My niece is wondering about washing daughters wedding dress in my front loading machine...its polyester and they want $300 to clean it....anyone done this before :?: :?:

I think I would use the drycleaning stuff you use in your dryer. If not, you will never get it ironed out to look like anything. The cleaning stuff leaves clothes much nicer, almost ready to wear.

How are the seams finished? Polyester frays like crazy, and the seams don't hold well. If you try washing it, I think you might as well just put it in the trash right now, before you even waste your time. I make wedding gowns, never use polyester of any kind. It just doesn't hold up. My DIL had the seams in her gown fall apart during her wedding reception.

Years ago I washed my wedding gown. I filled the bath tub with cool water and added some Woolite to it. Then I put in the gown and gently pushed it under the water. I had a yellow stain (must have been someone spilled a drink on the gown, and I didn't know it) that I wasn't sure would come out. It did. I gently swished the gown in the water. I put the gown on a sturdy hanger and put it on the shower "pipe." I left it there until it dried. It didn't take long. The dress had lace and chiffon, and it came out beautifully -- no wrinkles, frays, etc. Washing it was very similar to washing an old quilt. The object is to be gentle with it and to use a mild detergent. Of course, you need to evaluate the dress you have. If it has a lot of beading, etc. on it, you might not want to do it yourself. My dress had a lot of lace but no sequins or beads.

I don't have the dress anymore. I left it behind (on purpose when I moved out. 8-) I'm sure someone at Salvation Army appreciated getting it. :thumbup:

Thanks for all your replies, good advise..I passed it on to my niece..

I washed my wedding dress 22 years after the wedding (Talk about procrastination) and all I did was to soak it on the machine. I left it shake maybe one minute and then spin. I wanted to take out most of the water. I hung it to dry. When it was dry I put it on a dressform and steamed it to get the wrinkles out. It was as white as the day I wore it. I promise, the rest of my laundry has been done a little more promptly than that.

Well, my niece washed the dress in the bathtub, it came clean except for the hemline that she thinks has grease from the street, not a lot tho....thanks for everyones help...