| You have a closet full of beautiful ballroom dresses | | | | dancing dresses have dark-colored satin bias binding |
| and you want to keep them looking that way. Making | | | | because this can stain the fabric. So you have to be |
| sure that they stay clean and fresh does take some | | | | meticulous in making sure that the binding and the |
| planning. Unlike some items of clothing, you do need to | | | | material do not touch one another while still damp. This |
| take special care of them to ensure that you can still | | | | may look like overkill, but you will be happy you did it. |
| use your ballroom dresses dance after dance. | | | | Now if your ballroom dress is decorated, then your |
| There are a couple of things to take into account | | | | should never wash or even dry clean it. The risk is that |
| when you are thinking about how best to store your | | | | any stones will be scratched and lose their sparkle. |
| ballroom dresses. First of all, you need to make sure | | | | What is more, it's even possible for the glue to |
| that the color stays as true to the original as it is | | | | dissolve. You can, obviously, spot clean with a brush. |
| possible to. Natural light is the enemy in this case. The | | | | So what exactly do you do if you can't wash your |
| best thing to do is to get a dark-colored plastic cover | | | | dress, but you want to freshen it up and possibly |
| which will protect the dress from fading. If you | | | | eliminate the creases? It might be possible to |
| suspend the dress in its cover in a place that has | | | | hand-wash the body suit in its own. In this instance, you |
| plenty of space around it, this will help to reduce | | | | have got to do it with the dress turned inside out and |
| creasing of the garment. Something also to watch out | | | | be mindful to use cold water and mild detergent only. |
| for is mildew. This may grow on your dresses and | | | | Rinse out in cold water and drip dry. If you are not able |
| wreck them if they are kept in a damp spot. So, a dry | | | | to wash the any part of the garment, then you could |
| place is best and also open the cover to let some air | | | | try hanging it in a steamy place, for example, from the |
| circulation. | | | | shower rail. |
| Moving on from how to store our ballroom dance | | | | Washing ballroom dresses is always fraught with |
| dresses, let's now take a look at the best way to care | | | | danger. If your garment is particularly heavy when wet, |
| for them in terms of keeping them clean and | | | | it is probably best to place it over a clothes horse to |
| well-presented. The care instructions supplied by the | | | | give it some extra support and help prevent stretching. |
| manufacturer or your dress-maker are an excellent | | | | On the other hand, if it is not too heavy with water, it |
| place to start. | | | | could be hung over your bath to drip dry. |
| The chances are that if they are practice dancewear | | | | Now let's examine the tricky subject of ironing. If you |
| dresses with no embellishments or trimmings, then they | | | | can avoid it, then you should do so. Again, pay close |
| might be machine-washable and almost certainly | | | | attention to the maker's instructions. Synthetic fabrics |
| hand-washable. In either event, wash in cold water with | | | | are notorious for burning easily, so use a very cool |
| a mild detergent. For competition dancing clothes, again | | | | temperature. |
| if they are not finished with decorations such as | | | | It is always a little worrying when you have invested |
| stones and beads, you can try a hand- or a very cool | | | | time and money into buying ballroom dresses, that you |
| machine-wash - no more than 30 degrees Centigrade | | | | may not be able to look after them properly. However, |
| - to avoid shrinkage. Generally-speaking, it's all right to | | | | if you take note of the care instructions and the advice |
| machine-wash fabrics such as georgette and Lycra, | | | | given in this article, then you stand a good chance of |
| commonly used in ballroom dance dresses. | | | | keeping your ballroom dresses both looking beautiful |
| Pre-wash treatments can be effective for heavy | | | | and very wearable for longer. |
| staining. You have to be especially careful if ballroom | | | | |
