Lolita washing?

[Anonymous No.8334346]

I noticed an egl post about washing lolita clothes in the washer. Personally I've never washed any of my brand in the washing machine, but dry cleaning is expensive. If I could wash my dresses in the washer it'd save me a lot of money! Only issue I have is that I have the same washing machine as that girl and I'm not sure which cycle to put it on since there's no delicate cycle. Advice? Cottons or Casual, light or heavy? I've already checked lingerie bags, cold water, no dryer/hang dry, check instruction tags, etc. All I need to know is the cycle. Thanks!

[Anonymous No.8334406]

Cold water, probably would use cottons on light.

[Anonymous No.8334414]

>>8334346

You can pretty much wash anything on cold water, gentle, and air dry.

[Anonymous No.8334425]

>>8334414
Or you could git gud and learn how to hand wash. It's really not that hard.

Also, drying by iron is perfectly okay.

[Anonymous No.8334514]

>>8334346
Things to do:
- Use cold water
- go light on the detergent
- use the delicates cycle
- if it's delicate place it in a lingerie bag
- don't mix thin tights with things that can catch on tights
- if you're washing a print, handwash a small area of it first to make sure the print won't run
- don't mix colours
- hang it to dry, unless it's a knit or something which could be stretched out, in which case lie it flat on a drying rack
- check the type of fabric, many don't wash well (some types of chiffon, "cotton suede" found in some classic pieces)

That's all I can think of right now. For your typical cotton piece, just washing it on the delicates cycle in cold water with a bit of detergent and hanging it to dry should be enough.

[Anonymous No.8334522]

Have any of you gulls washed Milky Berry in pink before? I know I shouldn't be so hesitant about it, but all that red is intimidating.

[Anonymous No.8334542]

Does anyone have suggestions for a good gentle detergent? I was thinking about using my normal purex but then I thought about investing in a special detergent just for my brand.

[Anonymous No.8334544]

>>8334425
>drying by iron

that's a horrible idea.

[Anonymous No.8334567]

Would it be a good idea to invest in a steamer? Any suggestions for something that won't break the bank but gets the job done?

[Anonymous No.8334586]

>>8334425
>>8334514
>>8334414
OP here. I specifically mentioned I DO NOT HAVE A GENTLE/DELICATE CYCLE! The only two cycles I have are Cottons and Casuals! (And dark color, but the dresses I'm washing are all solid pink). Which would I use? Cottons or Casual cycle??

[Anonymous No.8334594]

>>8334586
I'd say casuals light, I guess?

[Anonymous No.8334596]

>>8334586
Maybe you should look up the difference? We don't own your washing machine so we have no idea what it does when it washes. From the very little info I have to go on, it looks like the only difference is that cottons is "regular" and casuals is "pulsed" but I'm not 100% certain what it means.

[Anonymous No.8334598]

>>8334542
Woolite Delicate Care (they have one for dark colors and one for light colors). The cheapest place to buy it is Walmart. For $4 you get 8 washes for the light colored one. I've used it to wash chiffon underskirts.

>>8334567
I just bought a steamer! Conair makes cheap ones. A lot of websites (Like Walmart, Target) have an online price that's cheaper than in-store. The steamer I have is "Conair Garment Steamer". Walmart's website had it for like $25 but when I rung it up it was $38! So from then on I decided only to buy this shit online, and only if shipping is inclusive (which means you usually have to buy a certain amount).

The steam I have is portable and you can use tap water to fill it up. It charges by outlet and lasts for about 15 minutes of continuous steaming. There's two settings: Low and High and it comes with 3 brush heads (but personally I don't use any of them, regardless of if I'm steaming cotton or chiffon). It takes less than a 1 minute to heat up and it's AMAZING! I can't say anything bad about it, especially for the price!

Since I got my steamer, I'm no longer wasting time on ironing my dresses. Now the only thing I ever iron is my waist ties, since irons are for pressing (even though some have steam functions).

>>8334425
>>8334544
That's like saying flat ironing your hair when wet is a perfecr way to dry it... I would just think either would destroy it.

[Anonymous No.8334599]

When in doubt, try washing the waist ties and see if they live. if they do, then you're dress should be fine.

[Anonymous No.8334607]

>>8334596
Good idea! Thank you. I feel like a fucking retard. My model number is gcwp1000m0ww. I've never had a washing machine that had a "casual" setting before.

[Anonymous No.8334612]

>>8334598
Thanks for the steamer hype anon, that sounds excellent! I will probably see if they can do that price match stuff they are so famous for. I'm pretty pumped now.

[Anonymous No.8334622]

>>8334522
This! I have it in white. I would not like to turn it splotchy pink.
This dress is too intimidating.

[Anonymous No.8334624]

Not OP but just a clarification: Doesn't the Heavy, Light, Rinse & Soak, Drain & Spin for each cycle mean what part the cycle is going through? As in if you start on Heavy, it'll go through the other 3 settings in order?

[Anonymous No.8334634]

>>8334612
http://www.target.com/p/conair-extreme-steam-fabric-steamer-with-dual-heat/-/A-13773985
It's actually called Conair Extreme Steam Fabric Steamer

Glad I could help though!

At Walmart I had to talk to a superviser because this clerk kept making up exceptions to the price match. The general rules are that whatever listing you find online (It MUST be local, as in within the city of whatever Walmart you're at). They accept smartphone listings but the listing must mention the location of whatever "store" you have selected. With all the BS I had to go through I would have just gone online and purchased it. But it's a wonderful steamer, and my very first!

[Anonymous No.8334641]

>>8334522
I used to own this dress. I took a tide bleach pen to it and that was the most "cleaning" I ever did with it. It's such a cute dress but I never washed it because of the possibility of red dye leaking everywhere. With the tide bleach pen, the color got kind of distorted in the small spots I used it at.

[Anonymous No.8334654]

>>8334634
http://www.amazon.com/Conair-Extreme-Steam-Fabric-Steamer/dp/B006CR9KGA
I think I found it! Thanks again. I have Prime so I might as well not risk a high in store price.

[Anonymous No.8334657]

>>8334586
Why would you even consider using a 'casuals' cycle on brand dresses? Your only option is the light cottons cycle, which still requires stuffing them into a washing machine. Just hand wash them, it's not hard to do. If you absolutely must use the machine, at least wash each dress separately, for the love of god.

>>8334542
It's considered more of a laundry booster than a detergent, but borax works really well for lifting light stains and freshening up in general.

[Anonymous No.8334665]

>>8334657
Or alternately, maybe the casuals setting is actually gentler then the cotton setting? I have no idea. >>8334596 is the smart one.

[Anonymous No.8334671]

Does anyone just wash the under arm areas of a dress? I love wearing lolita but I don't want to wash these expensive clothes all the time only to have them look worn out and faded.

I've been considering doing this for awhile but I don't know if it's a stupid idea.

>of course I would wash an entire piece if it got really dirty, but I mostly have a problem with sweat smells

[Anonymous No.8334676]

>>8334641
Well... good thing I own the JSK so it never actually touches my skin. Looks like this dress will never meet water in its lifetime.

[Anonymous No.8334689]

>>8334671
I do something similar, anon.
I'll gently handwash anything I buy secondhand just to get out the previous owner's gunk, and from then on I just wear it with a cotton shirt underneath to soak up all my bodily fluids. (Yum!) So in reality, none of the expensive stuff actually comes into contact with my sweat/oil. When I get home and undressed I give my dresses a once-over for any stains from the day, and spot clean if there are any.

[Anonymous No.8334691]

It is bad I don't wash my dresses? I'm super careful with my stuff so they've never gotten anything on them and they usually aren't directly on my skin due to a blouse or petti blocking the interaction. I would probably just end up febreezing it before selling my stuff so that it's fresh.

[Anonymous No.8334698]

>>8334346
>machine wash
blouses and socks, bodyline when I had it
>hand wash
not printed pieces and more fragile blouses and socks
>dry clean
anything with a print. I'm guessing you could hand wash prints with no red, but honestly the risk isn't worth saving 6 bucks.

[Anonymous No.8334701]

>>8334522
Just get it dry cleaned anon. Red bleeds a lot.

[Anonymous No.8334839]

>>8334346
I would say dark colors on light might be the most delicate as it seems to be the shortest cycle.

Dark colors to preserve the dye.

[Anonymous No.8334954]

I recently got AP's Pastel a la Mode OP in red and I'm really hesitant about washing it because I'm scared of the color bleeding. Plus, I heard it's not good to dry clean because of the screen printing (I've washed some sax pieces in the series on the delicate cycle though and experience no issues). Any suggestions?

[Anonymous No.8335036]

I have been seeing around on the internet about a manual washing machine. Would those machines work for lolita clothes when the electric washing machine is too intimidating?

and it's not a big thing you could fit 1-2 dresses depending on the fabric

[Anonymous No.8335065]

>>8334657
>>8334665
Not OP but can anyone please explain what the fuck a "casual" setting is on a washer machine? I have one on mine but I only ever wash regular clothes on the "Regular" or Cotton cycle. I've never washed brand dresses in a washer before.

[Anonymous No.8335077]

Another one I don't want to wash because of fear of color bleeding... This is such a common dress that I'm hoping one of you has had experience with it. It's getting to the point of bleach pen can't help anymore.

[Anonymous No.8335115]

>>8334954
What's the tag say?

[Anonymous No.8335153]

Cold water like other have said, if you don't have gentle setting then use the shortest setting you see on the washer.
And I personally have to recommend buy Shout Color Catcher sheets and use them in the wash with the dress. It will catch excess dye in the water and keep it from getting onto the dress. I used 3 of those sheets to wash my red Magical Etoile OP and the sheets came out bright pink from catching the red dye, and it didn't get on the white parts of the dress.

And obviously you don't want to throw anything with velvet or the like in the washer.

[Anonymous No.8335165]

>>8334346
Is there a consensus on whether petticoats should be washed? I did my first handwashing last weekend without a hitch but I'm scared of the weight of the water killing my petticoat.

[Anonymous No.8335242]

Red pieces with no prints but just patterns like polkadots or ginghams or old school red pieces with white lace are safe to be handwashed? I want to get red AP and BTSSB old school for daily but i fear the color would ruin the lace or bleed too much.
Also, wool or tartan stuff is dry clean only?

[Anonymous No.8335307]

>>8335165
What's it made of?

[Anonymous No.8335449]

>>8335165
Naturally petticoats are always going to deflate over time. They're something you're eventually going to need to replace due to regular wear and tear (alright maybe not so much tearing, but deflating). I usually keep my petticoats around for 1+ year and I've never even thought about washing them. Only once did I actually wash part of it because I was perioding, leaking ,and got some blood on it while I was taking out my soaked tampon in a public bathroom stall. Even then, it wasn't a full-on wash.

[Anonymous No.8335453]

>>8335165
I just spot-clean and then throw them into the drying machine for poof.

[Anonymous No.8335495]

>>8335165

Why shouldn't petticoats be washed? I have thrown all of mine into the washing machine (in larger-sized laundry bags) many times. The spin cycle takes care of removing excess water, and then afterwards I dry them spread out in a flat place so that wet weight doesn't compress them. I also store them in boxes, inside out, rather than hanging up for the same reason.

I shy away from dryers because I'm not sure if it'll melt the artificial fibres in tulle or organdy. The hard tulle pettis can be restarched over an open umbrella if they lose their hardness, but it sounds troublesome so I opted to switch over to organdy petticoats and just replace them after a year or two. Other than that, nothing much to washing them.

[Anonymous No.8335839]

How do I wash puppet circus? I feel like handwashing might be dangerous because water might ruin the velveteen but going to a dry cleaner will cause issues because it will ruin the screen print.

Help!

[Anonymous No.8335996]

>>8334671
Wouldn't you get these salt rings on a darker dress that way?

[Anonymous No.8336053]

>>8334691
And then you hear people telling stories about second hand dresses where the lace is cream instead of white because of people like you. Ew.

[Anonymous No.8336065]

>>8334346
I hand wash most of my things mostly because I'm paranoid and rather obsessive over my clothes and want to take really good care of them so they last longer. I will either hand wash in my bath room basin or for less important things hand wash in the shower if its only a spot clean or only a few hours of use but still needs a clean.

Pic 1/2, can sort of get the gist of it if you don't speak Japanese. I'm pretty sure there is a translation of this somewhere....

[Anonymous No.8336067]

>>8336065
Pic 2/2

I hope at least one person can find these useful.

[Anonymous No.8336069]

>>8336067
Awww shit sorry anons, didn't realise that was wrong way up. Here we go again.

[Anonymous No.8336077]

>>8335839
Honestly, I would go and ask the dry cleaners for advice. Normally they will know more about garment care than just dry cleaning so they may enlighten you a little. obviously don't go get it dry cleaned though and make that obvious from the start.

[Anonymous No.8336079]

>>8335115
This! over and over again guys!

[Anonymous No.8336095]

>>8335115
Thank you, sorry! I'll make sure to include the tag's instructions here as well in the future. It says both "dry clean only" and "hand washable"... which is kind of confusing.

[Anonymous No.8336192]

>>8335839
If it's cotton velveteen you can hand wash it in cold water. I've washed Dessert Collection this way, I took it to the dry cleaners and that's what they told me to do

[Anonymous No.8336219]

>>8334522
Yes I tried, I have the pink one.
I cleaned it with special spot-cleaner-powder by hand in a bucket with water (I included a color-catching cloth in the water though). The colors did not run at all and the white got really white again. I was very happy.

[Anonymous No.8336486]

Is it okay to put any dress with a chiffon bustle in the washing machine (in a mesh bag of course)? The garments I have made of chiffon don't have tags. They're handmade.

[Anonymous No.8336596]

>>8334691
Febreeze? Oh honey no...

[Anonymous No.8336609]

>>8334346
You can machine-wash nonprint dresses in cold water, but if they have cotton lace I think you can use warm. Make absolutely sure you take off all the ribbons and bows and unbutton everything first. If it's something very sturdy like Bodyline you can run them through the dryer but otherwise, pat dry with a towel and hang them indoors out of the sun.

>>8336065
I did have the translation picture but I can't find it right now, so this is what I remember:
>cold water
>sort of "wave" the clothes out, then fold them and press down on them. carefully iron collars, lace etc into place, with a cloth in-between if it's polyester lace
>towel underneath and on top of the clothes, press down on them and let them dry like that for a little while
>wipe synthetic leather shoes off with a damp cloth and don't store them in the shoeboxes because of mold. unless you wear them a lot, don't store them at the bottom of the closet because the moisture from the ground can hurt them

[Anonymous No.8336618]

>>8336486
Don't know about chiffon bustles but I put my AP chiffon prints in a laundry bag and chuck them into my washing machine on a normal cycle and they turn out fine.

[Anonymous No.8336627]

Echoing a question about reds:

I recently bought sheep's garden op in beige/yellow and want to wash it, but there are red strawberries anywhere. I believe the tag says dry clean... caaaaan I handwash, or will it bleed?

[Anonymous No.8336630]

>>8336627
Oops, pic

[Anonymous No.8336632]

Repost from another thread, sorry if you've seen it.

Is Cinema Doll machine washable? I'm worried that the black will bleed into the ivory.

>pic related

[Anonymous No.8336714]

I am afraid about damaging my new IW classical coin dress in green. I didn't found any tag on it put it is polyester printed satin. How could I wash it safely ?

[Anonymous No.8336762]

Not exactly washing, but ironing- like >>8334954 I recently got Pastel a la Mode too, but I don't think you can iron screen prints. Would it be safe to iron with a shirt or something in between the dress and the iron? I know steamers are best, but that's not an option for me.

[Anonymous No.8336765]

Anyone know what the fuck a Casual setting on a washer is? I just looked at my own and I also have a Casual setting. Washing machine is made by GE.

[Anonymous No.8336800]

alright everybody, here's my advice, coming from a textile artist who regularly prints with dyes.
The dyes used for detailed prints are heat set, so as a precaution, when you first get a dress with a print, toss it in the dryer with the hottest heat the fabric can stand for a short cycle. Cotten can take very high heat but if the dress has something like a tulle built in petticoat bump the heat down a bit due to the polyester. This will do like a final curing of the dye and help your print stay better.
Dyes like red and black when it's made with red are going to bleed due to the way the dye reacts with the fibres of the dress, so even after an extra heat-set, be careful and use those shout colour catcher sheets, they're super great!

[Anonymous No.8336813]

>>8334522
I have pink one, hand washed it in cold water using a nice fabric softener and hang dried it

Zero bleeding at all

[Anonymous No.8338625]

Thinking of making an updated masterlist of prints that run/don't run with information compiled from egl and anon contributions, would anyone be interested?

[Anonymous No.8338761]

>>8336632
i've the skirt and washed it twice with no bleeding in machine wash delicate at 30°

[Anonymous No.8338772]

>>8338761
Great, thank you so much anon!

[Anonymous No.8338776]

>>8336800
Color catching sheets are amazing. I haven't used any with my brand yet, but I've tossed red and white striped stuff in the wash with those sheets, set it on cold and I've never had any bleeding.

[Anonymous No.8338787]

>>8338625
This is a good idea, might be worth submitting to the Lolita Guide Book?

[Anonymous No.8338799]

>>8338625

yes, please!

[Anonymous No.8338806]

Almost all my lolita clothes say dry cleaning on the tag, but I wash almost all of them in the washing machine. I use a travel steamer to freshen up JSKs and skirts between light uses.

Wash on delicate cycle, cold, and hang dry on a laundry rack. Use Woolite for delicates or for darks. Only softener should be white vinegar added to the rinse cycled.

Never hang items to dry in sunlight unless you want the items to bleach.

Everything, but especially for items with hooks, should be individually locked in zipped laundry bags for delicates.

You can get these laundry bags in various sizes from Daiso for cheap. One will need one jumbo-size bag for a single main piece or a petticoat.

Wash blouses with their original waist ties. Your won't lose the ties if they're together in one zipped laundry bag.

Foot liners and socks, in their own zipped laundry bags.

Red items, I just wash in a separate loaf all to themselves. The tide color absorbing sheets are a plus.

The only stuff I refuse to wash in my machine is items with steel boning. Steam between uses and dry clean occasionally.

[Anonymous No.8338812]

Anyone know what to do with washing Millefeuille boleros from IW, espcially when the lace is a different colour? I would also like to know how to was pearskin.

[[e-mail] No.8338844]

>>8338625
>>8338787
>>8338799
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Wf5sQ02JJRr23am6wtvEhM_KYkQz5qpcydlsPZOU3iQ/edit?usp=sharing

Still a little rough but I'm working on it. Please feel free to contribute!!

[Anonymous No.8338907]

>>8338844
Thank you for this! I've added a few things that I've washed myself. Will add more when you have the other brands up

[Anonymous No.8338920]

If you have a newer washer and dryer it should have steam options. That's what I use and all my dresses come out looking like they're brand new.

[Anonymous No.8338928]

>>8334522
I have! I didn't notice any color bleeding, I used the shout color catcher just incase but I was able to clean gently with oxyclean stain remover on a few spots with no problems. Cold water too natch.

[Anonymous No.8339056]

>>8338806
Bless you anon.
Finally someone who is not afraid to wash their clothes.

[Anonymous No.8339392]

Dream Fantasy salopette in black is dry clean only but anyone has handwashed it with cold water?

[Anonymous No.8339472]

>>8338812

I have the red and brown millefeuille boleros with beige lace and wash it like >>8338806 describes. The colours don't run. I did put a colour catcher sheet in the first time I washed the red, though.

[Anonymous No.8339851]

I have a lined brocade taobao dress and I noticed some of the ivory lace had brushed against something dingy while in storage for moving a few months... Can brocades be handwashed or should I stick to drycleaning for this piece?

[Anonymous No.8339962]

>>8338920
Holy crap, they do?! This is perfect timing. I was already planning to shop for a washer/dryer set on Memorial Day.

[Anonymous No.8339977]

>>8336627
Handwash it, but with a color catcher sheet in the basin

[Anonymous No.8339995]

>>8338806
Crap, spelling errors from autocorrect everywhere

I should have mentioned that the reason for washing waist ties with their matching blouse, is so that they age similarly. There will be a bit of aging over time for the garment, it's just a matter of keeping it slow and steady. You might as well have the fabric of the waist ties match as closely as possible to the fabric of the blouse, even if you only wear the blouse. That way the resale value will be higher, should you decide to sell later.

Also, steaming tends to be more gentle on garments than dry cleaning. So I highly recommend a portable steamer that takes tap water.

[Anonymous No.8340150]

>>8338806
>Wash on delicate cycle
WHAT IF YOU DON"T FUCKING HAVE A DELICATES CYCLE?! What if all you have to choose from is a fucking CASUAL or COTTONS?

[Anonymous No.8340159]

Anyone have Lady Rose in pink (skirt, op, jsk, doesn't matter) How do you wash it? I'm scared of the red flowers staining everywhere

[Anonymous No.8340214]

Today I found light yellowing under the arms of a white cotton blouse I have. This is the first time I had encountered this and proceeded to do some googling for what I should do.

I used a 1:1:1 ration of water, hydrogen peroxide, and baking soda. Its thinnish so you'll want to have towels under your blouse to absorb extra liqued. I just spooned this onto the affected areas and let sit for about an hour. Then you can wash your garment. It worked like a charm and I no longer have gross pit stains.

Also a tid bit for any inexperienced girls out there is that the yellowing isn't actually from your sweat, but a reaction from you sweat with your (likely aluminium based) deodorant. A good way to prevent these yellow stains entirely is to switch to a different deodorant that does not have, or has a lower percentage of aluminium.

>Just letting you more inexperienced girls out there know, I can imagine more seasoned lolitas already know this so sorry for posting such a glob of information

[Anonymous No.8340249]

>win cute blouse on yahoo auctions!
>arrives two weeks later!
>open package, so excited!! :D
>SMELL.
>air out the blouse.
>SMELL.
>attempt to hand wash blouse.
>SMELL.
The blouse smells like somebody sweated in it and then stored it in an attic for 15 years. I'm afraid to put it in my washing machine. It's been sitting in my closet for a month because I didn't know what to do with it and the smell is still there. What can I do to specifically get rid of The Smell™?

[Anonymous No.8340267]

>>8340150
chill the fuck down and Google the difference between cottons and casual cycle
obviously no one on this board has a clue how to use your ghetto ass washer, so put your big girl panties on and do some research

[Anonymous No.8340378]

>>8340249

How many details does it have? I just washed two blouses I have in my machine today and everything went well. I would recommend delicate cycle obv, and if it has lots of frills and things that could get caught that you stuff it inside one of those lingerie bags.

Also try google? Maybe there is some kind of crazy method using vinegar or something, idk

[Anonymous No.8340668]

>>8338844
have you seen this? http://egl.livejournal.com/14953249.html

Giant list of what can and can't be washed. but the list was probably last updated a few years ago.

[Anonymous No.8340696]

>>8340249
white vinegar is your friend. If you put a bit in your wash water and hand wash it again, it should take care of it, repeat with more and more vinegar until you get the desired effect. In fact, if you can let it just soak in cold water with vinegar, should be ok unless it's a weird color

[Anonymous No.8340707]

>>8334598
Do you use the steamer on things that strictly say "dry clean only"? I have so many pieces that say just that..

[Anonymous No.8340718]

>>8334671
Well if you're gonna be doing that, you may as well get those underarm patch protector things.

[Anonymous No.8340719]

>>8334598
>>8334612
Tip on the steamer: use distilled water because you can end up with mineral build up from using tap (unless you already have a very good water softener).

[Anonymous No.8340736]

>>8334691
You probably wash yourself more than the environment your dress bumps into....

I dunno, maybe I'm sour because of all the fucking sweaty dresses I got in the mail.

>>8335077
Wash it stone cold. It's not red thankfully so it should handle a wash well.

>>8335165
Yes, they should be washed! Flopping around your warm germy legs, thighs and parts (i know you're probably wearing underwear but regardless) calls for it. The weight of the water shouldnt destroy it, especially if it's a synthetic fibre. If you fear you lost poof you just scrunch it up into a ball and store it somewhere tight - yay it's back to life. Make sure it's nice and dry before you store it, air dry it out of light in case of the light deteriorating the fiber.

[Anonymous No.8340742]

>>8336762
>Would it be safe to iron with a shirt or something in between the dress and the iron?
Yes. Low and slow. It'll take a while but the warmth will eventually straighten it out.

[Anonymous No.8340786]

I somehow got fucking butterscotch or maybe caramel in my petticoat?!? I haven't even eaten any food while wearing that thing. Best ways to get out sticky candy shit?

[Anonymous No.8340850]

>>8334567
I have one and I think it's very worthwhile. If you own anything chiffon, definitely get one, it melts the wrinkles out like magic. For heavier cottons you may still need to press with an iron afterwards, though.