bought a box at Target, the kind they explained.
I'm so pleased.
Phew!

Deb, did you have a lot of beading on it? If so, did any come off? How did you wash it, gentle cycle? hot or cold? Not that I would have the ba!!$ (LOL), but I'm really curious!! Mine is still in a bag hanging in my old room at my mother's awaiting some sort of decision from me!! LOL :)

Posted original post on the brides side as well!



The dress has a good amount of beading across the front and back on top and beads all around the botom. It's plain satin in between.
No beads or crystals came off that I can tell.
I washed it in woolite and pretreated with Shout.
Gentle cycle that was set on the washer. Wanted this to be cold water but it was warm and cold. The tag in my dress said to wash it in the tub in cold water.
You would have to test the beads before doing this.
You soak the beads/pearls in water for 10 minutes and If they don't desintegrate, you can wash it yourself.

what fabric is it? Mine's being cleaned right now,. but I don't think it would've done well in the washing maching.
in the instructions - did they warn against certain fabrics? like silk?

It's satin.
The book said you can wash satin, taffeta, organza, and tulle.
The book also sais the 80% of the dresses brought into resale shops to be consigned in their original, unopened, sealed boxes are found to be dirty.
it warned about some companys that don't clean them at all. I guess they figure you aren't going to open the box for years anyway.
Check out my post about preservation, I copied it off a preservation sight. It tells you what kind of box to store it in and what not to.
Deb

Wow lady! You are brave to take on such a task!
I'm glad it worked out.

But I have to ask - did you get any funny looks while you were in the laundromat???

Nobody looked at me! I thought I might, but there weren't a lot of people there anyway!
I am so glad I did it. Saved $250!!

No, I didn't put it in the dryer.
I hung it to dry.

I did the same thing with my 1st wedding gown (I bought it from a discounter - I was going to use it for my 1st engagement/wedding - 12/92). I was only 20 when I bought it but it got very yellow and dirty looking in storage for so long (the marriage never took place). So I figured nothing ventured, nothing gained. I bought one of those white mesh laundry bags with the drawstring closer. I brought it down to the laundromat, put the dress in the bag, set the machine on gentle cycle with some woolite and the dress came out awesome! No bead loss and it looked/smelled better than any dry cleaner could have produced for the mere cost of $6.00.

Unfortunately, I decided against using it for my 03/00 wedding (It was MANY sizes too big and I was afraid after they hacked half of it away, it wouldn't look the same). I should probably try to sell it or something, but I just don't have the heart, since it's very pretty.