Should I chance it or dry clean it?

[CaptMicha]

This is a silk crepe column dress. I have no idea what the metallic ribbons are made of. I'm not even sure about the age of the dress. It's couture. It has what I'm ***guessing*** to be coffee stains, due to the hue and the locations. ((Again, how do I get better at identifying stains?))

Q's:
-When they say not to wash silk crepe, do they mean this type too? I thought they meant pleats (crepe) and that 3D design (can't remember term).
-Is this worth dry cleaning instead of messing with it?
-Would you, personally, risk cleaning it with some light moisture?
-Why would vinegar be recommended if coffee is acidic, wouldn't I need an alkaline chemical for a reaction?
-Which era would you say this is from? 60's?
-Please note that the column is off because one side of the skirt has folded over.

And thank you for your help! I really appreciate it.

 

[Circa Vintage Clothing]

Lovely gown! Early '60s I think. Absolutely dry clean, which is a pity because those stains will be hard to budge. They'd be hard to budge any way. There are a number of things that could have caused them: it could be food or drink that was spilled on the bodice, maybe not very noticeable (eg champagne) and over the years the stain oxidises because someone had a good time but put their frock back in the wardrobe without cleaning it.

Options:

• take it to a good dry cleaner (assuming you have one) and ask them for their advice. Note that it's hard for dry cleaners to get old stains out of fifty year old dresses so don't be surprised if they're unable to help.
• just get it dry cleaned and fingers crossed that it improves (unlikely to help).
• cover the marks with some form of embellishment.
• live with them as they are.
• last resort: try laundering and/or soaking, keeping in mind that this may damage the dress.

As to how you get better at identifying and fixing stains? The hard way I'm afraid: experience. But it's much easier when you have them in person rather than seeing photos like this. Many old stains have been there for ages and they change over time so it can be very hard to identify what caused them other than the obvious (underarm = perspiration, bodice front = food, drink, hem = dancing, walking etc).

 

[Jonathan]

I suspect they are white wine stains and they are now brown because the sugars have oxidized. The only thing that will take those out are water but the fabric is unwashable. You could try spot cleaning with a wet wash cloth - dabbing the area and patting dry with a dry wash cloth. Soap won't make much of a difference and you don't want to lighten the area compared to the rest of the dress, so use just water and see if that makes enough of a difference that you could then dry clean the whole dress.

 

[claireshaeffer]

Nicole, by the way, there is a very good dry cleaner in Armidale.

 

[CaptMicha]

I suspect they are white wine stains and they are now brown because the sugars have oxidized. The only thing that will take those out are water but the fabric is unwashable. You could try spot cleaning with a wet wash cloth - dabbing the area and patting dry with a dry wash cloth. Soap won't make much of a difference and you don't want to lighten the area compared to the rest of the dress, so use just water and see if that makes enough of a difference that you could then dry clean the whole dress.

Thanks! I would never have guessed WHITE wine!

I think the lady who wore the lot of clothing that I bought was an alcoholic... They all have these kinds of stains...

I'm worried about water setting stains. I need to come up with some kind of chart for photos of old stains, IDs, what to use, what to do, and what not to do.

I wish there was something out there already like this. Or that I could recreate aged stains for trial and error on articles I don't care about.

I'll look for ugly vintage maybe, or possibly or buy cheap someone's dead stock just for this.

 

[CaptMicha]

Also, I'm in the DC suburbs of Maryland. Also close to Howard County. If anyone knows of a good dry cleaner. Otherwise, I really need to start interviewing.