That fabric store owner told me to never prewash linen... she was dead wrong.
I was designing a summer dress collection back in March and bought 15 yards of linen from a shop in Portland. The owner said prewashing ruins the drape and to just cut it raw. I trusted her and skipped washing it. After I finished the first dress and wore it twice, the whole thing shrank unevenly and the seams puckered like crazy. Now I have to remake the entire piece and I'm out $40 in wasted fabric. Has anyone else had a fabric seller give bad advice that cost you time?
Wait, she told you to never dry clean silk? That's wild - silk basically needs dry cleaning to keep it from getting ruined in water. How did that blouse even survive before you took it in?
Ugh, I totally get where you're coming from with the "always trust my own research" thing, @blair_chen81. That seller's advice sounds like it came from a good place but was just totally wrong for that blouse, you know? Honestly, some shop owners get stuck on old rules and it's a gamble whether their tips actually work for modern silk or older pieces like yours.
Seller in Austin told me to never dry clean silk because it would destroy the delicate fibers. Dry cleaned a vintage silk blouse anyway and it came back perfect, no issues at all. Now I always trust my own research over shop owner advice, learned that one the hard way too.