Washing Kids’ Halloween Costumes: What to Know Before You Ruin Them
Halloween in Ponderay and Sandpoint can be cold. Kids in North Idaho trick-or-treating in late October often have coats stuffed under their costumes, or they’re wearing fleece beneath a princess dress. Either way, those costumes come home smelling like candy, face paint, and the great outdoors — and they need a wash before going into storage for next year.
The problem: Halloween costumes are often made from cheap, mixed materials with glued-on decorations and metallic or sequined details. Washing them wrong can melt the embellishments, bleed the dye, shrink the fabric, or destroy structural elements. Here’s how to do it right.
Read the Tag First (If There Is One)
Many store-bought costumes have care labels. Check it before anything else. “Hand wash only” and “spot clean only” are common. If the label says dry clean only, that’s worth taking seriously — it usually means the dye isn’t stable or the embellishments won’t survive water.
If there’s no label, treat it as delicate until proven otherwise.
Common Costume Materials and How to Handle Them
- Polyester satin (princess, superhero costumes): Cold water, gentle cycle, mild detergent. Turn inside-out. Air dry — high heat will melt the synthetic fibers and cause permanent puckering.
- Velvet or velour: Cold water, gentle cycle. Air dry. Brush with a soft clothing brush while slightly damp to restore the nap.
- Tulle and netting: Hand wash in cold water with a tiny amount of mild soap. Squeeze gently, never wring. Air dry flat.
- Felt: Spot clean or hand wash cold. Felt shrinks and loses its shape in a machine wash.
- Sequins and glued embellishments: These are the tricky ones. Hot water and agitation loosen the glue that holds sequins and plastic decorations in place. Cold water, gentle cycle, or hand wash. Never machine dry — the heat melts glue and causes sequins to pop off.
- Foam armor or structured pieces: Do not wash. Wipe with a damp cloth and mild soap.
Dealing With Face Paint and Makeup
Face paint and costume makeup on fabric collars and cuffs is a stain management problem. Treat it before washing:
- Blot off as much as possible without spreading
- Apply a small amount of dish soap or makeup remover to the stain, work in gently
- Let sit 10 minutes, then rinse with cold water
- Then wash as normal for the fabric type
Candy and Food Stains
Cold rinse immediately. For sticky candy residue, warm (not hot) water helps dissolve the sugar. Pre-treat with a stain stick or liquid detergent before washing. Check before drying — heat will set any remaining stain permanently.
Drying and Storage
Air drying is the safest option for almost any Halloween costume. Hang or lay flat — some costumes lose their shape if hung. Once fully dry, store in a garment bag or sealed bin away from humidity. Basements in North Idaho can get damp through the winter, and a costume that goes in slightly damp will come out next October smelling like mildew.
If you want the costume to last multiple years, it’s worth taking care of it. A well-stored costume that fits next year is a costume you don’t have to replace.
Post-Halloween Laundry Pile?
Bring the kids’ costumes along with everything else. Our gentle cycles handle delicate fabrics and we have plenty of machines so you’re not waiting around. Open 7 days, 8am–10pm. Last wash 8:30pm. Free parking in Ponderay on US-95.
📞 (208) 255-2233We’re at 477181 US-95 in Ponderay, just a few minutes from Sandpoint. If you’re not sure whether a costume is machine washable, call us — (208) 255-2233 — and we’ll give you an honest answer.