Cleaning Beaded Garments

Embellished garments are a bold fashion statement. Sequins can evoke the glamor of the jazz age, and beads brilliantly recall the innovative styles of the 60s and 70s. Don’t let your wardrobe shy away from these daring additions simply because they’re hard to take care of; a quality dry cleaning service can help keep these pieces at the forefront of your ensemble.

Maintaining vintage pieces in particular can be a challenge for many dry cleaners, which is why they will tend to shy away from providing any service more substantial than a light steaming. If your dry cleaner expresses any hesitation towards caring for your garments, immediately take the piece to another, more qualified establishment. The worst thing you can do would be to try and take care of it on your own.

Keep in mind that quality embellishments are made to last. Recent trends have seen people adding embellishments to their clothing by hand, and while these additions may be likelier to fall off, a good dry cleaner will still know how to service them. There is no reason to worry about older clothes, which are likely to be even better-made than their modern counterparts—but it’s still imperative that you trust a high-quality dry cleaner with their care and maintenance.

Cleaning beaded and sequined garments involves considering the fabric type, the embellishment type, and the manner in which the details were fastened. Beads, for instance, can suffer from heat at several points during the cleaning, drying, and ironing process—especially if they are made of plastic, or fastened with glue.

Machine washing can be a traumatic process for these sensitive accessories, and hand-washing is a tremendous burden that does little to minimize risk of damage. The safest method of drying is to hang the piece and wait, but this takes time and may leave the fabric feeling stiff and uncomfortable. Storing it on your own also risks wrinkles, odors, and snagging against other clothing, unless it’s done properly. All of these considerations are best left to experts who handle challenging garments on a regular basis. This way, you’ll never have to worry about your embellishments coming undone.