Time To Say Goodbye

To my wedding gown, that is.

I tried to say goodbye back before the holidays but it wouldn't let me.

I had taken it to the uptown consignment shop and hadn't really looked at it since I had had it cleaned and had put it back in the bag the week after getting back from our honeymoon in Moose-pooh, Montana. It seems it somehow sneaked a tiny streak of stain on it somehow, even tho it had been hanging in the back of the closet in the bag for almost four and a half years. Tina called me and asked if I realized it had the stain on it and suggested I come up and look at it before deciding what to do with it.

So I went and when we pulled it out and sure enough there was a stain on it-in the folds and it went all the way down thru the 9 layers of organza and silk to the underskirt. And horror of horrors- there were also PIT satins under the arms. GROSS!!!!

I was at a loss at what to do about it tho- the gown had been dry-cleaned(supposedly) and I doubted after four years of the stains setting in it would do any good to have it cleaned again(even at a different cleaner) and it cost almost $200 to have it cleaned the first time because it was so huge as you can see from the photo here on the blog. We had decided that $350 was a fair price to set for it in a consignment shop- (it cost $2,450 originally and I paid $1900 for it on sale) and she keeps 10% of the sale price so it really wasn't worth the time and money to have it dry-cleaned again.We discussed it and I decided I would try and figure out what to do with it and call to let her know later- after the holidays. I had too much going on during the holidays to do anything before then.

So, a couple of weeks ago Paul and I were in Ingles or Wally World- I can't remember which- and I saw a small container of OXYCLEAN- yeah- the stuff that Billy whatever his name is that Paul detests his adverts because he's always excited and yelling trying to tell you how GREAT HIS PRODUCT IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, this particular product IS that GREAT.

I fully intended to take the gown to a launderette and put it in a jumbo front loading washer and then add the stuff to see if it worked. BUT- then I read the instructions on how to use it- and it needs to be added to the water before adding the clothing to the water. Can't do THAT with a front loading washer and that's the only size washer that the gown would fit in without it either ruining the delicate materials of the gown or the washing machine being overloaded and it tearing up the washer. So again, I was stumped.

Then last night, I got a brilliant idea. I had nothing to lose- if the gown didn't get cleaned I was going to just have to either trash it because it was unsaleable with the stains on it or put it back in the closet to use for something(God knows WHAT unless I dyed it black for a goth wedding and sold it that way or maybe as a halloween costume but I HATED that idea for my WEDDING GOWN) but either way I was getting NO or not much money for it. So I went into the bathroom- ran some HOT HOT water in the tub and filled it 3/4 full and added the OXYCLEAN and a tiny bit of detergent and then added the wedding gown to the mix. I made sure all of the wedding gown was immersed, then hand agitated it and watched in amazement as the most visible stains under the arms disappeared before my very eyes. I agitated it for about 5 minutes and then let it soak for abou 10 more minutes and then let the water out and refilled it with more hot water and rinsed it. Then I let it drain for a few minutes and then I hung it up on the shower curtain rod to let it drip dry.

I looked this morning and it's all dry except for the two inches of gown that are at the very end of the gown. And it looks beautiful!!!!! So, soon as it dries completely- I'm off to take it back to the shop. And that should FINISH paying for our car.
A very fair trade I would say.

So......... if you have a stain or just want your laundry brighter or can't seem to get the dinginess out of your whites- Get some OxyClean. It worked for me.
See, No yelling....just a testimonial in a normal "voice".