Thanks for the reply! You may have a point, as the guest bath exterior shower curtain stays clean. Another problem w/ the new shower curtain is that it's too long by a couple inches. Moving the crescent shower curtain rod that's achored in granite is not an option. I guess if I can't find a shorter curtain that I like, I could always have this one shortened up a bit?

You might try calling RL cust svce and ask them. I did that with a dress from a different label. Sometimes they will put DC because it is the best way to insure people follow the cleaning instructions (fFWIW, I had a black burnout material top turn brown after one dry cleaning, and the top was supposed to be dry cleaned, so no guarantee of good results). I explained to the woman at the other label that my front loading washing machine has an ultra hand wash cycle and I would use that cycle if she felt it would be ok, which she did. People often do not use the gentlest cycles they should, so saying dry clean/only on the label helps to cover the manuf. butts. That said, there are some fabrics and embellishments that really should be DC'd, period.

Hi Guys Wow! Didn't know laundry = such drama!! :) Anyways, I have some input here. Agree with cavium, really a 50/50 risk when the silk says "dry clean only." It really depends on the finish and manufacture of the silk. Typically, it won't shrink, but color may run, and if there are special finishes that give the fabric body or sheen, then finish may be rinsed away leaving the garment with a different look and feel. If it said "hand wash only," then the Miele silk cycle is 100% OK. The problem with "dry clean only" could be that the garment manufacturers may be trying to cover themselves, so it is safest for them to label the garment with a dry clean only fabric care label. THE OTHER ISSUE here is pressing. With delicate fabrics, ironing at home will yield very different results than pressing/steaming with professional equipment. That said, if the garment is unique and expensive then think twice, but if you're willing to chance it AND the garment would not be adversely impacted by home ironing or air drying, you may be pleasantly surprised that the garment can be water washed. I've had to make that decision with fine wool sweaters that say "dry clean only" and found that the Woolens cycle is superb for wool, and subsequently gotten more use out of my sweaters (I feel I can wear them more and thus wash them more) without amassing $100's in dry cleaning bills. In the Miele washers with a COLD and NO HEAT water temp options (with some cycle exceptions in the Super Large American size capacity machines), the difference is that NO HEAT means cold water directly from the tap. If you select COLD, then tap cold water will be heated by the internal heating element to 85 degrees F (still cold) which is really helpful when using powder detergents or during the winter where tap cold water is TOO cold to clean fabrics sufficiently or dissolve/activate detergents. The Super Large American sized machines - the W4800 series - only use the water heater in certain cycles. For example, in the NORMAL cycle you can choose HOT (that is normally 140 degrees F with the Euro-size Miele machines), and the machine will use hot water from the hot water hose/line, but it will NOT heat the water regardless of temp. But in in the Wrinkle Free cycle, choosing HOT will activate the internal water heater. I cannot recall all of the cycles that utilize the internal water heater, but I "believe" that Silk and Woolens cycle do. In these machines, even when using a cycle that DOES use the internal water heater, the temperatures are not "guaranteed" to the predefined water temp. Rather, the internal water heater will be turned on and the machine will ATTEMPT to heat the water to a predefined temp (140 for HOT, for example), but due to cycles times and a lower watt heating unit it may not actually achieve that temp. I don't think that for the Silk cycle, these water heating method of the machines is that crucial since your only choices are NO HEAT and COLD... UNLESS your tap cold water is really cold (like during winter time) where the water is too cold to detergent activation (you would probably use a speciality liquid detergent for silks anyway, and not powders) or cleaning (if you garment had heavier soiling). Happy washing.

RN, the sequins and beads were sewn on to lace. They lost none of their luster in the wash. I was afraid if i soaked just the bottoms of the gowns the soaked fabrics would behave differently from the unsoaked fabrics and trims, so I pushed the entire gown into the machine for the soak and wash. Every bit of the black dirt on the hems and trains is gone. One girl was married in a garden so you can imagine what that was like, the other was married in a children's museum and the wine drips on the front are absolutely gone! I only air dried the gowns in the dryer for several minutes to get the layers fluffed, then hung them on doors to dry. That took days! I fluffed and readjusted repeatedly, but in the end both gowns are perfect and we saved hundreds of dollars. Re The cleaning and preserving: My own gown was preserved in 1968. When we opened it before my eldest dtrs wedding in 1996, all the silver baguettes my mother had sewn on my lace had turned black, and the little seed pearls had lost their luster. It was awful, completely studded with black spots, so useless for any purpose at all. For some reason, I saved it anyway! We Good luck with the project!