I recently acquired a wedding gown from about 1988, and I would like to remove the pearls, but they are glued on. Is there any way to remove the glue safely? The gown is matte satin and lace.
My hope is to remove them and do some minor alterations on the gown before sewing on new pearls.
Thank you!
By Tamela Rocke
I used to be the seamstress in a fancy bridal shop. We put the wedding gown on an ironing board as if to iron it. Then we put very damp, clean cloths on top of the decorated sections and waited patiently for the glue to soften them. (Believe it or not, most of these decorations are attached with something like Elmer's glue which is water soluble.)
Eventually you can remove the decorations, then clean the cloth area of the gown carefully with a damp, clean cloth. Let it dry completely before handling the gown for alterations of any kind. If you plan to re-attach any decorations, use water soluble glue delicately, then wait for it to completely dry and turn completely clear.
I personally was appalled to discover that wedding gowns had washable glue on them to hold on the decorations, but it was certainly easier for alterations to be able to undo the decorations to make alterations, then reapply with similar glue. Imagine if all the pearls, beads and lace had been had sewn! It would have taken forever!
It took a while to enter the right word combination but here is what I found on google.
and this one has 4 methods not just one.
I hope these help. PBP
