Thread: Costume cleaning help

Hi ladies, I'm sure this has been covered before but when i do a search the page freezes blank. Any suggestions on cleaning a lycra skirt/bra combo? I do have a few yellowy stains I'd like to get out but a little nervous about how to proceed. I'm thinking I may want to clean the whole thing rather than just a spot cleaning.

Has anyone had successes/failures with dry cleaning?
Do you hand wash them yourself?

Do not take it to a dry cleaner. Hand wash it yourself. I fill my kitchen sink with luke warm water and put a little gentle cleanser like Woolite in it. Then soak the costume for a short while and swish it a bit in the water. If you've got a couple of spots to remove, pay particular attention to that area.

Then drain and rinse with luke warm water. When it's all washed, I lay mine out on a big towel and roll it all up into a log and gently squeeze to get the water out. Then lay out flat to dry.

I also have machine washed a couple of my lycra costumes. With that method, I put the major pieces into seperate pillow cases and tie them off so there isn't alot of extra room in the case. Then use the gentle or hand wash setting on your machine. Oh and, turn your lycra skirt inside out before putting into the pillowcase.

Thank you SO much. I actually got a costume washing bag from my Secret Habibi Fairy Godmother so I could us that as well.

If you spot clean you might lose a bit of fabric color, it could appear a bit faded. I have a plastic bucket I have reserved for washing costumes and beaded clothing. I fill it about 2/3s full of lukewarm water, add a few drops of shampoo, add the garment and swish for :15 or so. I use several buckets of water for rinsing. Fluffy towels to remove excess water. Hang costumes or use drying racks. Hanging a heavy wet costume often causes it to stretch. I own several drying racks and several sweater racks to place over the tub.

Thanks! All great info. I get so nervous with these things.

Whatever you do, don't take it to the dry cleaner's!

I blogged about this awhile back. Here are some tips that helped me restore my grungy white Pharaonics back to sparkling condition:

Coming Clean: How to Bathe Your Belly Dance Costumes | Carrara Nour

I've dry cleaned a pharaonics and it turned out just fine....

ooo thanks Satin! I'm going to try following it and see what happens.

The combo of Oxy-Clean spot treatmet and a Woolite bath worked great for me! Just make sure not to get the Oxy-Clean anywhere near any sequins, or otherwise do a patch test first - they might come out fine, or they could get destroyed! (Holographic sequins tend to be especially delicate).