Practical Ways To Take The Best Care Of Those Ballroom Dresses
Aug 12, 2010
When you wear your ballroom dresses time after time, you may think that it is inevitable that they are going to start to look less than their best, so that you can no longer wear them to the most important events. You may be surprised to learn that your dresses can indeed maintained to a very high standard. With a little care and thought, they can still look fresh and serve you well for years to come.
Firstly, your ballroom dresses must be hung in a dry place with a good amount of room around them to stop creasing. Preferably they should each have a protective plastic cover. A dark-colored cover is more effective than a transparent one as this will help put a stop to the fabric fading from exposure to the sunlight. Just to be certain, keep them away from direct sunlight as well. Leaving the cover’s zip open allows the dress to keep aired, helping to make certain that the dress does not grow to be damp and mildew to develop.
When it comes to ballroom dancing dresses care, it goes without saying that you should check out and follow any instructions provided with the dress.
The chances are that if it’s practice dancewear with no embellishments or trimmings, then it might be machine-washable and almost certainly hand-washable. In either event, wash in cold water with a mild detergent. All colored clothes should be washed in a diifferent load from whites and lighter-colored ones, otherwise the color can run and spoil them. For competition dancing clothes, again if they are not finished with decorations such as stones and beads, you can try hand or a very cool machine wash – no more than 30 degrees Centigrade – to avoid shrinkage. Generally-speaking, it’s all right to machine-wash fabrics such as georgette and Lycra, commonly used in ballroom dance dresses.
Pre-wash treatments can be good for heavy spots. You have to be specifically cautious if the dress has dark-colored satin bias binding as this can mark the fabric. So you have to be careful in ensuring that the binding and the textile do not come into contact with each other while still damp. This could sound like too much, but you will be relieved you did it.
Now if your ballroom dresses are decorated, then you should never launder or even dry clean them. The danger is that any stones will be harmed and lose their sparkle. What is more, it’s even possible for the glue to dissolve. You may, needless to say, spot clean with a brush.
So just what do you do if you cannot wash your ballroom dresses, but you would like to freshen them up and perhaps eliminate the wrinkles? It may well be feasible to hand-wash a body suit only. In this case, you have got to do it with the dress turned inside out and be especially careful to use cold water and mild cleaning soap only. Always rinse in cold water and drip dry. If you can’t wash the any part of the dress, then you could have a shot at hanging it in a steamy place, for instance from the shower rail.
Washing ballroom dresses is always fraught with danger. If your garment is particularly heavy when wet, it is probably best to place it over a clothes horse to give it some extra support and help prevent stretching. On the other hand, it could be hung over your bath to drip dry.
Now let’s examine the tricky subject of ironing. If you can avoid it, then you should do so. Again, pay close attention to the maker’s instructions. Synthetic fabrics are notorious for burning easily, so use a very cool temperature. Do not even think about ironing stretchy fabrics.
It is always a little worrying when you have invested time and money into buying ballroom dresses, that you may not be able to look after them properly. However, if you take note of the care instructions and the advice given in this article, then you stand a good chance of keeping them looking beautiful for longer.