The Upcoming Test Of Orvus Soap ~ On A 1949 Tea Green Garden Party Dress

Studying a beautiful garden party dress worn to a wedding in 1949, I have been trying to decide how to clean and restore it to its original beauty. It has been a bit of a dilemma. I certainly do not want to ruin the dress. But, it needs deep cleaning due to underarm stains. In addition, on the underside of the skirt, you can see where it was hemmed, due to dirt on the original hem.

To begin with, this dress was full length, since the hem is large, measuring eight and a half inches. I think it would be ideal to restore it to the full length. So the folded part of the skirt and hemline would have to come clean as well. My intuition tells me it is better to avoid dry cleaning chemicals on this one. It seems to need a full soak.

There are very few vintage dresses I would immerse in water. I usually do not buy anything that is not clean, and take things for a light dry cleaning when the item sells. Many vintage fabrics cannot be washed. If the dress has lining, it is even riskier because the lining or the exterior might shrink or discolour.

The only vintage items that can be washed are things with a certain kind of fabric, like cotton and some rayons. You cannot wash most luxury items to include things with lining, pleats, ruching, beadwork, laidwork, sequins, pin-tucking, etc. Nor can you wash most designer silk scarves.

Just as a word of caution, to avoid giving the wrong idea that a gentle soap with accolades for restoration of vintage textiles, does not mean its use applies to all vintage textiles.

I spot washed and soaked the under arms, and the fabric seems strong enough to take getting wet. The dress is fairly heavy overall. The fabric has woven pink flowers throughout. It is a unique style for the era, as it has a drop waist with a big bow at the back.

Since the fabric seems okay to get wet, and the dress has underarm stains that did fade with some spot washing, I decided this dress is a candidate for Orvus soap. It is the anionic and gentle properties of this soap that actually permeate and penetrate the fabric.

To share my own educational experience, I will post a before and after picture, hoping to bring this beautiful dress to a full state of restoration. Then it just might be ready to go dancing at another wedding party in 2021!