Project: Costume Rescue has slowly begun

I've got all the soiled pieces closed up in a guest bathroom so the cat can't revisit her handiwork... First I tried a costume that had metal medallions and relatively washable fabric. Put it in a lingerie bag on the 'handwash' machine cycle with a little OxyClean and some of our Seventh Generation detergent.

No rhinestones were lost and I couldn't smell the cat pee. I turned the spin cycle off of course so it was dripping wet. It's now placed on a special drying rack in the guest bathroom bathtub (again, kept away from the cat). We'll see how it fairs once dry. I think the bra should be fine but the belt may have lost most of its stiffness. If that's the case, I should be able to add a new layer of super stiff interfacing and a lining and it'll be good to go. That's one life saved!!

Next up, a few veils. They were all synthetic. One had beaded edges and one had sequin edges. The fabric fared fine, but the cat pee is still very noticeable. These were clearly peed on directly, possibly more than once. The sequins lost some of their color around the edges but the beads look ok. I'll have to wash them again- this time with vinegar I think...


The last thing I had time to try was a load this morning with a velvet vest/bra that had sequin trim, beaded fringe and hand embroidery. The velvet was already a bit worse for the wear because it's my oldest cabaret costume and needs to be rebuilt. So far the velvet doesn't look any worse than it did before (but again, it's still very wet) but the sequins lost all color.