12/2/08
A stain on a wedding dress is one of the most frequent types of wedding emergencies. Fortunately, there are many solutions!
Wedding Dress Stain at the Wedding Reception:
First of all, try to calm down. Most of the pictures have already been taken, and everyone has already seen how beautiful you look. Quickly assess the situation – ask your bridesmaids how noticeable the stain is. Since emergency treatments may make a stain spread or become more noticeable, it may be better to leave it alone. If you must treat it, make sure you use the correct treatment for the type of stain:
Red Wine Stain
First, gently dab at the stain with a clean white cloth. Then poor water or club soda onto the cloth, and dab some more. Whatever you do, do not rub! Keep dabbing with clean parts of the cloth until it seems like most of the stain has come out. Use chalk or talcum powder to disguise anything that doesn’t come out.
Oily Food Stain
Sprinkle talcum powder liberally over the stain on your wedding dress. Wait about ten minutes, then shake the excess off.
Ink Stain
The solution to getting ink out is hair spray, believe it or not! Test the hair spray out on an discreet portion of your wedding dress – perhaps the inside of the hem – before using it on the stain, as hairspray may mark the fabric. Put a cloth behind the fabric, then spray the ink stain lightly. Wait five minutes, then dab gently with a damp cloth.
Lipstick Stain
The best solution is to try to cover the stain with baking soda or talcum powder. You can also try using a solvent such as dry cleaning fluid or cigarette lighter fluid, but be aware that such solvents frequently discolor fabric. Be sure to test it on an unseen portion of the wedding dress first.
Blood Stain
If the blood is still wet, moisten a cotton swab with your own saliva (or the saliva of the person whose blood it is), then gently rub it over the stain. It should come out. If it’s dry, or nearly dry, dab the blood stain gently with very cold water on a white washcloth. Hold the cloth on the spot and see if blood breaks down and comes out. If that doesn’t work, see if there is a first aid kit nearby with hydrogen peroxide, and dilute it (one part to nine parts water). Careful, hydrogen peroxide can bleach fabrics. Use the diluted solution to gently dab at the stain. When it starts to break down, go back to plain cold water. Use chalk or talcum powder to disguise anything that doesn’t come out.
Wedding Dress Stain Before the Wedding:
Immediately take it to a high-quality dry cleaner. If you can’t afford to take it to the cleaners, you can try one of the methods above, but it is highly recommended that you try to scrape together the cash and let the professionals handle it.
http://www.hotweddingguide.com/index.php/2008/11/16/easy-solutions-to-a-stained-wedding-dress/
