You spent a lot of time choosing the perfect baptismal dress for your baby. If you're like most parents, you want to store that special keepsake. When storing a baptismal dress, it's important to know that you can't simply place it in a box and forget about it. That's a good way to end up with a ruined keepsake. To make sure that your baby's baptismal dress survives storage, you'll need to take some special measures. Here are four steps you'll need to take to protect your special keepsake during storage:
Start with a Good Cleaning
If you're going to store your baby's baptismal dress, you need to make sure it starts out clean. You might think it's fine for storage, as long as you can't see any visible dirt marks. Unfortunately, that's not correct. In fact, things like natural body oils and sweat can be present on fabric even when it isn't visible. Not only that but if anyone was wearing perfume while holding your baby, the perfume oils could have rubbed off on the fabric. Avoid possible stains by washing the dress in mild detergent prior to storage.
Leave it to Air Dry
After you've washed your baby's baptismal dress, you'll want to make sure it's completely dry before you put it into storage. If your dress can be placed in a clothes dryer, go ahead and let it tumble dry on low for about 15-20 minutes. After that, place a towel on a flat surface, and allow the dress to air dry until completely dry. You don't want to leave any excess moisture in the fabric, or the dress could develop mold and mildew during storage.
Avoid Wire Hangers
If you've decided to hang your dress up for storage, you'll want to avoid wire hangers. First, the wire hangers can leave deep marks in the fabric as it hangs. Second, if moisture builds up in the closet where you're storing the dress, the wire could leave rust marks on the white fabric. Avoid those problems by always hanging your baby's baptismal dress on plastic or foam-covered hangers.
Provide Annual Care
Once you put your baby's dress into storage, you might think that it's safe just to leave it there. However, that could actually lead to fabric damage, especially if the fabric dries out over the years. To prevent fabric deterioration, you should bring the dress out of storage about once a year. Bring the dress out of storage, and soak it in warm water for about 30 minutes. Wring it out well, and then place it in the dryer on low for about 20 minutes. Finally, place it on a flat surface to air dry before placing the dress back into storage.
Contact a company that makes baby baptism dresses for more information and assistance.
