My bewdiful silk dress has a couple of grease spots on it following a dinner party. The cold hand wash the label recommends hasn’t shifted them, and it’s not dry-cleanable. I don’t want to risk using harsh detergents on it. I seem to remember someone telling me that placing a piece of kitchen paper over the stain and ironing on the top of it would lift it off, anyone know if that’s true? Or have any better ideas? Please help me salvage my frock!
That will get some of it out, but you might have some luck with Woolite, too. Are the spots big?
I’d try ammonia. I can do wonders under certain circumstances. Use it straight as a spray or dab, or mix it with water for a hand wash.
I wouldn’t ever apply heat!
Have you thought about just taking it to a Dry Cleaners?
Bolding mine.
I don’t know about where you live, but here the big dry-cleaning places don’t just do dry cleaning. I’d take it and ask, at any rate.
I wonder if just a mild baby shampoo might work? I doubt it would damage the fabric, and that stuff cuts grease nicely… Depending on the color of the frock, I’d try to get non-colored baby shampoo. (It’s out there, though not as easy to find.)
Er, use baby shampoo in cold water as a hand wash of course. 
Whatever you do, do NOT use chlorine bleach. The silk will literally dissolve.
Right, will try the Woolite suggestion tonight, as I have some at home, and if that doesn’t work will seek out the colorless baby shampoo. Think I’ll save the dry cleaners as a last resort though - last time I presented them with something more “challenging” I got a blank look and a standard response about them not being liable if anything went wrong.
Cheers for the ideas everyone!
If the baby shamopoo doesn’t do it, try Dawn dishsoap. It’s what my “hair system for men” stylist friend uses to get all the greasy, nasty gunk off mens’ [del]toupees[/del] “hair systems” after they’ve been wearing them for two weeks. Cuts the oils and grease on those just as well as it does on dishes!
Again, make sure you get the Dawn that has no dyes in it if you go that route.
And never, never, never rub the fabric directly. Silk is unbelievably brittle. You might get out the stain but you’ll leave a mark that can never be fixed.
lost a gorgeous brown silk shirt this way
Try that new Spray & Wash Dual Power stuff. It comes in that two-chambered bottle. It is the two pink and white liquids that mix together when you spray it out onto the stain.
Check the label first and make sure you can use it on silk.
I’ve used it to get motor oil and grease out of my husband’s jeans and t-shirts, and it works wonderfully. I also used it to get splattered grease from frying food out of some clothes - not silk, though.
You might also try Fels Naptha soap. It’s a bit harsher, though, but works well for greasy stains. It comes in the laundry detergent aisle - it’s a bar soap wrapped in paper. Make a lather with it and rub the lather very gently into the stains. Just dab it, actually. Let it sit for a bit and see if that might lift them out.
Is it raw silk or the shiney silk. I had an off-white raw silk dress with red wine stains :eek: Couldn’t get them out with anything. As a last resort I put the dress (already soaking wet) in icey cold water with a little bit of bleach in it. Worked like a charm, wore the dress for years.
A resale store owner turned me on to using bleach in cold water for just about any natural fabric. The key is to get the item soaky wet first in really cold water (cold so the bleach doesn’t get too active, wet so it doesn’t soak in.) I have saved many cotton shirts from the garbage with this method and the aforementioned silk dress. If the stain doesn’t come out completely in the cold water you can gradually increase the water temp. This works with colored items too, but the longer in the bleach water and the higher the temp, the greater the risk of fading. I would try this as a last resort, what have you got to lose? 
No, no, no! Not Woolite! It’s designed to be used with synthetic fibers, not natural ones. The name is misleading. It was originally developed to be used on wool-substitutes in the mid-twentieth century. Using it on animal fibers (like real wool and silk) can weaken the fiber, leading to a greater chance of tears and discoloration.
For grease stains, first try to absorb as much of the grease as you can, and then use a mild, grease-cutting soap. Dawn will work. It’s fantastic for grease stains.
Not to be argumentative, but where did you get this information? I’ve used Woolite on silk with great success.
I read it first on the knitting community on LiveJournal, and I’ve read it on other fiber-related mailing lists. Apparently, Woolite sucks the moisture out of fibers, which makes them more brittle and therefore more prone to breaking and fading. I see now, looking at Woolite’s website, that they have multiple versions of their product, and I don’t know if the ban on Woolite+animal fibers extends to all of them, or only the original version.
I asked my mother about it. She used to be a dressmaker and she said that she’s had a lot of success spreading the fabric out and putting a pile of talc on the grease spots. Let stand at least overnight. She says the talc draws the grease up and out of the fabric. You can do it multiple times if it’s helping but not completely successful.
And good luck!
Jenny, I’ve had success with using talc – if it doesn’t work first time, try again but before brushing it off cover with paper (kitchen towel is fine) and run the iron over it.
However, if this is a favourite irreplaceable dress, might it be worth tryingh a high -end sort of cleaners as opposed to a High St chain? I guess a good place to start is by phoning round a few vintage clothes shops to see who they recommend. Or since you’re a theatrical type, maybe you’ll know someone who knows a wardobe/costume person?
All the best – I’m still mourning the loss of my favourite cotton lace blouse over 10 years ago, so I know how much it sucks to think you’ll never be able to wear a much loved item of clothing again.