How would someone clean vintage acetate taffeta?

[Pompadour]

I bought this vintage late 50s acetate crazy iridescent taffeta party dress on Ebay last week, there's no current stains on it.
But-- if I wear this out and something happens (sweat, food, etc.) gets on it and I need to wash it, what would be the best approach to cleaning acetate taffeta? I saw older posts on here about a 50s acetate dress having 'the suds being worked through it, rinse in water, do not soak' but I am not sure if that dress was taffeta, it didn't look like it or say anywhere in the post that it was.
If I spot clean this thing I am not sure if acetate taffeta will water stain, or if the acetate will lose its scroop or rustling effect. Does anyone have any advice? I feel that the chemicals in a dry cleaner would just be too harsh on something like this. There's also a (what I think is nylon) netting inside of this. Would that netting soften too?

 

[vivavintageclothing]

I would dry clean it, definitely! Washing acetate taffeta will permanently change its texture, if not ruin it completely. Acetate taffeta is fairly sturdy in my experience--much more likely to survive a modern dry cleaner than silk taffeta would be.

 

[MagsRags]

seconding Amy's opinion. The other issue is that there are probably other fabrics involved in the lining or facing. And different fabrics, even if they don't shrink much, often shrink in different ways. Many of us learned the hard way when linings ended up sticking out underneath a dress, or bodices got bunched up as facings puckered.