How to Wash a Figure Skating Dress

Last updated: 28 October 2026

First: does it need washing at all?

Less often than you think. Rink air is clean, and most of what a dress picks up is sweat at the neckline and under the arms — which dries odourless and invisible. A dress aired properly after skating (hung on a hanger, out of the closed bag, away from heat) often needs a real wash only once or twice a season. Over-washing is what kills beaded dresses, not wear.

Spot first, wash second

Most marks — a skate blade scuff, a chocolate smear, tights dye — come out with a damp cloth and a drop of mild detergent, dabbed from the outside of the fabric towards the centre of the mark. Do not rub crystals directly; the stain is in the fabric, and the cloth only needs to reach the fabric.

When it truly needs water

1. Cold water, small basin, mild detergent. Turn the dress inside out. Five minutes of gentle squeezing through the bodice is plenty — never scrub, never wring, never a washing machine even on "hand wash" (the drum stretch and the spin are what pull seams out of line).
2. Keep it short. Long soaks soften the glue lines under dense crystal work. Three to five minutes of washing beats thirty of soaking.
3. Rinse in cold water until no suds remain, pressing the water through the fabric — not running it under a tap at pressure.
4. Roll, do not wring. Lay the dress flat on a clean towel, roll the towel up with the dress inside, and press. Unroll and move to a second dry towel if it is still dripping.
5. Dry flat, away from heat and sun. A radiator and a sunny windowsill both stretch and fade a skating dress. Flat on a dry towel, room temperature, and it will be ready the next day. Never hang a wet beaded dress — the weight of the water and crystals pulls the shoulders out of shape.

Fabric notes

• Stretch velvet (most of our velvet designs) hates ironing. Creases drop out by hanging the dress in a steamy bathroom; if you must press, do it from the reverse side through a cloth, barely touching.
• Mesh and illusion sleeves snag on jewellery and velcro — wash them inside out and keep them away from anything with hooks.
• Heavy crystal work: if the dress is stiff with stones, skip the basin and use the spot-cleaning route, or ask us — a dress that comes back to us for alterations can be freshened at the same time.

Storage between seasons

Clean before storing — set-in sweat is what yellows white and pale dresses over a summer. Hang on a padded hanger in a breathable garment bag, not plastic, in a dry closet. Fold-over storage is fine for a few weeks; for a full off-season, hanging keeps crystal lines straight. And check it once mid-summer: a strap found loose in September is a two-minute fix, a strap found loose at the rink is not.