Fabric

How to Wash Chiffon Bridesmaid Dresses

May 22, 2024 / Post by Emma Johnson in

It takes patience to wash a chiffon bridesmaid dress, especially when there is an oil stain. For quick treatment, you can place a piece of napkin under the stained part, apply some baby powder, and wait for at least 15 minutes. Then rub it with a soft brush. When the oil stain disappears, clean the part with water.

Oil is not the only stain you might encounter at a wedding. The following article is going to show you more kinds of stains and the treatment methods, including the correct way to make their service life longer.

What Should You Avoid When Washing Chiffon Bridesmaid Dresses?

Chiffon is a bit rough to the touch because of small wrinkles on the surface. It is usually mass-used in the wedding ceremony. Except for the bridal veils and decorative ribbons, chiffon also applies to delicate bridesmaid dresses.

Do not use detergent with bleach.
Do not wash light and dark colors together.
Do not expose chiffon dresses to the sunshine.
Do not hang chiffon dresses for a long time.
Do not use the dryer to dry the chiffon dresses.

What Tools You May Need to Prepare For Washing?

Basin: The size should be based on your dress. It’s better to choose a bigger one.

Towel: Two clean and absorbent towels

Baby Powder: It is used to absorb the oil stain. You can replace it with baking soda powder.

Soft Brush: A new toothbrush can be an alternative to it.

Detergent: Make sure it is gentle and contains no bleach.

Stain Remover: Spray it only on the stained part.

Hanger: It can be used for both drying and storing.

Laundry Bag: One dress one bag.

Steam Iron: The ironing temperature for chiffon made of synthetic fibers is 120℃ to 130℃, and for silk chiffon is 130℃ to 140℃.

How to Quickly Deal with Stains at the Wedding

Makeup Stains

The stains caused by makeup are common. During the process of dressing and undressing, the dress easily touches the skin, thus leaving makeup stains. But don't worry, the makeup stains are almost invisible. You can continue to finish your bridesmaid duty relaxingly.

Wedding Cake

Your bridesmaid dress may be intentionally or unintentionally stained by the wedding cake due to different traditions. Luckily, most cakes are easily cleaned with soda water.

Champagne and Wine

When socializing with other guests, champagne and wine are needed. Holding the wine in their hands, people walk around the sites to greet and talk. But when there are too many people, your bridesmaid dress might be unfortunately stained by the liquid. Keep calm. You can absorb the stains with wet napkins, which can minimize the impact. Remember not to wipe the stain, otherwise it may spread.

Coffee and Tea

To help the bride, sometimes you need to give her some coffee or tea. If they are splashed on your dress, wipe the stains with soda water.

Grass

If the stain caused by grass is not obvious, just leave it alone. The grass stain is difficult to remove and you can only try to hide it. Apply some baby powder for a temporary solution. After the wedding, go to the laundry to ask for professional help.

How to Wash Chiffon Bridesmaid Dresses?

Hand-washing Chiffon Bridesmaid Dresses

The differences in raw materials decide the washing method for chiffon bridesmaid dresses. So before washing, please check the care label to confirm the type of the chiffon.

If the fabric is silk chiffon made of natural fibers, you’d better go to professional laundry. If your bridesmaid dress is made of polyester or other synthetic fibers, you can choose to wash it at home by hands.

Clean off the Stains

Attending a wedding ceremony is exciting, especially when you are a bridesmaid. However, as the closest person to accompany and assist the bride during the wedding, your bridesmaid dress will inevitably get stained. Therefore, you need to check the dress and remove obvious stains before washing.

Inconspicuous stains are usually ignored by some people. However, the remaining stains may affect the fabric as time goes by. Food stains fade the fabric and attract insects. The sugar stains caused by soda or alcoholic drinks turn brown after drying and are hard to remove. And the sweat stains degenerate the fabrics and make the dress yellow.

Put an absorbent towel or tissue paper under the stained part of your chiffon bridesmaid dress. Apply stain removers on the stains and scrub gently with a soft brush.

Wash the Dress

Normally, the hem of the long dress is more easily stained, particularly when your dress is long to mop the floor.

To wash the dress, the first step is to fill up the bathtub or basin with enough water. Make sure the water temperature is under 30°C. Add mild and sufficient detergent without bleach and mix it well with water. Put the chiffon bridesmaid dress into the bathtub or basin. The hem must be drowned totally in the water. （Wash light color and dark color separately to prevent color exchange）

Soak the dress for 30 minutes. Then scrub the dress with your hands softly, do not wring or twist intensely.

Rinse the Dress

After cleaning all the stains, pour out the dirty water. Then fill up the bathtub or basin with water and scrub the dress again to remove the detergents.

There is a useful way to judge whether the detergents are cleared. Stir the water with your finger for several seconds, if the foam disappears within 30 seconds, it means that there are almost no detergents remaining on the dress.

Machine Washing Chiffon (If Applicable)

Still remember the raw material of your chiffon dress? Machine washing is not applicable to every chiffon dress. So before throwing your dress into the washing machine, make sure that it is able to be machine washed.

Fold your chiffon bridesmaid dress neatly and then put it into a laundry bag. Add a suitable amount of detergents according to the instructions and turn on the gentle mode to wash your dress.

Drying and Ironing Chiffon

Do not twist vigorously to dry your chiffon bridesmaid dress.

Prepare two clean towels. Put the wet chiffon dress on one towel and put another towel on the top. Squeeze the water out slowly.

After the first step of drying, hang the chiffon dress in a ventilated place. To avoid reducing service life and fading, chiffon dresses should refrain from exposure to the sun. Using a dryer is also not recommended for it may cause the fabric to shrink.

If you want to remove the wrinkles on the chiffon bridesmaid dress, a steamer or iron on a low heat setting is effective.

Professional Care

If your chiffon bridesmaid dress is designed intricately, for instance, when there are complicated and fragile embroideries on the surface, you’d better consult a professional expert on cleaning chiffon.

A good chiffon dress deserves your care. You can find the chiffon cleaning expert by asking your friends or searching on the internet.

Storage and Preservation

Chiffon can be hung or folded to store. But the same requirements are that you need to put chiffon dresses into a bag and place them in a ventilated corner without sunshine.

However, because of gravity, hanging a chiffon dress for a long time will cause the dress to deform. It is better to choose thick hangers and add pads to them.

The lightweight allows chiffon to be folded into small ones, but it doesn’t mean that you can grab a chiffon dress roughly and bag it messily.

Conclusion

As a high-quality fabric for spring and summer bridesmaid fabric, chiffon is light and quick drying, suitable for frequent washing on hot days. If you don’t want your chiffon dress to be worn only once, learning how to maintain it will be necessary.

Remember to check the care label to choose washing by hand or machine or just send the dress to the laundry. After removing the stains, use a mild detergent (no bleach) to dissolve in water and scrub the dress gently. Dry the dress in a ventilated place without sunshine after cleaning the detergents. In the end, fold the chiffon bridesmaid dress and bag it to store. If this guide is helpful to you, leave a comment to share your experience!