Care for your embellished garments and accessories

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EMBELLISHMENTS

If embellishments fall off, you may use a hot glue gun with caution or E6000 to glue it back on

Washing

Typically, embellished clothing/accessories should be washed by hand or sent to a dry cleaner to safely clean them. You will have more control and save money if you wash the item yourself, by hand, inside out, in your kitchen sink using warm water and a small amount of mild liquid detergent. Here are some tips for washing embellished garments/accessories:

• Avoid using hot water because this may shrink your fabric, soften adhesives or ruin the 

finish on beads.

• Do not soak for more than a few minutes in order to protect the finish on your beads.

• Gently knead and swirl the saturated embellished garment in the sudsy sink water to gently mimic the agitator in your washing machine to remove light soiling.

• Do not twist or wring the embellished garment, especially with sewn embellishments.

CARE FOR YOUR FLUFFY TUTUS

· Never ever wash your tutu in the washing machine and never ever put it in the dryer. Doing this will destroy your tutu/dress. I personally experimented with this theory to see what exactly would happen if I did wash it in the washing machine and dry it in the dryer. I can tell you that I learned my lesson. I purposely created several tutus to test this theory and to test the statements made by many other websites on how to care for your tutus/dresses. Every one of them explained what not to do but not what happens when you do. I put the skirt in the washing machine and not only did it become tangled but in many areas of the dress, the tulle was ripped. The dryer only added to the mess that became of this beautiful skirt. When the cycle was complete, there was no saving the skirt. I could not take out the tangles, the dress was ruined, and I had no choice but to throw it out. What is the lesson in all this? To prevent having one very upset little one, do not put the item in the washing machine or the dryer.

· Your tutus need to be cared for and washed. The best way to ensure a long lifespan for your tutu is to spot clean the areas that are dirty with soap and water. Rinse it thoroughly, gently finger-comb, straighten the tulle and hang dry. If the entire tutu/dress is dirty, instead of spot cleaning, gently hand wash the item in the sink and follow the same instructions as spot cleaning.

· Flatten out the dirty area and wipe it gently with the baby wipe. Baby wipes work great to remove stains in small areas.

· If the skirt needs more cleaning, use a soft cloth and a gentle detergent to spot clean the spoiled area.

TAKING OUT WRINKLES

I am personally a fan of a messy fluffy tutu but there are people who prefer the preppy clean look without any wrinkles. Either way it’s great but here are a few tips on taking out the wrinkles:

Whatever method you use, the one thing you should avoid is ironing your tulle. I repeat... Do NOT IRON.

· You can use a dehumidifier. Set it on a towel to catch any water that drips. Place your tutu on a hanger, hold it above the steam and slowly move the dress/tutu back and forth until it is straight and fluffy once again. It may be best to work from the inside out, then flip it.

· You can use a vertical steamer on a low setting to help take out the wrinkles. Please make sure to be careful and not allow the steamer to get too close to the fabric because it can be ruined.

· If you do not have a dehumidifier or a vertical steamer, the best alternative way to remove wrinkles would be to use the steam from your shower. Comb through the tulle with your fingers, shake, and fluff the tulle. It should allow you to detangle the tulle easily and it will come back to life.

· You can use a spray bottle of water to take out the wrinkles on the tulle. Hang up the tutu, detangle with your fingers and allow the weight of the water to straighten the tulle while it drip dries.

· Use fabric softener such as downy wrinkle releaser. You can create your own method by purchasing a spray bottle (you can purchase one from the dollar store), fill it up with water and take 1 tablespoon of liquid fabric softener and add it to the water. Shake the bottle well then spray it on the tulle, finger-comb the tulle and allow the weight of the mixture to straighten the tulle while it drip dries.

· You can use the steam from your iron. This method is not the most popular method and I personally would not recommend it, but it is an alternative method. You must be extremely careful because the tulle can easily melt. If you happen to damage the tulle or melt your product, Malia’s Tutu Fabulous Boutique is not responsible.

REMOVING STATIC

Static can become an issue from time to time. Our tutus and tutu dresses are made up mostly of fabric tulle and static can be a major issue. It does not matter where you purchase your tulle tutu or dress, static will play a role and at some point, you will need to know how to deal with it and take care of it properly.

Just to give you an idea of how bad static can be, while I was creating one of my dresses, the static was so intense, I felt like I was literally being attacked by the dress. It did not matter what I did, the tulle just clung to me and even wrapped around my leg. It was hysterical and frustrating. Imagine that? Being attacked by tulle! Lol

· A great solution to treat static would be to use a spray bottle and combine 2 teaspoons of liquid fabric softener and water or use a 50/50 combination of fabric softener and lukewarm water. Shake the bottle vigorously and mist each layer of tulle lightly from the hem to the waistband. Make sure not to soak the tulle. All you need to do is lightly spray each layer and let it the dress/tutu hang dry. 

I personally do not like this technique.  I tried it and hated it.  It seemed to work at first but when the girls wore the skirts over time, as they walked it would completely wrinkle.  It was horrendous.  

Static guard will treat the static as well.

For those who do not want to use a liquid solution to solve your static issue, you can always use a fabric softener sheet. Wipe each strip of tulle with the sheet and this should help solve your static cling issues.