How To Clean a Fabric Dress Form? Comprehensive Guide

Dress forms come in handy when you don’t have a companion or don’t want anyone to know your measurements. Your measurements will be kept as if they were a top-secret state secret. Sadly, they might become soiled and require thorough cleaning from time to time.

Understanding the building materials behind the linen exterior cloth is essential before you begin cleaning. If you wet the material, you run the risk of damaging them. Use Oxiclean laundry spray and allow it to dry to avoid this issue.

Continue reading our article to learn more about how to clean your dress forms. There’s all the knowledge you need so that you can safely clean your secret keeper. When it comes to cleaning, “handle with care” is always a good rule of thumb.

Can you Clean a Dress Form?

 

It can be done, but one must be careful because the lower layers may be sensitive to water when this is done. A layer of paper mache is claimed to have been used to construct the dress form, so adding more water will only make it weaker.

Handle with care, for someone else had already peeled up the top layer and discovered shredded paper underneath. Not a wonderful find, to be honest. First, we had to remove the paper in order to properly clean the rest of the form.

There will be a large number of people, each with their own point of view and method of cleaning. Finding one that works with the sort of dress form you own is not a problem. This is not the time to play about with your new dress form, since you don’t want to waste your money.

Before making a decision on how to clean a dress form, check its construction materials. By having this knowledge, you can avoid making a major cleaning mistake and instead make an informed cleaning decision that benefits your home.

How to Clean a Fabric Dress Form

 

If your dress form is made of something other than plastic, you have a lot of possibilities. If the outer layer is made of linen, it’s a breeze. Simply remove it, soak it in linen-safe cleaning solutions, and then wash it as you normally would with linen.

As an alternative, you might mix a small amount of Biz with warm water and use a brush that won’t harm the cloth when cleaning. Making sure not to use too much of the mixture on the form is essential for this procedure to work. The form should never be submerged in water. Let it dry out in the open air.

Another option involves spraying some Oxyclean laundry spray on the dress form and seeing the spots erase almost instantly. Deeper stains may require a second cleaning attempt or re-covering the dress form if the first doesn’t remove them completely.

New covers may be purchased from a variety of sources, so you don’t need to manufacture one yourself. It may be possible to use Woolite mixed with cold water, but be sure that you do not get any other materials underneath covered in water while attempting to remove a stain.

To remove any loose debris off the form, use a vacuum cleaner. This could really make things worse rather than better if you’re cleaning with loose dirt. The outer layer can be effectively lightened using a paste formed with Biz and a small amount of water.

In order to get rid of tougher stains, you may need to use hydrogen peroxide or any other stronger cleaning agent. Cover the outer layer with a spray bottle. The linen cover should not be harmed by the hydrogen peroxide.

Cleaning a Vintage Dress Form

There are a variety of strategies you can use, but you must be careful not to harm the underlying layers. If, as one owner discovered, your old dress form is covered in shredded paper, you’ll need to remove that layer and replace it once the form has been well cleaned.

If you can, try to remove the outer layer first. Soak it in some Tide or other laundry detergent, as well as a small amount of oxygen bleach, as soon as you remove it from your dress form. Let it soak for a few days in very hot water to begin. Keeping the water hot is unnecessary.

Immediately after the soaking time has expired, do not use a drier. If you wash it in hot water, it may shrink a little bit when it dries. The best way to avoid this is to soak at a lower temperature.

It is possible to steam clean the sub-layer. Since vacuuming must be completed before steaming, this will be a challenging task. Proceed with caution to prevent harm to the material. After both layers have dried, put the shape back together.

Shredded paper can be disposed of in the garbage or burned. It’s a good way to get a fire going. You can go as thick as you like if you use cotton batting instead. Put your outer linen layer back on and secure it in place after this layer has been joined to the shape.

How do You Clean Silicone Mannequins?

 

When it comes to cleaning silicone, you should have no problem locating a product that will do the job. The mannequin will need to be stripped down to its bare bones, which means there will be no clothes on the dress form.

The mannequin must be handled with care in the second stage. The mannequin’s most fragile components are its fingers, toes, hands, and feet, all of which are prone to breaking.

After positioning the mannequin, you should wipe it off with water to remove any loose dirt or filth before moving on to the next step. It is best to use distilled water because it is filtered because tap water can include chemicals that are damaging to silicone.

Next, mix up a paste of baking soda and distilled water and use a toothbrush to remove stubborn dirt and filth from the surface. It’s alright to scrub a little bit. Apple cider vinegar, which has been filtered, is the best vinegar to use if you’re a vinegar fan. You should steer clear of the filtered and organic ones.

Remember to immediately wipe the mannequin down after using this vinegar solution because it is acidic. In this way, there will be no harm done. Other cleaners may be available, but we cannot guarantee their effectiveness. A mannequin test is required to determine whether or not they work.

There are a variety of cleaners you can use to get the job done, including bleach, hydrogen peroxide, and dishwashing solutions.

How to Recover a Dress Form

 

The good news is that new dress form coverings are available from a variety of manufacturers. Just measure the dress form and buy a new one in the correct size to replace the one you can’t fix.

The cost of these covers is lower because they are merely a cover and not the entire dress form. With a few simple steps, you can make one yourself. The first thing you should do is swap out the linen for the jersey.

Afterward, cut one pattern piece along the fold that you’ve created. Finishing the hem of the jersey cloth is also optional. If you have a serger, you can sew the pattern parts together with a stretch stitch.

Your cover will be ready once you’ve completed these steps. The most difficult element of making this cover is choosing the correct knit material. There are, of course, those purists who insist on linen coverings only, and they should hem the linen cloth to prevent it from unraveling.

Using any material you like is fine because this is merely a dress form cover and not a fashion statement that will be visible to the public.

Some Final Words

Dress forms come in handy when you don’t want to put on and take off a dress several times. Your dimensions will be kept strictly confidential, and no one else will know them unless you want to share them with them.

When you need to adapt an existing design, you may use these dress forms to make all the necessary adjustments. If you take good care of them, they can be very useful.