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Gown Preservation

Posted by MeganH  
Martha Stewart Weddings

Well, the champagne has been sipped, the dancing shoes have been hung up, and you can now breathe! Congratulations, you’re married! 

Aside from the beautiful photographs and crazy stories from the wedding, you might also want to take one more step to preserve the lasting memory of a wonderful day. Gown preservation companies will clean, and gently shape your dress and store it in an archival box for safe-keeping. Many also offer warranties that will provide added protection and peace of mind for years to come.

Check with the store where you purchased your dress for companies they recommend.

I should take my own advice, I haven’t done this yet!

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Posted on Jul 24, 2008
Comments (4)
wedding dress
  1. July 24th, 2008 at 02:08 14
    Wendy

    Be careful with dress preservation. If you ever plan to pass your gown on to a daughter, having it cleaned and packed in a cloth garment bag wrapped in blue tissue might be better. The chemicals they use to preserve the gown can break down the fabric when removed from the vacuum seal.

  2. July 24th, 2008 at 02:08 14
    Harper

    Drycleaners have an upcharge when they see anything white coming their way! If your dress is another color, has accents, is short, etc Insist that they charge you to clean a normal dress and not Wedding Gown Rate.
    Beads and sequins however are very complicated to clean, so if your dress has them, I’m afraid it’s your only resource.

    Also, look at the Fabric Content Label inside your dress: is it 100% Polyester? Be honest with yourself. Wasting $300. to “Preserve” a Poly gown is a waste of money and resources. It is already preserved, in fact the chemistry Half-Life of polyester is 200 years which means that is the point at which any breakdown of fibers will begin! Your Great-Granddaughter will be able to wear that dress even if you store it rolled up in a plastic bag…. Spot clean stains and the inside of the bodice with Baby Wipes or Shout Wipes and put it away without the Dry Cleaner visit! Give the $300. to charity instead.

  3. July 24th, 2008 at 02:08 14
    Sally Lorensen Conant, Ph.D.

    For Wendy, you are right about vacuum seals. Fabric likes to breathe. Packing gowns in a vacuum-sealed box traps moisture, which can cause mildew. There is also something about the chemistry involved in a vacuum-sealed preservation that makes it impossible to press the wrinkles out of a dress when it is to be used again. But you are wrong about hanging gowns and stuffing with blue tisse. Conservators always suggest fabric should be stored flat–not stressed by hanging, and blue tissue is a very bad idea. It is not acid-free, and the acid it contains will scorch the gown. And if the tissue gets wet, it will be even worse because the dye will bleed onto the gown. The original idea of blue tissue is probably related to the use of bluing in laundry; bluing comes from indigo, a naturally-occurring alkaline substance used to make whites look whiter.

  4. July 24th, 2008 at 02:08 14
    Sally Lorensen Conant, Ph.D.

    For Harper, you are right about the sturdiness of polyester; it is a very tough fiber. However, you are wrong about the value of a polyester gown and the value of preserving it. Some gowns made from polyester are very modestly priced, but others cost as much as $3,000. Depends upon the designer and the quality of the polyester. Also, polyester does yellow, and if the treatment you suggest misses the latent stains from spills containing sugar, you will have caramelized sugar stains as well. Find a Specialist to clean your gown now, and you will avoid the yellowing and dark brown stains–things you will not be able to remove yourself–that make it much more difficult to clean later

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