Cleaning Hand-Me-Down Bows

[jlgresl]

I received an entire grocery bag of boutique bows from my cousin this weekend. Her daughter is 12 and not interested in wearing them any longer. Some of them have seen better days but I don't think she could force herself to pitch them. There are some really nice bows too but they are a tad dingy. Does anyone know a way to clean them? I plan on trimming and resealing the ends. Also, there are some satin bows and I've not worked with satin yet. Can I use my woodburner to reseal the edges of the satin bows? Thanks for the tips.

[mbland]

you can heat seal satin.

[olivia-mom]

Maybe in the washer on hand wash/delicate in a lingerie bag (hey--you have to use the bag for something, right? That way the bows won't get lost.

[mbland]

my sister in law washed the ones I made for her in bleach in the washer, I about stroked. It did fine but the end where I push the ribbon in on the alligator clips came loose. I would hand-wash, reshape and let air dry.

[jlgresl]

I tried the dirtiest one in the dishwasher (along with the sippy cup parts). It came out very clean and none the worse for wear. It was a white grograin ribbon on an alligator clip. It was still very wet so I used a towel to blot the bulk of the water out. I'll try a colored grosgain next - want to make sure the color doesn't run. Then, I may try a satin. Satin tends to show water stains but maybe it's best to get the entire bow wet as opposed to just spot treating. I'll keep you posted.

[rn4picu]

I would have never thought to wash the bows in the dishwasher. How clever!