I’m sure you all remember this amazing rose-printed dress from a few posts back. Well, we had a bit of an emergency week before last and her life hung in the balance for a good 24 hours. I will forewarn you, fellow readers, this is not a story for the faint of heart. There is some crying, some damaged vintage, and a few choice words being slung around my bathroom. If you have a hardy constitution and can handle a few heart stopping moments, read on….
On the day I wore this 1950’s stunner, I hit my favorite drive-through coffee shop on my way into work. As it’s not my first sip-and-drive rodeo, I mostly left it in the cup holder. Once I got to campus, I made the fatal error of taking a sip. Due to some crazy transgression of the laws of physics, the cup literally buckled in on itself and I spilled half a cup INTO MY LAP. As you can imagine, the shriek was heard around the world. And the shriek had nothing to do with the hot coffee and everything to do with the fact that one of the most beautiful dresses I owned was now a sopping (albeit slightly more caffeinated) mess.
I somehow managed to dry off and clean up to the best of my ability, get through my class, and then raced home to rinse her and prevent the stain from setting. Normally I would test for colorfastness first, but desperate times. Thankfully, I managed to remove all traces of the coffee and gently laid her out to dry. My heart rate nearly started to return to normal. When I came back 10 minutes later to check on her, I nearly burst into tears a second time to find the color had bled EVERYWHERE and my vintage was a mess of green streaks. It looked like the Hulk had projectile vomited all over her. She survived 70+ years and now was gasping for breath in my arms. Yeah, the second shriek (and a few other choice phrases) was heard around the world.
I think I actually ran in circles for a good five minutes, unsure of what to do. I dabbed….I cried. I considered a stain stick and then threw it across the room, sure it would cause more damage. My fingers flew across the keys of OLL (a facebook group full of ladies who seriously know their vintage). In a few threads, one of my favorite ladies Melissa Lee gave some amazing advice. One of which was to immediately get her back into water with several color catchers. Tearful and doubtful, I raced to the supermarket, bought them out of color catchers, and raced back. I spent the evening in dress triage – soaking and replacing the water in the tub several times (each time the water got progressively less green).
My husband paced outside the door in a nervous vintage vigil, poking his head in every so often to check on the patient. After about 5 soaks, I laid the dress on towels – I had a towel beneath her, a towel inside of her (so dye couldn’t soak between the layers) and stuffed her sleeves with more towels (I took no chances).
The next morning, I woke up, took a deep breath, and peaked in to check on her. Miracle of miracles, she survived! She was sitting up, eating chicken soup, and looking at me as if no terrifying accident had happened the night before!
Now, I have learned a few things from this incident and would love it if you could all benefit from the wisdom of my panicked experience:
- During my cardiac arrest, I was too eye-on-the-remove-the-coffee-stain prize to think clearly. If you can take a breath, the ideal course of action is to test a small area of the fabric first to see if it’s colorfast (preferably an area under the hem that isn’t super visible).
- In preparation for hand washing, there are a number of products that discourage color bleed. One product recommended to me is Synthrapol which is said to remove excess dye from hand dyed fabrics (I haven’t used it, though now have it on hand. I was warned it does a number on the hands, so to wear gloves)
- If you do see color bleed, do NOT put the garment in the dryer or let it dry.
- Put the item immediately back in water – put several color catchers in the bath. Drain and repeat over the course of several hours if necessary.
- Dry flat – lay towels underneath AND inside of the garment to avoid any possibility of colors bleeding through the layers.
I have no photos of the near tragedy (cause I was far too panicked). But, I’m very happy to report that, although her colors are ever so slightly less vibrant since the incident, the awful green streaks are gone and this beautiful vintage dress will live to twirl another day.
Has this ever happened to you? If you have an advice, I’d love to hear it!
xoxo
Outfit Details: See Original Post
Savior of the Day: Melissa Lee & Shout Color Catchers
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