Steaming A Wedding Gown
Does anyone know how you can either steam or press a wedding gown at home. I have a fear of taking my dress to a cleaner and having it ruined. The cleaners have seemed to damaged too many of my belongings to trust them with my dress. I live in a town where there are only a few cleaners and I don`t think that I would feel comfortable taking it to any of them. I had a problem with my dress a couple of months ago, it got smoke damaged and I washed it myself in the bathtub and it turned out beautilfully, and none of the beading came off. I had such a good experience washing it by hand, that I think if I can I would like to be the one who steams it also to get the wrinkles out.
Posted by Melissa; updated 05/27/03
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You really cant do it with a regular iron, you need one of those professional steam irons which unfortunately only the dry cleaners seem to have! I guess you could arrange a time with your dry cleaners to do it and maybe go there and watch while he/she is doing it to guarantee a better result.
Posted by Hayal; updated 05/30/03
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Do you have a local bridal store? I know that even though I purchased my dress some time ago I took it back to the store where I bought it and they are steaming mine. Hope this helps.
Posted by Kelly; updated 05/31/03
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How did you wash your dress in the bathtub? I bought my dress off the rack and it needs to be cleaned, but I`m afraid to take it to the dry cleaners. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by Carri; updated 06/05/03
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I filled the bathtub up with warm water and used Dreft baby detergent and oxy clean. Make sure the oxyclean is completely diluted first. I put my dress in and let it soak about 20-30 minutes. Some of the spots I just rubbed with my fingers and they came right out. Do not wring it out but just try to gently squeeze out the extra water and hang it up to dry. I put a fan on it overnight and it was dry in the morning. Don`t be afraid if you dress has a long train my is huge and it still came out perfectly. Make sure you turn it inside out. Also you want to make sure you check what kind of fabric it is almost all dress are made of some sort of satin, that`s what mine is and it turned out great and none of the beading came off, you just have to watch how you handle it.. Let me know how it turns out.
Melissa
Posted by Melissa; updated 06/05/03
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The alterations shop where my dress is getting altered and steamed gave me some very helpful advice. I am worried about it wrinkling in the bag after i pick it up from them. The lady told me to simply use an iron (any kind will do) on very low heat. Do NOT directly iron the dress, but lay a white pillowcase over the spots that you want to iron out. She showed me in person, and it turned out great. So on my wedding day i`m going to take an ironing board and iron and right before i get dressed, i`ll touch it up. Hope this helps.
Posted by vannie; updated 07/06/03
