Layers upon layers of tanning cream. Bronzing powder. Makeup. Deodorant, perfume. And sweat. Lots and lots of sweat. Our costumes, as beautiful and expensive as they may be, go through a lot. And let’s face it – after hours of dancing and fighting for the gold, sometimes our costumes just stink. I don’t know about you, but I definitely want to keep my costumes in tip-top shape. Not only do we dance a lot of competitions, which means my costumes need to survive through a lot, but I also resell my costumes. I feel terrible selling a costume that is not in near-perfect condition. Therefore, I try hard to keep my costumes clean and smelling good. How? I’m glad you asked. Read on to learn about how I wash my ballroom costumes.
How I Wash My Ballroom Costumes
Depending on the costume, I may wash it after every competition. If the costume has fringe, like the one I use for this tutorial, I wash it after every second or third competition. This is important, because fringe can tend to unravel. If the dress is hardy and doesn’t have many fragile components, I can wash it more often. However, if the dress has fringe or feathers, or is just more fragile in general, I wash it less often. Use your best judgment.
Without further ado, let’s get started. First, you’ll need supplies. I’ve included links to the exact products that I use to clean my costumes so you can use the same products! They’re tested by me specifically so I know these products are safe to use on your precious costumes.
List of Supplies
- Liquid Woolite
- Colorsafe Carpet Cleaner
- a towel
- (optional) a plastic bag and rubberband
- rhinestones
- rhinestone applicator
- E6000 rhinestone glue
How I Wash My Ballroom Costumes – Step 1
If your costume has fringe or feathers, you need to keep those dry as much as possible. That’s what the plastic bag and rubberband are for. I collect the fringe as best I can and stuff it gently into the plastic bag. Then I secure it with the rubberband to keep everything in place. This will keep the fringe or feathers from getting wet, which is very important. If the feathers get wet, it can permanently change their appearance, effectively destroying the costume. The fringe often unravels once it’s been wet. And oftentimes, if the feathers have been dyed, for instance to match the color of the fabric, the dyes will run. Trust me on this one and keep the feathers and fringe dry!
How I Wash My Ballroom Costumes – Step 2
If there are any deep tanning stains, like there were on my purple dress, here is where the Resolve Carpet Stain Remover comes in handy. I chose the Resolve brand, and specifically the one I linked to above, because it’s colorsafe and will not cause the dye to lose its vibrancy. Still, if you’re unsure, test by spraying a tiny dot on an unnoticeable section of the costume. Leave it for 30 minutes, then wash it out to check. If the color is still sound, you’re in the clear!
Spray the carpet stain remover on sections of the costume where the staining is really prevalent. Lightly rub it in with your thumb and fingertips. Once you’ve saturated those sections, leave it to soak for 10 minutes or so. Once 10 minutes have passed, run the sections under lukewarm water as you continue to rub the fabric. If the stain has not lifted at least 60%, repeat the process. Once you can see that the stain has faded to about 60-80%, you can move on to the next step.
How I Wash My Ballroom Costumes – Step 3
In a clean sink or bathtub (depending on the size of the costume), pull the stopper and fill with lukewarm water. As the sink is filling, add a full cap of Woolite. Submerge the costume into the sink, but avoid submerging the fringe or feathers. You want to keep those out to the side. Pump the water and Woolite into the costume. Any other stains I might find, I add a bit of Woolite or Resolve to my fingers and rub briskly. If you dance with a dark tan like I do, you will see the water start to turn a murky brown color. I don’t want my dress to sit in that, so I quickly drain the sink and refill again, adding just a dash more Woolite. I repeat this process until the water in the sink is simply a foggy white color. Now, let it sit for 10-20 minutes.
After that time has passed, I again pump the costume with my hands in the sink, working the Woolite and soapy water through the fabric as much as possible. Then I drain the sink. Depending on the depth of the staining in the costume, I may need to refill the sink and let it sit for another 10-20 minutes.
How I Wash My Ballroom Costumes – Step 4
Now it’s time to rinse. I drain the sink and turn the water on to a lukewarm temperature. While running the dress under the faucet, I squeeze and twist and wring various sections of the dress. My goal is for the water to run clear. You will first see the water running out of the dress will have a brown color to it from the tanning. Next you will see the suds and soapiness of the water from the Woolite. Finally, after much rinsing and wringing, the water will run clear. Wring and press the dress in sections to get all of it out. Also, don’t forget the cups. A lot of water and Woolite gets into those cups. Make sure you’ve squeezed as much of the Woolite out of the cups as possible.
Turn off the water and continue to squeeze and wring the dress until you can’t squeeze anymore water out. Again, do this carefully and in sections so you don’t stretch out the dress. Once you can’t really squeeze anymore water, you’re ready for the next step.
How I Wash My Ballroom Costumes – Step 5
Lay out the towel on the floor. Lift the costume out of the sink and spread it out on the towel. You want to allow as little of the fabric of the dress to overlap on itself as possible. Make sure the cups are flat, not bent or folded in any funny way, and spread out the skirt as much as you can. If you are watching a Standard gown, you may need to set a couple of towels side by side on the bottom of the dress so you can fit the skirt.
Starting from the top, fold a section of the towel down over the top of the dress. Once the top of the towel is folded in a straight line, roll that section of the towel down. Continue to do so until the dress is completely rolled up inside the towel. Fold the sides like a burrito, then press down on the dress as much as you can. I’m little, so sometimes I put the towel and dress on the toilet seat and sit on it while I read an article for 5-10 minutes. If there was a lot of fabric on the dress, like for instance one of my Standard gowns, I’ll leave it in the towel for up to 30 minutes.
How I Wash My Ballroom Costumes – Step 6
When it’s time to unroll the dress from the towel, don’t just toss the towel aside. Hang the dress in a place where you know the dress can hang freely and put the towel underneath it to catch any wayward dripping. If the dress is very heavy, I use multiple hangers to pull up and widen out the skirts so there isn’t so much stress on the top of the dress. I wouldn’t want the bust of my dress or the shoulder straps to stretch.
It should take about a day for the dress to dry fully. Keep the room as warm and dry as possible, but DO NOT point a hairdryer at it. Many of our dance fabrics are made from synthetic sources and will melt if dried with a hairdryer. Trust me… I learned that the hard way….
How I Wash My Ballroom Costumes – Step 7
The final stage of washing my costumes is replacing the rhinestones. It’s natural to lose a few during a competition, and of course, any stones where the glue was a bit weak will come off during the washing process. So pour yourself a glass of wine, turn on some music you enjoy, and make yourself comfortable in a spot with good light. It’s time to replace those rhinestones.
E6000 is by far the best glue for rhinestoning costumes. I will write a tutorial about how to rhinestone costumes in the future, but for now just content yourself with this tutorial-in-a-nutshell. E6000 is a tricky glue to get to know. It’s all in the wrist. Squeeze a very tiny dot, about the size of a salmon roe, on the fabric and use a quick little jerk of the hand to pull the glue bottle away. Sometimes you get these spidery strands of glue all around you. It’s annoying, I know.
Don’t place the rhinestone immediately on the glue dot. E6000 adheres best when it’s a little dry. I let the glue set for about 15 seconds. Take your Crystal Katana and very lightly press the waxed end onto the crystal side of the rhinestone. Very carefully carry the rhinestone over the glue dot and place the rhinestone flat-side-down on the glue dot. If your aim wasn’t perfect, it’s ok. Turn the Katana over and use the metal end to reposition the rhinestone where you want it and press it into the glue.
Continue to do this with any remaining missing stones.
Voila! As Good As New!
Your dress should look nearly good as new after this process! It’s a long and drawn out process, true, but our costumes are expensive and deserve our attention.
How about you? Do you have any methods of cleaning your costumes? I’d love to hear about it below!
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