hello all! came across a few pieces and need some cleaning help with them. first piece up - believe it is devore velvet but please correct me if i'm wrong. it came as a set, blouse with underdress. some signification markings on the blouse, wondering what can be done to remove them? can this blouse be soaked? can the underdress be soaked as well? also, can anyone place a decade to this set? i was thinking 1920s? thanks so much!
I once had a cream colored devore dress that was stained and super yellowed, it was a silk chiffon with velvet. I felt it was going to sell for $25 as is or I would risk washing it. I did put it into my front load washing machine at the delicate cycle and hung it out to dry. I was lucky it did not fall apart and the stains came out. If I remember correctly I worked on the stains a little by hand before trying to go all the way with the machine. I used eucalan to wash it with. It is definitely a risk as Hollis mentioned above the pile does not remain the same and it could just fall apart depending upon the base fabric. I do remember the velvet pile lost its finish, it had a rougher look to it, not as smooth and shiny as it had once been, but in my case it was better than all stained and yellowed. I did sell it.
You could try dry cleaning, but it's hard on old dresses and you are likely to have pile loss, crushing, and tears.
