Most wedding dresses are made of delicate fabrics like silk or satin, which can be easily stained by spilled food or drink.
If you're unfortunate enough to get a stain on your dress, don't panic!
You can take a few simple steps to remove the stain and restore your dress to its original perfection.
The first step is to identify the type of stain you're dealing with.
You'll want to use a dry-cleaning solvent if it's a grease stain, such as from butter or gravy.
For protein stains, like blood or sweat, use dilute ammonia or vinegar.
If the stain is from wine or another coloured beverage, blot it with club soda before treating it with ammonia or vinegar.
Once you've identified the type of stain, it's time to start treating it.
First, pre-treat the stain with a commercial laundry pre-treatment product.
Be sure to follow the instructions on the packaging, as some products require that you let the pre-treatment sit for a few minutes before laundering.
If the stain is still visible after pre-treating, you may need to treat it with a commercial spot cleaner.
Again, follow the instructions on the packaging carefully, as spot cleaners can sometimes damage delicate fabrics if used improperly.
You can always take your dress to a professional cleaner if all else fails.
They will have the experience and expertise to remove even the most stubborn stains safely.
However, be aware that professional cleaning can be expensive, so it's best to try DIY methods first.
However, with a little patience and elbow grease, you should be able to remove most stains yourself!
Rules For Cleaning A Wedding Dress From Stains
Avoid making the stain even worse by following this golden rule when attempting to remove it.
Despite how tempting it may seem, resist the urge to rub the stain out of your wedding dress.
Instead, if the spill was liquid, wipe the area with a white piece of paper or a cotton towel.
Then, use the tip of a spoon, dull knife, or credit card to scrape any solid residue from the dress's fabric carefully.
The best technique to keep a stain from spreading is to treat it from its perimeter inward.
Before using any cleaning agent, examining a small seam area on the inside of the garment is recommended to ensure that the colour is unchanged and the fabric is not damaged.
If you need to quickly dry the area after removing a stain, a hairdryer can do the trick; be sure to use low heat and hold the dryer at least 6 inches apart from the gown to protect the material, the embellishments, and the beading.
Common Wedding Dress Stains & How To Remove Them
Getting your wedding dress soiled is among the worst possible outcomes for your special day.
You feel a quick dread when you drop a glass of wine or smudge your lipstick.
If you have the proper tools on hand, you should be able to treat and remove just about any blemish or stain.
However, consider bringing along some emergency supplies just in case. In an emergency, you may rely on these everyday items:
Stock Up On Materials For Removing Stains
- Cotton swabs
- Cotton or white paper towels
- Dishwashing liquid that is clear
- Wipes or a pen to remove stains
- Rubbing alcohol, or isopropyl
- Sticky tape
- Metal utensils with dull blades; credit cards
- White or off-white chalk, cornstarch, baking soda, baby powder, and so on.
Pollen
The yellow stuff may be a pain to clean up, whether picked up from the wild or in your flower arrangement.
Get some tape that sticks well, and carefully remove the pollen.
The pollen is already embedded in the fabric, and rubbing won't help.
The stained fabrics of pollen can be disguised by applying a layer of cornstarch, baking soda, baby powder, or chalk.
You can experiment with the powders to find the colour that best compliments your clothing.
Red Wine
When you spill something like that on your dress, particularly something as obvious as red wine, you should take a white towel or handkerchief and dab the stain instead of rubbing it.
You could make the stain worse if you start rubbing it.
The towel or napkin should be dabbed gently and then washed in three parts of warm water to one part of clear dish soap.
White chalk and baby powder can cover up a stain until the stain can be removed completely.
Grease Or Oil
Food is important while making ready for the big day, but watch out for oil and grease stains.
Among the worst offenders are these commonplace foods: french fries, pizza, burgers, olive oil, and salad dressing.
Apply a generous amount of baby powder or cornstarch to the stained area as soon as possible.
Leave the powder for at least fifteen minutes, then brush or blow it off to remove any excess oil.
Take a cotton swab and soak it in isopropyl alcohol (or vodka), then dab the stain from its perimeter inward. Please hang the item up to dry in the fresh air.
Coffee
Coffee, like red wine, should not sit in a puddle for long.
The best method involves blotting it with water and soap, but club soda combined with lemon juice or white vinegar also works very well. If the stain persists despite thorough blotting and drying, try dusting some chalk and powder.
Makeup
Lipstick and mascara, in particular, can be a pain to get out of clothing, so taking preventative measures is key.
First, try covering your face with a silk scarf if you must take your dress off.
Then, use a robe or towel to drape over your dress while you make any last adjustments.
Sticky tape or a hairdryer can be used to get rid of dry powders, and you can use a dull knife to get rid of lip gloss or foundation blobs.
Use baby powder to soak up oily smudges, a stain removal wipe, or some makeup remover on a cotton swab to get rid of colourful stains.
If you want to reduce the stain to a minimum in size, you should continue working from the outside.
Mud
If possible, give the stain some time to dry so the dirt or mud can be swept off before attempting to remove it.
To remove solids quickly, use a dull edge to pull them off, and then blot out as much moisture as possible.
The best way to use a stain removal wipe or pen is to begin scrubbing the outside borders of the stain and work your way in.
Carry on blotting with the white towel to absorb the dirt.
Grass
The best course of action is to ignore the grass stain, which is one of the most difficult to remove at the last minute. Instead, use baby chalk or powder to cover the stain.
Grass stains are most likely to appear towards the hem of your dress, where they won't be as obvious. Also, it could be stretched out of shape if you attempt to take it off yourself.
After the wedding, send the dress to a dry cleaner to get the grass stains cleaned.
Since grass stains are nearly impossible to remove at the last minute, you should probably just leave them alone unless the stain is the main attraction.
Blood
Use the clean white cloth to dab at the fresh blood. Cotton swabs can be used to dab at the stain, and either saliva (which contains enzymes that assist remove the stain) or cool water can be used to dilute the stain and remove it.
After each new swab, transfer the blood.
Baby powder can hide any leftover stain after the fabric has dried from air drying. If the area is damp, the bloodstain can be easily removed.
A cotton swab dampened with chilly water or even a little saliva should do the trick.
Hydrogen peroxide diluted with water can be used from a first aid kit if any remaining colour persists.
Use a cotton swab to dab at the stain until it becomes loose, then rinse with plain water to complete.
Lipstick
Lipstick and gloss may seem like the perfect finishing touch for your wedding day look, but they also happen to be some of the most difficult stains to remove.
It's best to catch them early and treat them right away, just like any other stain.
The first step is to try to remove the stain by wiping it with soap and water.
Lipsticks include a wide variety of substances; thus, removing the stain may be impossible.
But, if you're lucky, it'll be somewhere that flowers or a brooch can hide it.
Deodorant
An underarm stain is usually white, which is excellent news.
The greatest tool for the job would be a pack of baby wipes.
Instead of rubbing, try dabbing at the stain to see whether it comes off. If you have the luxury of time, let it air dry; otherwise, wipe it using a dry towel.
Other Tips & Tricks
There are steps you can take ahead of time to ensure you don't have to clean up any of the messes we just discussed. Some things to keep in mind are:
- Make sure to enquire about the dress's materials from your sales associate. That way, if a stain emergency arises, you'll know exactly what kind of fabric you're dealing with.
- Preserve your dress for the big day by not letting yourself admire it in advance.
- You shouldn't take any drinks or meals into consideration when wearing your wedding attire.
- Keep your robe clean by washing your hands frequently throughout the day.
- Put on your outfit after you've applied your makeup and hair products.
- Cover your face with the silk scarf as you slip into your gown.
MyDressBox is are wedding dress cleaning and preservation specialists servicing all major cities in Australia and New Zealand, including Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart, Gold Coast, Newcastle, Sunshine Coast, Wollongong, Geelong and many more.
Conclusion
Wedding dresses typically use soft fabrics like silk or satin. Anything you drop on them, from food to drink, will likely leave a stain.
You need to take only a few easy actions to save your garment from stain.
Your last resort is to have the dress cleaned by a professional.
The worst thing that could happen on your wedding day is your dress getting dirty.
As long as you have the right supplies, you should be able to treat and remove any flaw or stain.
Just in case, you might want to pack some emergency supplies.
When getting ready for the big day, keep an eye out for oil and grease marks. A stain can be temporarily hidden using white chalk or baby powder.
Water and soapy paper towels are ideal, but club soda mixed with lemon juice or white vinegar will do the trick.
It's best to pretend the grass stain isn't there and hide it with baby powder or chalk.
Then, take the dress to the dry cleaner after the wedding so the grass stains can be removed.
Content Summary
- If you're unfortunate enough to get a stain on your dress, don't panic!
- You can take a few simple steps to remove the stain and restore your dress to its original perfection.
- The first step is to identify the type of stain you're dealing with.
- Once you've identified the type of stain, it's time to start treating it.
- First, pre-treat the stain with a commercial laundry pre-treatment product.
- If the stain is still visible after pre-treating, you may need to treat it with a commercial spot cleaner.
- You can always take your dress to a professional cleaner if all else fails.
- However, with a little patience and elbow grease, you should be able to remove most stains yourself!
- Despite how tempting it may seem, resist the urge to rub the stain out of your wedding dress.
- Instead, if the spill was liquid, wipe the area with a white piece of paper or a cotton towel.
- Then, use the tip of a spoon, dull knife, or credit card to scrape any solid residue from the dress's fabric carefully.
- The best technique to keep a stain from spreading is to treat it from its perimeter inward.
- Before using any cleaning agent, examining a small seam area on the inside of the garment is recommended to ensure that the colour is unchanged and the fabric is not damaged.
- If you need to quickly dry the area after removing a stain, a hairdryer can do the trick; be sure to use low heat and hold the dryer at least 6 inches apart from the gown to protect the material, the embellishments, and the beading.
- Getting your wedding dress soiled is among the worst possible outcomes for your special day.
- If you have the proper tools on hand, you should be able to treat and remove just about any blemish or stain.
- However, consider bringing along some emergency supplies just in case.
- Get some tape that sticks well, and carefully remove the pollen.
- The pollen is already embedded in the fabric, and rubbing won't help.
- When you spill something like that on your dress, particularly something as obvious as red wine, you should take a white towel or handkerchief and dab the stain instead of rubbing it.
- You could make the stain worse if you start rubbing it.
- The towel or napkin should be dabbed gently and then washed in three parts of warm water to one part of clear dish soap.
- White chalk and baby powder can cover up a stain until the stain can be removed completely.
- Grease Or Oil Food is important while making ready for the big day, but watch out for oil and grease stains.
- Apply a generous amount of baby powder or cornstarch to the stained area as soon as possible.
- Please hang the item up to dry in the fresh air.
- Coffee, like red wine, should not sit in a puddle for long.
- The best method involves blotting it with water and soap, but club soda combined with lemon juice or white vinegar also works very well.
- If the stain persists despite thorough blotting and drying, try dusting some chalk and powder.
- Makeup Lipstick and mascara, in particular, can be a pain to get out of clothing, so taking preventative measures is key.
- First, try covering your face with a silk scarf if you must take your dress off.
- Then, use a robe or towel to drape over your dress while you make any last adjustments.
- Sticky tape or a hairdryer can be used to get rid of dry powders, and you can use a dull knife to get rid of lip gloss or foundation blobs.
- Use baby powder to soak up oily smudges, a stain removal wipe, or some makeup remover on a cotton swab to get rid of colourful stains.
- Instead, use baby chalk or powder to cover the stain.
- After the wedding, send the dress to a dry cleaner to get the grass stains cleaned.
- Blood Use the clean white cloth to dab at the fresh blood.
- After each new swab, transfer the blood.
FAQs About Remove Stains
Why Is It So Hard To Remove Stains From A Dress?
A dress will become much more difficult to clean if the stain is left to set for an extended period of time.
But things could get worse if you're in a state of fear and act too hastily.
Should There Be A Care Label On Your Wedding Gown?
Your wedding dress should also come with a care label.
Because natural fibres like silk are porous and absorb liquids, spills on natural fibres leave much more noticeable stains than when they occur on synthetic fibres.
In addition, a dress will become much more difficult to clean if the stain is left to set for an extended period of time.
When Should I Get My Wedding Dress Cleaned?
Time is of importance when it comes to cleaning a wedding dress.
The sooner you have us pick up your wedding dress after the big day, the better we can clean and preserve it as a memento of that special day.
Wedding dress washing should be scheduled in advance if at all possible. If you are taking off on your honeymoon immediately following your wedding, your gown can be picked up from any location.
Assign a trusted friend, family member, or wedding party member to collect the money.
Can I Clean My Wedding Dress?
If your bridal gown has no or only very minor stains, you may be tempted to clean it yourself. But we can't say that we'd ever advise doing that.
You risk ruining your wedding gown if you don't have it cleaned by experts.
Your wedding dress is an important investment, and having it cleaned by a professional is the best way to preserve it so that you and your loved ones can keep wearing it for years.
What Should You Do With Your Wedding Gowns After The Wedding?
The expert also recommends not stroking the cloth to prevent ripping the gown's lining.
Then, have the dress cleaned by an expert as soon as possible after the wedding.
As with other stains, the sooner it is treated, the better the chances of removal. Examples of bodily fluid, food, and other staining materials include blood, sweat, milk, eggs, ammonia, and saliva.