How to Treat Wedding Dress Stains
Removing Food, Wine or Blood from Your Dress
There are several types of unexpected stains you might find on your wedding dress before, during, or after your wedding. Since the stains vary in type there are different ways of treating each one. Keep this list of emergency treatments handy just in case you find yourself with a red wine spill on your wedding gown in the middle of your wedding reception.
- Food: Most food has oil in it, and most oil makes a stain. If some food drops on your dress place a good amount of talcum powder over the spot and wait at least ten minutes, then shake the powder off.
- Red Wine: Find a clean white or very light cloth and dab the red wine stain. If the stain doesn’t come out immediately then do the same thing except add soda water to the cloth. Make sure you dab and not rub, because rubbing could cause the stain to spread.
- Blood: Make sure to treat a bloodstain before it dries. Dampen a cloth with your saliva or water and rub the stain out. If this fails, try the same treatment with hydrogen peroxide. Only use hydrogen peroxide if your dress is white, since this liquid can bleach fabric, causing discoloration. You might want to test this on a part of the dress that isn’t in clear view to ensure that it won’t drastically alter the color.
Prior to your wedding, you should also consult wedding dress vendors for emergency cleaning services. Any bridal shop typically has information available regarding dress cleaning. There are countless wedding planning services at your fingertips to ensure that you won’t get caught unprepared on your big day.
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