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Liz asked: I just picked up my favorite 100% cotton, cream colored, velveteen evening coat from the dry cleaners. The coat has beautiful blak appliquéd floral designs down each arm and on the bodice of the garment. The black dye bled onto the cream background in random places. What should I do?
If you retrieve a garment from the dry cleaner only to discover that dye transfer has ruined it, the best thing to do is return it to the dry cleaner immediately. Not only is the cleaner responsible for the mess, but he or she is much more likely to be able to successfully remove it. If you want to try a home remedy, you can try this at your own risk.
You Will Need:
- Goddard’s Dry Clean Spot Remover
- Clean white towel
Steps to Remove the Stain:
- Place the towel inside the garment behind the stain. This will help prevent bleed-through.
- Following the package directions, spot test for color fastness on colored garments.
- Spray the stain with the dry clean spot remover.
- Allow it to dry (about 10 minutes). Then use the brush (included in Goddard’s spot remover packaging) to brush away the powder.
- Repeat if necessary.
Additional Tips and Advice
- If the bleed was from one part of the garment to another, take care not to get the “bleeding” color wet with the stain remover. You don’t want to trigger another bleed.
- Consider taking the garment to have the color “set” to prevent future bleeds. A reputable dry cleaner can do this for you.
- Use this method for spot cleaning only.
- If this does not remove the stain, there is little else you can do, other than return to the dry cleaner for their assistance.
I have noticed Calvin Klein dresses have this issue with colors bleeding through, especially the black dye that they use. The cleaning instruction tag inside those dresses say “dry clean only”, nothing else, so usually a dry cleaner will test a spot to check to see if the dye runs and if it doesn’t run, they clean it if the customer wants it, but sometimes the dye will still run so it is not the cleaners’ fault; it is the clothing manufacturer’s fault for using dyes or materials that do not hold up during cleaning.