COLLAR
CLEANING INSTRUCTIONS
1. First take the collar off the dress. While it is still somewhat stiff, trace the outline of collar onto a piece of
paper.
2. Clean the collar now by adding a couple drops of Dawn Liquid Detergent to your hand and rubbing
the collar under warm water. You will see yellow in the liquid (old startch rinsing out). Continue rinsing
until the water runs clear again. Your collar is now clean.
3. Now place collar into 1/2 cup of bleach with one quart of water in a mixing bowl. Leave in bleach for
only 30 seconds to whiten the collar. (Leaving in bleach solution for
extended periods will cause the collar to fall apart.)
4. Take the collar out of the mixture and rinse thoroughly again.
5. Pat the collar dry to remove excess water.
6. While the collar is still wet, put it into a bowl with about ¾ cup of
STAY-FLO LIQUID STARCH. Don’t dilute the starch. This comes in either
white or blue. If it is blue, be brave! Trust me on this one!
7. Now place your clean and whiten collar on top of a sheet of wax paper over the paper that has the
outline of your collar. Spread the collar out and shape it back to its original size and form.
8. Let it dry. It will lose the blue color while it dries and it takes a couple days for the collar to dry
completely, so don't wait until the last minute to clean your collar.
Now that it is dry and you have the stiffest collar in the world, you have to put it back on the dress:
9. Find the middle of the collar by folding it in half. Put this spot on the middle of the neck of the dress
BELOW THE RIDGE AT THE NECK. You will see about ½ inch of black above the collar.
10. Pin the collar in place
11. Starting at the middle of the collar, loosely sew the collar around the neck of the dress with white
thread. DO NOT PULL THE COLLAR TIGHT OR YOU WILL END UP WITH HORIZONTAL WRINKLES ACROSS THE
FRONT OF THE COLLAR. Just lay it loosely around the neck of the dress. Pinning it helps. You can take big
stitches as the collar must be removed a few times a year for cleaning or it will turn yellow. If you get to
the back edge and have some collar left over, just turn it under. You should have an equal amount left
on each end as you started in the middle and sewed to each end.
12. After you have sewn the collar to the neck, you have to tack it down in six places at the bottom. This
means take a couple of stitches in one spot and then knot the thread. The spots are:
 the middle at the bottom,
 about 3-4 inches on either side of the middle,
 one the right shoulder; and at the back edges.
***Do not tack it at the bottom of the left shoulder as the cape has to go under the collar.
TIPS:
The starch only comes in big bottles. Go together with moms on
your team or you’ll have enough to last through graduate school.
It’s important to remember that takes a couple days for the collar to dry - so plan ahead.
SPRAY STARCH DOES NOT WORK!! Believe me, I’ve tried it.