| 13 May 2008, at 2.10 am | Sign In or become a Member to use the Guestbook, Results Exchange or Chatroom |
Costume Care
If you are relatively new to dancing you will eventually become the owner of your first dance costume. New or secondhand, it's your pride and joy -- but how do you keep it in good condition?
An old saying says "horses sweat, men perspire and ladies glow" -- but that only applied in bygone days. Irish dancing requires high energy and that means dance dresses can smell less than perfect after a while. Rather an indelicate subject but it's a fact.
The advice below is based upon our personal experience. If you have different/better ways of doing things, other tips to share or warnings to give, please email us .
Prevention
Prevention is better than cure. It isn't always easy to stay cool after driving for hours in the summer and then waiting around crowded halls for your competition, but make sure you're as fresh as possible before putting your costume on.
A useful tip is to buy some 'deo-wipes' from the chemist/drugstore and freshen up before dancing. Make sure they're hypo-allergenic so you don't end up with a rash.
Next, buy yourself a thin cotton crop-top* or removable bodice to wear inside your costume. This will mop up most of the moisture and can easily be washed. Take the dress off if you think you have some time to wait. Every little helps.
[ * Paddy Kelleher has just brought out a new, moisture-absorbing crop-top specially designed to keep dancers cool and dry. See www.paddyk.com/crop_tops.htm. Mention this website if you contact her! :-) ]
Solar Power?
When you get home after a feis, take the dress out of its bag and hang it in an open doorway for a while. Not too long though -- dance dresses prefer to be kept flat.
If you get chance, carefully turn the costume inside out (make sure you can do so without causing damage) and hang it outside in the fresh air for a while. This is also useful for wigs, providing you don't let the weight of the wig cause it to self-destruct. If you daughter gets involved in exhibitions, which can sometimes be held in a smoky atmosphere, this treatment can really help.
Avoid too much strong sunlight and strong winds, and make sure you attach the costume/wig securely. Your neighbour's dog might not care for a curly wig landing next to his kennel!
Finally, do remember to bring costume/wig in again, and watch out for rain -- that's a mistake they probably won't survive!
Cleaning
After a while, nothing you do will make that costume feel fresher. This is where a decent dry cleaner comes in very handy -- but you need to find one where you can talk to the person who will do the cleaning. It's probably not so useful talking to a clerk who takes your costume and sends it away to a production unit across town.
Take the costume along and have a chat. An experienced cleaner will look at the materials involved and will tell you whether they believe they can be cleaned without harm. If you get a negative response, try another cleaner or two -- some are less experienced than others or would rather stick to suits and coats. If everyone tells you the same story, start to believe it!
Unless you have a friend in the trade or a recommendation from somebody else, there will be a certain amount of trust involved. It is unlikely you will get a guarantee. Use your skill and judgement ...
What you can guarantee is that all of the diamantes will fall off. The cleaning fluid dissolves the glue used to attach them and it appears to be unavoidable. Warn the cleaner about this and ask him/her to collect them up for you. When you get home, you can spend a happy hour or so sticking them back on. We've found that superglue works best, and the gel-type is easiest to handle -- just watch you don't end up going to work with sparklies stuck to your fingertips!
Known Successes
This article was sparked off by an email message from Denise Hartley of Essex. Denise very kindly wanted to share a good cleaner in West London recommended by a friend. We've added a cleaner in Essex that we've used a couple of times successfully, and will add others to the list if satisfied users will email us.
Note that these are personal recommendations only, and are not a guarantee of satisfaction. There is always a risk in having clothing cleaned and you must decide for yourself if you are prepared to risk your costume. Given the gap between 'cleans' there is also the chance that the business has ceased or changed hands.
Shannon Dry Cleaners
181 Cricklewood Broadway
London NW2 3HT
England
Tel: 020 8450 5779.
"I have recently had my daughter’s dancing dress cleaned and thought you may like to add details of the dry cleaners to the website. It is extremely difficult to find cleaners who will clean the dress without making you sign away your rights if anything goes wrong. They warned me that the diamantes would come off, but they gathered them up and gave them back to me. And the dress was returned in excellent condition. I appreciate it’s a bit of a hike, but well worth it."
Denise Hartley, London
The Clean Shop
79 Hutton Road, Shenfield
Brentwood, Essex
England
Tel: 01277 262673
"We've used this one a couple of times now with great success -- apart from the usual 'diamante problem' :-)"
Patsy Yorke, Essex
