Care and Feeding of your Noble Renaissance Garb

[Capt Gabriela Fullpepper]

I am just curious as to how each of you clean and take care of your garb specifially the noble carb that tends to be harder to clean. I mean most you cannot just drop into the washing machine and clean it... or parts you cannot.

I wash my chemice and then hang dry it. My fathingale I take out side hang it up and hose it down. Then put it on a folding table and start scrubbing it with soap that is designed to not hurt the enviroment. Once I wash it up I hose it back down and it gets very clean. My dress is a way different story. I I take thew vac to it with hand attachments and get as much dust and dirt off that I can. I then take it outside, put it on the table and clean what needs to be cleaned from all the dirt it gets dragged in. Once I have it cleaned I smooth it all out then hang it. This seems to work good.

So please let me and other;s know how you do it. I know kow what a laundry lady to tjhe Tudors felt like with sweat pouring off me trying to get my queens dress all clean.

[theChuck]

What about taking it to the dry cleaners? Aside from the strange looks you might get, it seems they'd be able to do a pretty good job of getting it clean.

for future reference, don't take your stuff to the dry cleaners. prolly better to hand wash or something.

[jmkhalfmoon]

I had wash all of my garb in cold water.  I fill the wash machine half full and wash everything out the old fashioned way, by hand.  I use a little spray 'n wash as needed on shirts and chemises.  I then drain the wash machine - and repeat the wash to get the dirty water rinsed out.  I then line dry in the basement laundry room.  I'd be to affraid to take the garb to the dry cleaner.  Plus they'd charge me an arm & a leg for it.

[Capt Gabriela Fullpepper]

The faux fur on the velvet will not allow that as well as all the jewlery on it.

[Lady Amy of York]

  I  hand wash my chemise  and undergarments. I usually wash my chemise  and undergarments right away   a full day of wearing  them at faire  in order to remove  an makeup marks  or  sweat stains, etc  before  they set  in.

 . My  gowns   i try  to brush  them  off, or  spot clean   them during the season, and then have  them dry  clean,  but this  year i find  myself in the same perdictiment as  Lady de Laney.  I have  a  velvet gown  made out of heavy  velvet , and  it has hand embroidery on it,  and  grommets, and i'm concern about taking it to a dry cleaner.  so   any  cleaning suggestions  would be  helpful !  (  i know back in the renaissance  period, they did not have  the laundry facilities that we have today, but they must have had some  way of  cleaning  the  gowns,  besides brushing  them, cause they surely got  dragged  thru    dust  and  dirt.)

[gem]

At present I don't have anything with a lot of beading or fur on it, but for things I can't wash (and I absolutely REFUSE to have a chemise that can't be machine washed and dried.  Life is too short.), I will steam them in the dryer.  I would *love* to have one of those fancy LG dryers with the steam setting... but until then, I throw my garb in the dryer with a wet (not soaking/dripping, but not wrung out until damp, either) towel, turn the dryer on high, and let them tumble in there together for 30 minutes or so. 

It's great for getting wrinkles out of silk, wool, and velveteen, and for blowing out so much of the dust you pick up at fair.

***
In period, fabrics like velvet, wool, etc were often brushed clean, and there were techniques and products for spot-cleaning.  All undergarments were linen, which were washed as often as possible.  John Styles, in THE DRESS OF THE PEOPLE, has a wonderful chapter on laundry that covers all that.

[Baroness Doune]

Much of my clothing is washed in the washer and dried in the dryer.

Smock/chemises/partlets - Nobles wore a fresh smock everyday.  I also like to put on a fresh smock everyday, so I find it absolutely essential to wash these after EVERY wearing.  Fortunately, linen just gets better and better after every wash.  More delicate partlets are hand washed and drip dry.
Corsets - I WILL wash during the season if it has been particularly hot.  Certainly after the end of the season.  When I do wash, it is in the washer but it drip dries.  That's why I love duct ties for boning - they make the corset machine washable.
Farthingale - I wash at the end of the season.  I remove the hoops and wash.  Rehoop after.
Underskirts - I have very little trim and/or beading on my foreparts, so they get chucked in the washer and dryer on a regular basis.  And I like it that way so I am really dragging my feet on adding any trim/beading to them.
Overskirts - Only at the end of the season unless something happens like spilling a smoothie on myself.  I rely on brushing and spot cleaning, otherwise.  I remove the aglets or other things which would be damaged by regular washing/drying and reattach them afterwards.  There are others on this forum who wash their beaded foreparts and gowns in the washer.  They will probably weigh in with tips.
Bodices - If worn over a corset, only if I think it really needs it, which would not be very often.   Bodices not worn over a corset are washed as needed, just like with corsets.

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Corsets- I wash by hand in warm water in the bath tub at least twice a year.

Chemises, Partlets- Gentle Cycle in warm water, cold rinse. Hang dry. Iron

Bodices, over and underskirts- I use AMWAY's L.O.C.(Liquid Organic Cleaner), warm water, and a clean washcloth. Very safe to use on any fabric that collects dirt and sweat. Hang dry. Iron where needed.

I will also pre-soak the stubborn stuff in warmer water with some TryZyme to get out stubborn organic stains.  I seldom take garb to the cleaners anymore.

[isabelladangelo]

My chemises and gowns that aren't heavily beaded go in the good old washing machine.  I just let them dry out on the clothes line.  (well, sometimes.  Other times I just put the dryer on tumble low and it's fine)

Any beaded dress either gets stuffed into a pillow sack and put into the washer (on low) or gets hand washed in the bath tub. 

There is zero reason to take a dress to the dry cleaners.  Honestly?  They do far more harm then good to most gowns and outfits.  It's not hard to wash the dress or outfit in the bathtub with a bunch of oxyclean and a bit of detergent.  Just hang it up to dry afterwards and your dress/outfit is fine. 

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

There is a terrific product called FRESH AGAIN that is sold through certain retailers and independent distributors.

When I worked a the Costume shop, we had a lot on hand to spray in shoes, hats, garments that would get very sewaty. What this product does is kill the enzymes that cause odors. Wet, damp, Atheletic Shoes??  No problem with some Fresh Again. That with a good cleaning and garb is good as new.

[Sitara]

To clean my coined dance bra I spray the inside with a mixture of 1/2 water and 1/2 vodka and let it dry on the clothesline.  This mix kills bacteria and makes any sweaty smells go away.

[sealion]

So far the only beaded things I've made are the sleeves in my avi and those have been machine washed on gentle and drip dried. Everything else I own is washable- underthings after every wearing and outer wear at the end of the season or if it gets muddy. My farthingale gets sloshed around in the bathtub and my corset with duct ties goes right into the washer.

[sealion]

Corsets- I wash by hand in warm water in the bath tub at least twice a year.

Chemises, Partlets- Gentle Cycle in warm water, cold rinse. Hang dry. Iron

Bodices, over and underskirts- I use AMWAY's L.O.C.(Liquid Organic Cleaner), warm water, and a clean washcloth. Very safe to use on any fabric that collects dirt and sweat. Hang dry. Iron where needed.

I will also pre-soak the stubborn stuff in warmer water with some TryZyme to get out stubborn organic stains.  I seldom take garb to the cleaners anymore.

***hijack
My hubby works at Alticor/Amway and prints the boxes for TryZyme.

[Master James]

Well first and foremost I would be VERY careful on what you take to a cleaners and KNOW you cleaners first before you take any garb to them.  Our Queen at VARF had just created a GORGEOUS heavily embroidered red satin dress with embroidered silk organza and took it to the cleaners and they completely destroyed the dress!  They used something that took bleed the red onto the white silk organza and then to try to fix that they bleached the whole thing in clorine!!!!!  Its destroyed and they refuse to do anything to compensate her saying its her fault.  So unless you know the dry cleaners STAY AWAY with garb!

As far as my personal garb, first I wash ALL fabrics and dry them in the dryer prior to making the garb so there is no way it will bleed.  Then I hand wash it with cold water and Woolite or Oxyclean and let it drip dry.  This is the only thing I can do with my garb as all my doublets and capes are heavily beaded and any machine washing will destroy it.  All the rest of my garb goes in the washer and dryer.  Wife has removable hoops for the farthingale so we just take them out and throw it in the washer and dryer.  Her underskirt has a forepart that ties on so we untie that and wash the underskirt too.  The bodice, overskirt and foreparts get washed the same way as my doublets.  Works great!  

[daylight]

I hand wash every bodice I have, and hang it to dry, I know the care I take with my corrset and bodices and the bonning that is in them, so I clean them myself. The blommers I wash in tha machine but I pull them out to dry. I found out the hard not put thm in a dryer, my hat i keep in a plastic bag most of the time to keep dust of it and simply take it out when needed. My fans with the feathers i do the same. Hope I`am doing things right.