Smokeylita's Lolita Wardrobe

One thing that is often overlooked in the fashion that really shouldn’t be is the long term care of our pieces, mainly the washing portion. And I know there are people terrified of washing their pieces.

And I certainly understand; for many people in the fashion, it’s their first time dealing with clothes that require specific care, and the worry of ruining a piece by washing it makes cleaning them seem nearly impossible.

But, that fear and avoidance of washing can also ruin a piece; if you don’t wash a piece that you have worn many times, getting the smells out will be harder. When it comes to stains and smells, the sooner you wash, the better.

The Universal Laundry Symbols

The Universal Laundry symbols, in theory, will tell you exactly how to wash things. There are several icons you will find on a clothing tag that will tell you exactly how the manufacturer intended the piece to be washed. Here is a list, for your convenience as well as a quick description from me ( infograph from here )

A universal laundry symbols guide

That said, you might not always be able, or willing, to follow these. If a piece says you cannot wash them at all, you may want to run a spot check to see if this is true.

The Spot Check

If the washing instructions seem off, if you don’t have the laundry instructions, the instructions have been lost, or you just want to try to wash your piece in another way, you should run a spot check.

A spot check is where you wash a small part of the dress, a part that if it does run, will not ruin the dress. Waist ties are good, or if the dress came with an extra swatch of fabric, that can also work, or perhaps a spot near a zipper or around shirring will be less noticeable. You will want to dab the area with a cold, wet paper towel, and see if any dye comes out. If no dye comes out, you can go to the next test, if it does, you need to either be extremely careful, or dry clean.

The next test is to leave a wet towelette on the spot for a bit longer, say, 10 minutes, just to confirm this is safe. If dye does come out

When hand washing something for the first time, sometimes, the water will be dyed a particular color, even if you spot checked the piece. This does not mean you ruined your piece; often, when a piece is made, excess dye is used. The same thing happens after you wash dyed hair for the first time; it isn’t the pigment leaving the piece, but excess dye that never really stuck in the first place leaves. This is also why, when you wash something, you should do it separately first.

How to take care of common stains

For stains, remember the following (Most of this is copied from a Singer stain guide that I can’t find online atm):

Act quickly. The longer the stain is left, the more likely it will be become a permanent stain.
Blot or wipe the spills, and do not rub.
Most stains can come out with a quick, cool rub of water or club soda. If it’s not washable, sponge it with water or club soda, and leave
Check the care label for bleaching instructions, but that said, you probably don’t want to bleach your brand unless it’s already white.
Test anything you use on an area that won’t be seen/noticeable first
Use the weakest, gentlest solution first, only use more if it doesn’t work
Rinse well after using a solution so it doesn’t stay inside the fabric and itself, stain anything.
Let air dry (or dry with cool air) before trying anything else.
Heat a solution before increasing the concentration of the cleaning solution, as many solutions will work better with heat.
Unless it’s a waxy stain, work while the fabric is moist

I would recommend looking up how to clean the material in general first, or how to remove the particular stain (Ideally, “How to remove x from y” with x being the stain source, and y being the material). I don’t feel qualified to cover this further at the moment, I have been lucky with lolita.

When can you machine wash?

Short answer: When you are sure a piece won’t bleed or be damaged by a washing machine.

Long answer: I don’t have enough experience with this to give a 100% accurate answer (I have to pay $4 to use the washer and dryer so I handwash), but from what I understand, if you have a piece that is safe to hand wash/dry, you can probably use a washing machine. Use a delicates bag (to protect the lace), and wash the item on its own so if anything comes out, it doesn’t ruin a different piece. You can use a color catcher to limit how much dye comes out/keep dye from staying in your machine’s water as well. Make sure to run it on cold, on a gentle cycle, and use a gentle detergent. In most cases, you probably should NOT machine dry, from what I understand, but dry as you would for handwashing (it will take less time because machine washing doesn’t need to soak the piece as much)

The one piece I have machine washed rather than hand-washed is this old bodyline skirt I got back in 2007. Or, to be more specific, my mom washed it, hot water, hot dryer, no delicates, since it got in her pile of laundry (You would think she would have noticed it wasn’t hers…). And you know? It was fine, but I would never recommend that to anyone. But if you ever mess up and end up washing it with non-ideal situations, whether by accident or to deal with something truly catastrophic (Mold, bedbugs, etc), it won’t necessarily ruin a piece forever.

How are common materials generally cleaned?

I only have listed the ones where I’m pretty sure about the usual directions, but if you know something I wrote is off, or know something about a material I didn’t list, feel free to share!

The biggest problem with lolita is honestly dye, or however prints were applied to a piece, but knowing the material can help. When in doubt, I usually just hand-wash.

Polyester: I see conflicting guides about this, but I believe if a piece is only polyester, it should be machine washable; I’ve never had an issue with bleeding from a polyester piece, and they have no risk of shrinking, as that is an issue with natural materials
Polyurethane: This is another synthetic material, and I find when a piece says to dry clean, this is usually why. But I have hand-washed this material with a gentle cleanser and cold water to fine effect.
Cotton: The material itself is generally safe for washing, but the dyes for prints can give you trouble. Generally, red and black dye are the most susceptible to fabric running. I have thrown solid cotton pieces into the washing machine before, though I would not recommend trying this with a printed piece you love.
Knits/Wool: These often shrink in high heat, so make sure you don’t wash it in high heat. If you do this, it can sometimes warp back to an unshrinked state, it isn’t the end of the world, but be aware of this. Shrinking is an issue with natural-yarn pieces like wool.
Faux fur: I don’t know much about real fur, but fake fur will get messed up in any hot conditions. Wash pieces with fake fur in cooler water; honestly, if you look up how furries wash fursuits, that will be a good guide. If there is fake fur on something that absolutely cannot be washed, you can use fursuit spray (Which you can buy or make, many furries make it with different scents! I believe it’s a mix of rubbing alcohol and different scents) to help clean that part of a piece without damaging it.
Real Fur: ??? This is a mystery to me, good luck
Real Leather: ??? If you have a real leather piece, make sure to give it love! If you do, that piece could literally last decades. I don’t know the specifics though
Pleather: Don’t let it stay wet for long, don’t let it get hot, especially if it is an AP pleather bag from the early 2010s. If it starts to flake, be aware that the fix for it is extremely annoying, but you can at least fix its look by using a mix of fabric and acrylic (you can use a thick base to get the texture, and then a thinner paint to get the right color). This will not get it back to 100%, but if you are in pleather shoe hell, it will help. If there is a long piece of pleather that is likely to bend a lot (Like on a ballerina-style shoe strap, bag handle, etc), I would consider replacing it with a different material as the stress from the bending will make it flake sooner, in my experience.
Wood: Ah, you have rocking horse shoes. I believe there is wood polish you can use to help clean it?

How do I personally wash things/how often?

Blouses: Honestly? I usually just throw them in the washer with my other clothes if it’s laundry day, though I usually do get them washed after a quick wear, I don’t have any blouses that would be ruined by machine washing, and honestly, I think blouses are the pieces that benefit the most from machine washing. You are very likely to sweat in them, and you want to take care of sweat/deodorant stains ASAP so you don’t end up with marks.
OPs: because they touch the pits, I would wash after every use, or as soon as possible
JSKs: These tend to follow the same rules as denim jeans; you don’t need to wash them after every use (unless you sweat like a mf in them, check the armpit area after wear just to make sure). These get the cold hand-washing treatment generally.
Skirts: I have seen some guides that say to wash these after every wear, but to wash jsks less often, and I have to firmly disagree. I wash these as often as I wash my JSKs; these don’t touch a single part of me unless I wear them as a plain skirt with no petti or anything, so I’ll take care of anything between washes, but it does follow denim rules
Headpieces: Hats that are soft and don’t have parts that would disintegrate do often get thrown in the washer for me, but for other pieces, if they need them, I tend to use something similar to fursuit spray. For obvious reasons, don’t throw these in a washing machine unless you KNOW there is no hot glue, as any glue-like adhesive will disintegrate in heat (as most adhesion does, in case you ever need to get rid of a sticker)
Jewelry/other accessories: Usually just spot-clean as needed, metal jewelry does get cleaned if it starts to look bad. Wristcuffs can be handwashed, or maybe put in a delicates bag but be careful because lace (especially if it’s hot glued)
Shoes: Spot cleaning as necessary, mostly if I end up stepping on dirt. Shoe polish or paint can help with scuffs, but I try not to let my shoes stay wet since that will be a problem for flaking. Shoes made with softer materials get lint
Socks: I don’t know if it’s the best way, but I throw these into machine wash after every wear, delicates bag if they have lace, but they deserve heat imo; they’re touching your feet and you don’t want that kind of grossness on your socks. Do them on cold if they’re a natural fiber material, but if they’re synthetic, whatever.
Bloomers: Wash after every wear, I usually just throw these in the washer/dryer because it’s not something I worry about bleed too much since they’re not visible.
Petticoat: Not very often unless it somehow gets stained, since it never touches skin or open air. Washing with warm water and letting it dry upside down is probably the way to go. If it deflates, adding corn starch can apparently help?

What other things can be good for your pieces for longevity/more comfortable wear?

Sweat guards: If you sweat a lot, these can be nice to prevent sweat stains/deoderant stains.
Shoe insoles: These will help make your shoes more comfortable, and will help keep the soles in good condition for longer! Cheap foam ones are enough to help keep the sole from dying faster, but you can get nicer gel ones for a more comfortable fit (works better if the shoes are slightly too big as well)
Shoe padding: If you have a pair of shoes that are too big, or dig into your heel, these help pad them so they can be smaller, or put less stress on your heel. There are also grips you can put on your ankle that help when breaking shoes in!
Steamer: These are GREAT for getting wrinkles out, and helping freshen a piece
Ironing board: Can still be nice to have even if you have a steamer
Proper storage: Don’t just throw your pieces on the floor obviously, but properly storing your pieces is important for keeping them in top condition. You don’t need the prettiest display, but you should store your pieces between use in a way that they won’t get hurt.

If your jsk’s straps are elastic, don’t hang them up by the straps, as this will stretch the elastic.
For hangers, cheap metal ones are generally a bad idea, as they can dig in and tear into the piece, or bend under weight in ways that can shape it weird. Plastic or coat hangers covered in velvet or fabric is preferable, or perhaps pants hangers that grab the waistband.
For pettis, you can stick them in a bag for maximum space, or hang them upside down to help retain the poof for longer (Apparently??? I’ve been doing this for a long time because I read it in a guide on livejournal and I don’t know how to verify it works)
Don’t leave your pieces in a sunny spot! They will fade! If you want to display your pieces somewhere, make sure it’s not a spot where the sun will hit it and cause fading

Lint roller: a must if you have a loving cat, and handy for everyone else.

What do you do if you end up having to deal with mold or bedbugs on a piece?

Say the worst possible scenario happens, say you don’t realize there is a leak in your closets, and your pieces get some kind of mold. Or, say you end up with a bedbug infestation, and you need to kill anything that may have been infested, which includes all of your pieces.

I think this may be the worst case scenarios/the scariest issues you could possibly have. You are already dealing with an awful situation, and with delicate pieces, it is something that would make me cry.

I would follow your standard guide for dealing with these things. I am not qualified to give detailed answers on mold/bedbugs (and I thankfully haven’t had a scare for either of these), but I would say to start with gentler methods, but you need to use some sort of bleach or extreme temperature treatment to get rid of mold or bedbugs, respectively.

For a bedbug scare, if a piece cannot be machine washed on high, you could stick it in the freezer for about 4 days. Be aware that there is some small level of moisture involved in a freezer, but it is the safer option for pieces that can’t handle heat, as you need either extreme heat or cold to remove the insects. Make sure to treat the entire house if you end up in this situation, or they could just get back on the pieces.

Remember: it is better to have a faded piece than one with mold or bugs.

Smokeylita's Lolita Wardrobe and Code