How do you keep a belly dance costume clean?
March 16, 2010 by
Filed under belly dance costumes
Especially with all the coins, beads, etc and all that sweating.
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and gizz you forgot the gizz
make sure you don’t spill any hummus on it.
i would hand wash and line dry. that way you can use a mild detergant
Don’t dance too close to the men.
these custumes don’t necessary need extreme cleaning just dry clean it or, put it in sun to get rid of sweat smell etc., or wear protective underpiece clothes to prevent sweat on costume.
Steam Clean
The costumes are generally made of chiffon or silk and should be dry cleaned after x amounts of uses, depending on how demeanding the dance you are doing or if you get something specifically on it. To keep it fresh between dry cleanings you should put it in the dryer by itself with a dryer sheet and fluff it on low heat setting for 10-15 minutes
Take it off immediately after performance, air it out, don’t sit around in it.
Dry clean or wash. I hand-wash my ballroom costumes, I don’t trust the cleaners. Lay flat to dry, because beads and coins are heavy and they might stretch the fabric.
dry cleaning is NOT advisible !!!
The reasons are basic.
You cannot ever dry clean beads, in particular styrene plastic,plastic metalic beads(light weight) artificial pearls and lacquered coins. Very few beads will survive dry cleaning. most dry cleaners will not accept a beaded garment of any kind. Sequins will also be destroyed by dry cleaning fluid . The color comes off and the heat from steam press flattens them out .
Scared yet? You could loose hundreds of dollars takeing some of the advice posted here.
Fabrics.
Nearly any can be dry cleaned – however only those with no trims or beads. You could dry clean a silk veil and a plain skirt – that’s it .
That leaves only water, air and sun.
Proffessionals make sure the fabrics in their costumes are preshrunk before they sew them. This allows gentle hand washing with mild soap and detergent. Never use a machine or a dryer.
Test the trims to make sure the water does not remove the colors on your beads or the sequins. I have found that asian beads made cheaply are glass beads that are essentially painted in particular hot pinks and magenta colors. The color washes right off. It also wears right off. I had some pink beads that the color wore off before I had them sewn on! They were from the arts and crafts store. If you want to be sure buy Japanese delicas from Fire Mountain or buy Czech beads that are fired. you should be paying about 25 dollars a kilo for them. They will not wash off but irridescent and Ab sorts can become reactive with chemicals ,sweat and so forth and change their luster. So test them first. Get the sweat off of them.
Good sequins can stand up to a very light swish in soaps detergent water . Sometimes the cotton thread chainstitch on the back shrinks. This can be a problem on the edge of a veil or a skirt . For that reason prewash sequin trim before you sew it. No heat just water .
These costumes if made correctly with good materials can be washed. However the majority of those sold by vendors cannot be washed because the beads are cheap plastic. Moreover the color wears off after a few shows. The best costumes are made with small glass beads evenly cut and fired coatings. They should have square holes lined silver. The thread should be long staple loose twist cotton. Each strand individually knotted. The fabric ought to be washable. That means prewashed and preshrunk if it’s a natural fiber like rayon acetate cotton or silk.
If you are not sure just put it in the sun after every wearing . Sponge it off with a damp terrycloth .
I think it is wise to plan on re-lineing the bra and possibly the belt as well. That is why they are sewn in with a loose overcast stitch. You have to be able to remove the lineing so you can replace it when it gets dirty. Extra matching beads, trim and coins are also nessesary for repairs. fix everything as soon as you take it off so it will be ready whenever you need it. Don’t let anything touch the costume like hairspray,cream or perfume . All those sorts of things destroy trims.