A thrifty bride has revealed how she cleaned her expensive wedding dress for just $15 after she was quoted a staggering $1,000 to have it done professionally.
PE teacher Kate Writer, from Long Jetty in New South Wales, was left with stains on her $2,000 lace gown after the September 2017 wedding.
The 27-year-old refused to pay the extortionate price after she was quoted $1,000 to have her white beaded dress professionally cleaned at the dry cleaners.
And so she decided to hand wash the gown in her own bathtub using two supermarket cleaning products – $9 Stain Go, and $5.99 SARD ultra whitening stain remover powder.
Young bride Kate Writer (pictured), from New South Wales, tied the knot in September 2017
The 27-year-old teacher was left with dirty stains, including fake tan and mud – but after hand washing the $2,000 dress in her bathtub, it was ‘completely white’ again
After doing her research, the fitness enthusiast bravely soaked her murky dress in a tub of lukewarm water, and up to three scoops of SARDS.
‘I used the spray directly on noticeable stains and marks (fake tan and dirt) before and during soaking,’ she explained on her Instagram story.
Determined to remove the stubborn stains once and for all, she then used the spray to gently get rid of any marks she could from the delicate gown.
‘My train was absolutely massive, so all around the bottom of the lace is all dirty… it was absolutely trashed, there was still grass in there,’ she said.
‘Inside was totally covered in tan, it was orange.’
She decided to wash the gown herself in a bathtub using two supermarket cleaning products – $9 Stain Go, and $5.99 SARD ultra whitening stain remover powder
Documenting the process over the weekend, Katie admitted she was taking a risk after her followers warned her against the home cleaning trick.
‘I’ve come to terms with the fact it might not work but I think it will. I’ve researched what I’m doing, I’ve watched a lot of videos and got a lot of opinions,’ she said.
‘I’m going to do this in the bathtub, so really gently with warm water, some different stain removers, detergents and washing powders.
‘I’m going to be very gentle, obviously I don’t want to ruin it. I got quotes for dry cleaning this and it was close to $1,000.’
After soaking the dress for 30 minutes, she said most of the stains had lifted because she was left with brown-coloured water.
When she took her dirty wedding dress to the dry cleaners, she was shocked after being quoted $1,000 to have it professionally cleaned
‘It’s been in the water for half an hour, water looks really gross but look how much has come out,’ she said.
‘All the tan has come off and the lace at the bottom is white again. It’s 100 per cent working.’
She emptied out the bathtub before refiling it up with clean water to repeat the method in round two.
Finally, she moved her noticeably white dress outside to allow it to air dry.
‘It will take days [to dry] but that’s alright,’ she said.
After soaking the dress for 30 minutes, she said most of the stains had lifted because she was left with brown-coloured water
After leaving her wedding gown outside to dry for several days, she was delighted with the impressive results
During the cleaning process, she also used tweezers to remove the grass.
After leaving her wedding gown outside to dry for several days, she was delighted with the impressive results.
‘It’s really beautiful, white and amazing,’ she said.
‘It’s come up so nicely. The silk was really dirty before, and it’s now looking good. It’s all really nice and white – I’m stoked for a home job.
‘It’s perfect, everything completely lifted and it cost me $15.’