A Waste of Lace

Avoiding Dry Cleaning Disasters

I wanted to talk to you about Dry Cleaning special event garments that have lace and sequins.  I have learned the hard way why it's best to consult with the dry cleaner before handing over your prized possession.  When I picked up my red and satin sequined dress just before I was supposed to wear it in a pageant I found that the red sequins were now silver, and all of the color had been striped from them during the dry cleaning process.  The dry cleaner however was "not responsible " for this error and still charged us for the cleaning, which is another topic on poor customer service that I could write about all day.  So, I spent the next two days in between events at the pageant hand sewing back on each red sequin to the dress.  It was a painful lesson learned, that you must always consult with the dry cleaner you are using on their techniques for cleaning sensitive garments and what the least invasive way of cleaning is.  Dry cleaners can hand dip garments that have special detailing on them like faux pearls.  Check with your dry cleaner to see what is best for your dress.

Above is a tulle and lace dress that I let my cousin borrow for New Years Eve.  Bless her heart she went and had it dry cleaned after the party.  Who knows what was on it, but when I unwrapped the dress I found that the lace detailing had pretty much been destroyed.  The dress was salvageable by cutting, with sewing shears, the tiny offshoots that were damaged.  It would have been better if the dress had been hand dipped and washed.  Lesson learned, again.  Do you have any disasters that Dry Cleaners have given back to you?