Tips for Safely Restoring an Aged or Stained Wedding Dress or Gown
Beautiful Wedding Dresses (brief video clips)
Importance of the Wedding Dress
My younger brother recently asked me, "Did your wife ever get kinda crazy while planning the wedding?". Apparently his fiancee is taking her job very seriously and his attitude is that he will "show up" to the wedding and all the other wedding details "don't really matter".
I explained to him that wedding details are very important to women and most women spend quite a bit of time and energy thinking about what they'd like for their big day. It's safe to say that my wife thought of our wedding details well before she even met me!
Now, before I drive the bus over my brother, I should say that he really does care that his wedding looks good and goes smoothly. His attitude isn't as much "I don't care" as it is "I don't care to go through every detail".
Naturally, his fiancee takes the wedding details more seriously.
And there's probably no more important detail to the bride than her wedding dress. But what do you do with a wedding dress that was an heirloom inherited from a relative? There are a few things you can do to restore an old wedding dress to make it clean and restored back to normal.
Common Vintage Wedding Dress Issues
Some issues commonly seen in old wedding dresses are:
- Discoloration (often from white/cream to yellow)
- Compromised fabric integrity
- Missing button/sequins/etc.
- Size of previous owner might differ from size needed with new bride
- Difficult wrinkles or odor
Tips for Dress Restoration
Here are several things to keep in mind when attempting to restore your old wedding gown (should you choose to not have a professional do it for you):
- Metal rusts easily (especially old metal)
- Old fabric should be handled delicately
- Silk and satin are the most difficult material to restore, whereas satin and polyester are easier
- If restoration simply isn't possible, consider other options before scrapping the dress all together
- Sugar stains are virtually impossible to clean up if they have "settled" in a gown
Vintage Wedding Dress Restoration
First and foremost, do not bleach your wedding dress in an attempt to clean or restore it. Bleach will further weaken the strength of the original fabric (no matter what type of fabric it is), will often dissolve plastic buttons or other decorative items on the dress and simply doesn't do the job.
Now that that's out of the way, here is a step-by-step guide on how to restore a wedding dress:
Step 1, Prepare your wedding dress-
Remove everything metal that is a part of the dress. Buttons,clips, hooks and pins might all be metal and should be carefully removed.
Step 2, Prepare bathtub for wedding dress-
Fill an empty, clean bathtub with either lukewarm or cold water (not hot) and a gentle liquid detergent such as Woolite. Also, line the bathtub with a white sheet. Place the dress on the sheet in the water. (This is done so that the wedding dress isn't forcefully pulled in and out of the water, thus stressing the fabric).
Step 3 Carefully clean wedding dress-
Gently lift and lower the sheet that has the wedding dress on it. This is done so that the existing stains are loosed and the entire dress is adequately soaked. If necessary, you can soak your dress up to 24 hours or more.
If there are persistent stains still on the wedding dress, see below for spot removal tips and suggestions.
Step 4, Dry the dress-
Find a way to dry your dress flat. Drying it flat will reduce wrinkles that will need to be ironed out later. Also, some experts suggest using a vinyl rack to minimize the stress done to the fabric.
Step 5, Press/Iron the dress-
Using a clean iron on it's lowest heating setting, begin ironing your wedding gown. Iron the gown one layer at a time. Slowly increase the heat settings of the iron to determine what the dress can handle, but lower the heat immediately if the following occur:
- Iron begins sticking to the fabric of the dress
- Dress becomes discolored during ironing
- You smell or see any evidence of burning
Step 6, Complete finishing touches on dress-
Repair or replace all the metal pieces removed from step 1.
Spot Removal Tips and Suggestions for a Wedding Gown
If there are still stubborn stains left after the above method of cleaning your wedding dress, you still have some options. Here are some spot removal tips and tricks to clean your wedding dress:
First, do not use club soda or something equivalent. Club soda is really just carbonated sugar water and will not adequately spot clean your dress. See the video below for more details on this and other great tips from an expert who was on the Martha Stewart Show.
Some experts suggest using a sudsy spray solution on the affected area and gently brushing it with a toothbrush. Others have had success with using OxyClean on the difficult stain.
You might also have success using a paste of lemon juice and salt. Just be careful to closely monitor your dress using this method. Check every couple minutes and once the stain is gone (or if you notice any compromise in the fabric), rinse the area with lukewarm or cold water immediately.
Wedding Restoration Expert on Martha Stewart
How to Incorporate a Vintage Wedding Dress in the Wedding Ceremony
If your vintage wedding dress is unusable for whatever reason, don't just toss it out! You can still incorporate it in your wedding ceremony and use it as "something old."
Here are some things you can create with an old, unusable wedding dress:
- Ring Pillow
- Bridal cap
- Veil
- Hairpiece
- Garter
Or, you could even display the heirloom dress somewhere at the wedding where everyone will see it, possibly near the guest book.
Before you decide to "recycle" that old gown because you can't clean it yourself, carefully consider an experienced professional who specializes in wedding dress restoration. They are your best bet to have your wedding gown properly cleaned and restored.
In fact, a professional should be your first choice in restoring a wedding dress that has been handed down. So if you choose to use the advice stated here, be sure to use your own discretionary caution!
Additional Wedding Cleaning Tips or Comments
Great tips. I will keep this article in mind. Hope your brother has a great wedding. Cheers.
WC!! This advice is greaaaat. As I may have mentioned, my mom's wedding dress is 27 years old! It's in freakin' fantastic condition, and rather than paying out the nose and ears for some mean old person to handle it roughly and probably bleach the crud out of it, I'd rather take a smack at restoring it myself. I've printed this bad boy out and am going to try it out once my tub is ready. :D
WC! Great hub. I have dealt with quite a few vintage dresses at my tailor shop and this is pretty well the same I suggested to all. The one job that always worried me was the pressing... scarry stuff
Super hub regards Zsuzsy
Ohhh good luck Kat! My wife's wedding dress is just about the same age...she's still not sure what she's going to do with it.
GG, this was just for you :) Hope you get good use out of it. Let us know how it all goes!
Zsuzsy, thanks for chiming in with your expert advice. I am glad the hub hit on the same advice you give to people at your tailor shop!
Hi WC: Great infor here. Thank you for sharing all these.This website have a lot tips, I feel very useful!http://www.tipsonlinetoday.com
Nano, thanks for stopping by. Not sure of the relevance of your link as it has nothing to do with wedding dresses, and your sentence structure is gramatically questionable, but thanks for making the effort.
Great info!! My wedding dress is almost 7 years old, and despite the fact that I am now divorced, I hate to throw it out, or sell it, seeing as my mother and I worked together to make it. Maybe now I can find a way to do something with it. It has been sitting in a trunk all this time.
Thanks for reading Anna, I hope you got some good info.
What were you thinking of doing with the wedding dress?
A lot of people are restoring old wedding dresses. This hub is going to be useful.
BeatsMe I hope you get some use out of it :) Thanks for stopping by.
I am also don't know how to deal with my own wedding dress, it's very beautiful and I love it... Maybe I can sell it in some second hand shop?
Thanks for your info,it's helpful.
i will never ware something like that man .....
my moms dress is 20 years old and its kinda turning yellow will this make it purely white again???
haha @jass
Brittney, it's supposed to do just that! I'd be extra careful with it since it's 20 years old, but it should turn white after you treat it.
WC - will this method work to make an ivory gown, white, even if the original color is ivory? Also, if there is silver threading in the gown, would this cleaning method fade it? Thanks!
Hi Angie,
You're in luck- this method will work just fine on ivory colored dresses! If there is silver threading in the gown that should be fine too, but if you're nervous about it or the thread seems to be overly fragile, go light on the Woolite and/or only allow it to soak for a couple hours. If it needs more cleaning and it did fine with the couple-hour soak, repeat the process :)
Good luck!
Will try this- though I hope it works on a 24 year old dress!
Good luck Cooper!
I am wearing my mother-in-laws 30 year old hand made wedding dress that is slightly discolored. Will the yellow color come out using this cleaning method or would I be better off letting a professional clean it?
Stacie, that sounds like the ideal conditions for this type of wedding dress cleaning method. Start with only a little detergent at first and be sure to be extra gentle since the dress is older.
If it doesn't clear up the discoloration at first, you can always run through the process again using a little more detergent until you get the right mix.
Maybe somebody can help me.I recently have come across a few dresses of sort and they all are abround 40-50 years old.How do I go about finding a estimate on what they are worth?
My Moms dress is over 65 years old and I'm wanting to try this. My daugher wants to wear her grandma's dress. Sweet huh? Hope it works.
Wow.Nice,great and useful piece of info you shared in here.Thanks for bringing this to my knowledge.
I'm hoping to revamp my 20 year old wedding dress for my daughters deb. It is made of raw silk and has some yellow stains. Will this method work well on this dress????
My gown is 45 years old. Married in 1966. I wanted to use it in a fashion show 'Reflections of the Past.' It has a white lace cage overlay a white crinolin liner that has yellowed. The lace is not bad but the crinolin is very yellow. Will this process work on the crinolin liner?
Thank you for the good information. My mother's wedding dress is 71 years old. It is satin, with a long train. It has turned yellow and has some stains, I hope your method works. It sure will be worth the time and effort. Do you think it will work? It is such a beautiful vintage wedding dress.They don't make beautiful dresses like this anymore.
my wedding dress is 50 years old, could it be white again for my Grandaughters wedding dress?
I had my wedding dress and Head gear cut down for my daughter's First Communion. My daughter looked beautiful in it and I was delighted to see the dress used again.
My vintage wedding gown has a bodice of alencon lace that has yellowed. Can this be restored to original ivory?
Hi,
I am a fully qualified beautician from Paris, working with Nu Skin- the worlds fastest growing ANTI – AGEING company in Dorset and Hampshire.
I am offering non invasive face lifts, with a Galvanic machine that targets the source of ageing in our skin, to leave us with smooth, lifted, youthful skin.
If you are interested in trying 1 treatment at £25 (including exfoliation, facial massage and the Galvanic machine) or having a course of 5 treatments at £100, in the comfort of your own home, please email me on chloe.desouche@gmail.com
I would LOVE to help you feeling great in your skin.
Regards, Chloe
My mother's wedding dress is 27 years old this year. I would like to wear it when I get married.However, it is satin and there are spots on it where the fabric has yellowed (from humidity?). How do you clean satin? Any tips would be very much appreciated!
Ive been recently engaged and would like to wear my grandmas dress. She was married in the 40s and the dress has been in a cardboard box in a hope vest ever since. It's in surprisingly good condition and fits me
Perfect. Should I try this on a dress so old?
Beautiful wedding dresses...
The wedding dress I'm going to try and restore was last worn when my grandparents got married 62 years ago!!! Wish me luck!
Kat07 3 years ago
GREAT STUFF! You know, my poor dress has not been cleaned since the wedding 2 1/2 years ago - I may need to dip it in the tub with your methods before it rots away!