The Rinse Team was rooting for Everything Everywhere All at Once) at the 95th Academy Awards last week for a few reasons. For one, it’s a great movie. Exploring themes of generational trauma and the multiverse, it deserved all 7 of the Oscars it won. Second of all, the critical acclaim of the film is a major win for Asian American representation in Hollywood. And, of course, we loved the laundromat scenes. The real-life laundromat in LA, where several key scenes were filmed, has been flooded with tourists since the movie's release. Finally, people are appreciating the art of laundry!
We’re not in the business of movie reviews, though. We’re in the business of clothing care. At the end of the day we are #LaundryNerds and can’t help but dream about how we would clean the cast’s fabulous outfits worn on the Oscars Academy Awards red carpet. So we asked our co-founder, COO, and in-house clothing care expert, James Joun, how he would go about caring for some of these garments.
Michelle Yeoh Wins Best Actress
Michelle Yeoh, who won the Oscar for best actress in a leading role, wore a stunning white Dior ballgown with a mesh bodice and angelic layers of feather fringe. Exposed feathers are an extremely delicate (and expensive) material, which makes them a rare item to clean. This dress makes our hearts flutter, and takes the question ‘how to wash white clothes’ to the next level.
Since our COO and Co-founder, James Joun, grew up helping around his parents’ dry cleaners, we asked him to share his clothing care expertise on how to clean this gorgeous gown with special attention for its delicate feather skirt.
“We’d start by gently hand washing only the feathers that appear dirty,” says James. “There isn’t a standard method for attaching feathers, so you’ll want to do everything you can to avoid damaging the glue or clasps that hold the feathers to the garment. We would delicately swish the feathers through a solution of warm water and mild detergent, never scrubbing, so we don’t risk having the feathers clump or lose their shape.”
As experienced dry cleaners, looking at the length of her dress we also know that the underside of her train would likely have marks from her high heels (especially after all the much-deserved celebrations) that we’d want to remove before returning this glamorous garment to Michelle.
Ke Huy Wuan Wins Best Supporting Actor
Ke Huy Quan, who took home the Oscar for best supporting actor, donned a timeless black tuxedo on the Academy Awards red carpet. His classic black single-breasted tux is by Armani and he accessorized with an Art Nouveau flower brooch. Ke Huy told a reporter it was the most beautiful tux he’d ever worn and we’d have to agree.
Luckily we have a lot of suit dry cleaning experience at Rinse. First step, we’d make sure Ke Huy remembered to remove those stunning brooches. Then we’d get down to business with our green dry cleaning methods. Want some tips on how to properly care for your suit? Read our guide to caring for suits here.
Jamie Lee Curtis Wins Best Supporting Actress
Jamie Lee Curtis accepted her Oscar for best actress in a supporting role wearing a crystal-encrusted gown from Dolce & Gabbana. According to James, ”Ornamentations, such as sequins and beads, are notoriously difficult to protect and can be easily damaged by the heat of the cleaning and drying process. Heat can melt either the ornamentation itself, or, if the ornamentation is affixed to the garment using glue, it can melt the glue. To optimize for safety, my strong recommendation would be to hand-wash the garment in lukewarm water and hang to dry.”
Once the dress had air dried, we would check it one more time to make sure it’s impeccable and before delivering it back to Jamie for the next time she needs to sparkle on the Oscars Academy Awards red carpet.
Everything Everywhere All At Once wins Best Picture at the 95th Academy Awards
Did you know co-director Daniel Scheinert thrifted his Academy Awards suit? We 100% support it. Whoever owned that suit before him definitely knew the importance of dry cleaning! Thanks for indulging us #LaundryNerds as we mused about how we’d clean these iconic looks. Until next awards season!
