cleaning satin

blubirdboutique

blubirdboutique

Registered Guest
Hello,

I came across this pretty sleeveless satin wedding gown (50s I believe). It's a heavy satin, but I don't believe it's silk. It's covered with yellow/rust type stains. I'm wondering if anyone knows if this is worth trying to clean? It's over 80% of the dress so I wasn't sure. It was only $6 so I figured I would buy it since it has a really pretty lace half-shirt that isn't stained so if the dress is a loss, there is always that...

Thoughts?

Thanks!
 

Attachments

  • fr_374_size880.jpg
    fr_374_size880.jpg
    50.3 KB · Views: 383
  • fr_375_size880.jpg
    fr_375_size880.jpg
    35.8 KB · Views: 342
  • fr_376_size880.jpg
    fr_376_size880.jpg
    53.1 KB · Views: 372
Those stains will not, under any treatment, come out. You may lighten them, but I have tried every known cleaner on rayon satin to remove those foxing stains and nothing works. I just washed a dress today that is cotton and has foxing stains - I won't be able to remove them from cotton unless I use bleach, but that will also remove the colour from the embroidery on the dress...
 
I agree with Jonathan. You won't get the foxing out. It's very common with vintage wedding gowns and is caused by poor storage.

My best suggestion is to dye it a colour that will cover the stains but that process will crush the crisp satin. Otherwise you could cover the stains with an embellishment like lace or beading. At least it was cheap. There are a lot of expensive gowns that are likewise afflicted.
 
Thanks! I was thinking maybe of dying it black. It's a sleeveless 50's wedding gown which I don't find... well I actually haven't ever found one! :) Just prom dresses. It has a lace half shirt that goes over it as well that isn't stained so maybe that's worth passing on.
 
Diverting here, but as I have just bought a rayon crepe dress I intended to dye due to colour change, have you ever dyed a coloured rayon before Jonathan? This dress is purple, I was going to try navy first, then black if that still left a variation of colour tone.
 
have tried and not been happy with result... Whatever the package tells you, use twice as much dye, and of course with rayon crepe you can't use hot water or it will shrink. Even cold water can mishapen a 40s rayon crepe.
 
Agree with Jonathan Melanie - rayon crepe will likely shrink and may even rip too when it's wet. Black is the hardest colour to dye and dyeing a garment to even out uneven colour rarely works as the new colour applies evenly (assuming you're doing a good job. If you're not, you might end up with a whole new level of unnevenness.
 
Hmm I was intending to Cold dye it anyway but maybe I'll see if I can get away with just wearing it in semi-lit church concerts...
 
Jonathan said:
Those stains will not, under any treatment, come out. You may lighten them, but I have tried every known cleaner on rayon satin to remove those foxing stains and nothing works. I just washed a dress today that is cotton and has foxing stains - I won't be able to remove them from cotton unless I use bleach, but that will also remove the colour from the embroidery on the dress...
Click to expand...
I've actually had some success applying dilute bleach with a spray bottle to discoloured areas of white cotton without affecting coloured parts of the garment.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top