Grass and Rain

I remember the day I decided to clean my wedding gown. It was my 1st wedding anniversary. I was on Cloud Nine, cruising on memory lane. Remembering the fun events of the day: our nuptial dance, the father-daughter dance, you name it!

In remembrance of that beautiful day, I took my wedding gown out of the storage box. To hold it against my chest, run my fingers through the delicate transparent tiny beads and floral embroidery design. To continue my cruise on Cloud Nine.

However, at first glance, I noticed mud and grass stains. It rained cats and dogs on my big day. So I wasn’t surprised that the hem was badly stained.

The stains were a year old and had set into the fabric. Immediately I know it would be a daunting task to have it cleaned. I accepted the challenge, regardless. You see, I was out of work and bored.

I needed a project to keep me busy. Moreover, I wasn’t going to spend money cleaning a dress I had no intention of wearing again.

The stains were stubborn as expected.
I tried different cleaning agents and methods but I didn’t achieve the desired result.

So I decided to apply an extremely diluted chlorine bleach solution on the tough stains. Against the warning on the washing instructions: DO NOT BLEACH!

Guess what? The solution removed the stains 100% without damaging the fabric.

As cliché as it may sound: think outside the box when faced with a stubborn situation.

I’m not saying: “disregard instructions or guidelines”. No, but don’t be bound by rules or practices that limit your potentials or make you achieve less than you can.