How to Spot Clean a Wedding Gown

You may have chosen to use the same gown as a family member or purchased your wedding gown from the second-hand market or you may wish to clean your own wedding gown after the wedding. Professional wedding gown cleaning can cost hundreds of dollars, so why not try spot cleaning the soiled areas of your wedding gown to save a little money? If your wedding gown has the most common types of stains, this is an easy process, as long as you have the right tools.

Things You'll Need

• Clear liquid soap
• 2 Spray bottles
• Ironing board
• White cotton rags

Instructions

1. Identify the stain. Most wedding gown stains are caused by dirt, perspiration, food or champagne. Stubborn stains, such as coffee, red wine or blood stains are difficult to spot clean on your own. You can try these methods on those difficult stains, but you may still need to take your wedding gown to a professional cleaner to fully and safely remove the stains.

2. Make your cleaning solution. The liquid soap should be clear with absolutely no color. Colored soaps risk staining your dress further. You can use many types of liquid soap since you will be diluting it with water in one of the spray bottles. You can use laundry detergent, dish washing soap or even shampoo. Make a solution that is roughly one part soap to six parts water. Put the soap in one of the spray bottles, and add a little bit of water. Gently swirl the bottle to combine the soap and water. Add the remaining water and swirl again. Fill the second spray bottle with clean water.

3. Make sure the floor under your ironing board is clean or put a clean sheet down and your ironing board on top if it so your wedding gown doesn't pick up any dirt from the floor. Put your wedding gown on the ironing board as though you were planning to iron it. The stained area of the gown should be on top of the ironing board. Place one or two clean white cotton rags underneath the stained area of your wedding gown.

4. Remove any solid particles before cleaning, if your stain is from food. Spray the stain with your cleaning solution until it is saturated. Gently blot with a clean rag. Change the rag underneath your wedding gown and your blotting rag, if the stain remains. Repeat until the stain is removed.

5. Spray the now-clean stained area with the clean water in your other spray bottle. Put a clean, dry rag underneath your gown and use another clean dry rag to blot remaining moisture from your gown. When you've removed as much water as possible, put another dry rag underneath your wedding gown and allow it to air dry. This may take up to 24 hours.

Tips & Warnings

• Only use clean white cotton rags or you risk transferring dye or dirt to your dress. Cloth diapers work well as clean white cotton rags.

• Stiffened fabric, such as taffeta or organza, may lose its stiffness with this cleaning solution. Consult a professional wedding dress cleaner if your dress has a stain on this type of fabric. Do not scrub the stain. This could damage the fabric or spread the stain.