The quirks of caring for individual costumes can vary wildly across shows, Evans told me. A stain on Marty McFly’s puffy vest is going to call for a much different cleaning strategy than a mark on Gypsy Rose Lee’s sequined bodice.
“In some shows, costumes are custom-dyed, and the priority is preserving the color,” Evans told me. Other times, she explained, the most important aspect is delicately handling fragile costumes that cannot be laundered. “Weeks can go by between professional cleanings,” she said, “but we still need a way to maintain a costume’s fresh look.”
Wardrobe supervisors and dressers like Evans rely on spot-cleaning to keep costumes looking fresh — at least from a distance. “Onstage, we have the benefit of five feet and moving,” Evans said, explaining that stain removal for the stage does not need to be perfect.
Evans leans on a number of stain removers and stain-removal techniques backstage. But for makeup stains on the Boop! costumes, she uses an unusual solvent: Bioderma Sensibio H2O Micellar Water.
“Unlike some other stain removers, Bioderma dries clear — there’s no discolored ring left on the costume, which makes it perfect for spot-cleaning,” she said.
To remove stains using Bioderma, Evans squirts some onto a washcloth, and then she uses it to delicately rub and blot the stain. Sometimes it takes a few tries. Evans reminded me that even though this method makes a garment acceptable from a distance, it still needs to be fully cleaned eventually.
This makeup remover is safe to use on most fabrics, and it’s a fantastic quick fix for makeup stains on fabrics. But you’ll still need to fully wash most items.
Last summer, I tested the Bioderma method by cleaning purse liners. And I agree that it works, especially in a pinch.
Bioderma isn’t the only stain-removing weapon Evans wields. When working backstage at the musical Gypsy, she spot-cleaned stains using a combination of Stingray Instant Spot Remover (a fragrance-free stain remover) and — if you can believe it — cloth diapers. (It turns out that cloth diapers are actually great at mopping up excess cleaning solutions.)
To clean with Stingray, Evans recommends saturating the stain with a few spritzes and then blotting excess liquid with a cloth diaper. Like the Bioderma makeup remover, Stingray also dries clear.
This clear stain remover is great for spot-cleaning rugs and other textiles. Its formula is technically fragrance-free, but it does contain a small amount of ammonia.
These soft and absorbent cloth diapers handle spills, dust, and other schmutz with ease, and they don’t leave lint behind.
I tested Stingray at Wirecutter, and it’s quickly become a favorite. But be warned — it does contain a very small amount of ammonia, though the scent is faint and barely detectable. Stingray and other cleaners that contain a tiny bit of ammonia (less than 2%) are safe to use and nonhazardous, a representative from the American Cleaning Institute, a nonprofit trade group, told me. (Do not mix Stingray or other products containing ammonia with other cleaning products, since this could create hazardous fumes.)
Stingray is not the only spray bottle you’ll find in Evans’s backstage lair. To manage odors lingering on costumes backstage, Evans employs a well-known industry hack: spraying them with cheap vodka. She keeps a spray bottle filled with vodka (labeled, of course) to use on any malodorous fabrics she encounters.
This less-expensive vodka doubles as a textile deodorizer.
“There’s a debate within the industry about whether or not to use vodka, but I avoid using anything with potentially irritating perfumes backstage,” Evans told us. Though the vodka initially smells, it dries scent-free and leaves no discoloration on costumes. At Wirecutter, I often use vodka as a deodorizer. It does the job and dries quickly, and it’s inexpensive.
For some fine fabrics — especially those that are custom-dyed and not colorfast — contact with even a small amount of fluid risks their destruction. When she’s handling oil stains on such fabrics, Evans swears by the Janie Dry Stick On-the-Spot Garment Cleaner.
This chalky stick removes oil stains from clothing without the use of soap and water, but it might leave white residue behind.
The Janie Dry Stick is a chalky stain stick that can safely absorb oils from a range of delicate textiles, without the help of soap and water. In my informal testing at Wirecutter, I was impressed by the Janie stick’s ability to handle moderate oil and grease marks on silk and satin. Writer Lesley Stockton, who is also a fan of the Janie stick, said she successfully used it to get oil stains out of a suede bag.
Many actors use heavy-duty antiperspirants onstage because of the hot spotlights. Deodorant stains can be a chore to manage. But Evans has an ingenious hack for tackling deodorant residue on the costumes that Jasmine Amy Rogers wears: She uses Braza Wipe Out Deodorant Erasers.
These small pink sponges are a quick fix for fresh deodorant streaks, as well as dried food and pet hair.
Removing deodorant with a Braza Wipe Out sponge is easy: You simply use it to brush off deodorant residue. Yet be sure to manage your expectations. Evans said this trick is helpful as a quick fix, but it doesn’t always work.
