Tulsa Holiday Garments: Velvet, Sequins, and Beading, Cared for Properly

The holiday season brings out Tulsa’s most beautiful — and most delicate — garments, and a heritage Tulsa Dry Cleaner knows their names: velvet, sequins, and beading. These are the fabrics of December, and they are also the fabrics most often ruined by good intentions and a home washing machine.

Velvet: pile, patience, and no crushing

Velvet’s character is its pile, and pile crushes. Folded wrong, stored under weight, or pressed flat, velvet takes impressions that can be permanent. It spots with water, and its richness dulls when it is cleaned harshly. Velvet garments should hang freely, rest between wearings, and be cleaned and finished by hands that steam and lift the pile rather than iron it into submission.

Sequins and beading: inspect first, always

Sequins may be sewn, glued, or both; beads may be strung on thread a decade old. Before any cleaning, each section must be checked — a loose strand secured, a fragile area identified — because the time to discover weak beading is at the inspection table, not afterward. Cleaning then proceeds by the gentlest method the garment allows, with ornamentation protected throughout. At DeHoney’s, cleaning Tulsa’s finest since 1921 has made this inspection a reflex: fine holiday pieces are heirlooms in the making, and they are treated that way.

Before the party, and after

• Before: Bring holiday garments in early in the season. A refresh and a careful finish take time, and December’s calendar fills — the week of the party is too late to discover a hem or a stain from last year.
• At the party: Blot spills; never rub embellished fabric, and apply nothing from the host’s kitchen chemistry set.
• After: Have the garment cleaned before storage, even when it looks immaculate. Sugar, champagne, and perspiration dry invisibly and work on fabric and ornamentation all year in the dark.

A century of Decembers

DeHoney’s has prepared Tulsa’s holiday finest for more than a hundred seasons — the velvet dresses, sequined gowns, beaded jackets, and formal pieces families hand down along with the stories. Bring yours in while the season is young, and wear it the way it deserves to be worn.

DeHoney’s Dry Cleaners, 1427 S Harvard Ave, Tulsa — open Mon–Fri 7 AM–6 PM, call (918) 744-1166. Free pickup and delivery is available twice a week in Tulsa, Owasso, Broken Arrow, Jenks, and Bixby; sign up at https://waterstonecleaners.smrtapp.com/custx/