Best (or good) :p way to clean jingle dresses

[Singing Otter]

How do you clean your dresses? Anybody ever use those drycleaning bags (dryel, etc.)? I usually wash mine in the sink and hang it outside. But what do you do when you have colors that could run?

[TaShunka Luta]

Hi - I use a lingerie bag from wal-mart. You have to stuff your dress in it, zip it up and wash in cold then hang it to dry but it works and your bias tape doesn't get all messed up. The cold water helps with colors that run - hope that helps. That and crossing your fingers, I've done that several times! :Chatter

[JingleJammer]

I usually just put my dresses in a pillow case, and throw in the washer machine on the gentle cycle, run cold water, and let it hang dry. and then lightly spray with a light bath and body works spray to give it that "hmmm clean!!" smell!!! lol :D :D :p :p

[Singing Otter]

LOL I hear ya! I always did mine by hand....was too scared to tear up somebody's washing machine :p :Chatter Now I KNOW I'm gonna have to try that. hehehehehe

[ReneRose]

Do you wash them with all the Jingles on them????

[Singing Otter]

yup

[nativewife]

yup.... turned the dress inside out... stuck it in a laundry bag, and washed it on gentle cycle. Came out fine. let it air-dry.

I think this has come up before, but....

With the cones.... is there something to treat them with before rolling (or before attaching) so they don't tarnish? or is it better to just polish them after they are on the dress?

thanks.

[Riverwoman]

Thanks yall for the info! I am too chicken to even try to put my dress in the washer, even on gentle cycle! Does that really work:O Gosh, I would be so afraid if something happned!

Now don't go and put them in the dryer *haha* I meant that in fun.. :)

What would I do for my shawl regalia? you have seen it right? well if not, check under Riverwoman2000 in the gallery. And let me know what you think, and How I may clean it if I have to.

[Singing Otter]

There's a post on that in the archives Nativewife. :) I believe Lee Winterhunter, Miigwan and everybody posted about what they did to their cones. It's been a year or so ago so I don't remember exactly. One thing I definitely would not do is spray that clear varnish on em. It makes them sticky and takes away the sound. I tried it on one jingle. One word....nasty. I'm gonna run down to the dollar tree (gotta love em) and pick up some polishing cloths. Those work pretty good.

Riverwoman, I'd think that you could have it drycleaned? Or maybe those dryel thingies. I would imagine that you'd have to hang it up immediately after taking it out or you'd have wrinkles from hell. lol :p Or maybe lay it flat to avoid the deep creases

[saponi]

I just washed two of my three jingle dresses and they turned out just fine! They probably lost 5 or 6 lbs of dirt!! Anyway, I used the gentle cycle, washed one at a time in a pillow case knotted at the end. When they were done I shook them out and hung them up to dry! Now they're all fresh again;) !!

As for the shawl...do the same thing. Make sure your fringe is burnt on the end so it doesn't fray and wash in a pillow case. This prevents tangling.

[ReneRose]

Thanks for the hint about the pillow case and the washing machine. I even added a little fabric softener, and the dress came about incredibly fresh. It hasn't looked like that since it was new.

[wyo_rose]

Please be very careful putting a jingle dress in the washing machine!! My girls' aunt did that and lost most of the jingles off the dress!!

Washing them by hand is so easy and fast!! Just the thought of the paddles in the washer hitting against the jingles and applique work makes me cringe.

Use cold water and Woolite or All tempa Cheer, or even Tide to get rid of the real dirt. It's easy to spot clean when washing by hand also. Rinse a couple times, and add a couple drops of Downy if you want.

If your real worried about colors running or fading, you'll need to let your tap water sit for 24 hours for the chlorine to evaporate. Just like for a fish tank. This is a good idea for other clothes too. Before we wash black clothes (which like to fade), we fill our washer up and let it sit with the water in it overnight. Then wash the clothes and they don't fade so bad. We haven't tried the new Woolite for black clothes, but it's on my list.

I like to wipe down the jingles with WD-40 to keep them from rubbing off black on the dress. But as I've seen different jingles, I think that depends more on the brand of jingles than anything you can do the outside.