Wedding Layers

Planning for your wedding gown preservation takes work on your part. When the wedding is over, your job will be to get your gown clean and preserved. The cost of preserving wedding dresses may vary depending on several factors. When you understand the process of repairing, cleaning, preserving and storing of your dress, you’ll be better able to make the best decision for your wedding gown preservation.

Depending on what you are planning on doing with your wedding dress will depend on the type of cleaning and/or preservation you will need. However getting it cleaned is important whether you plan to keep your wedding dress or sell it on eBay or CraigsList.

Why do you need to clean your wedding gown? Everyone, especially brides under stress perspire. Your wedding gown, from your first fitting through your reception, is subjected to deodorant, perfumes and sweat. The day of the wedding will bring extra dirt from the train dragging around the floor during the ceremony, sitting at the and just walking around. Wedding dress cleaning is crucial to the preservation of your gown. The faster this cleaning takes place the better chance you have of the stains not “setting in” the fabric.

First before the gown is cleaned it shouls be carefully looked at by a seamstress. Any missing beads should be tied off or replaced and any damage to the hemline or other parts on the dress should be repaired before the gown is cleaned. Most good cleaning facilities will not clean your gown until these repairs are made.

You will discover various options for having your wedding gown cleaned. If you decide to choose a local dry cleaner, ask who actually do the cleaning of the gown. You don’t want your wedding gown leaned with other people’s clothing. some local dry cleaners send the dresses out to a national company that specializes in wedding gown cleaning. This is your best option, because most local dry cleaners don’t have the right equipment and space for the proper cleaning and care of your gown.

Next question you need to answer is where are you going to store your wedding gown after the wedding? The best solution for your gown is in a cardboard box. It is better to have the gown lain down and relaxed lying in a box. The very best is to gently wrap it in acid free tissue paper and folded it neatly to fit in a special acid-free box. You don’t want to hang the dress, some gowns can weigh as much as 20 pounds and even if you use a hanger that is padded, over the years the stress of the weight on the fabric will take it’s toll.

Do not store your wedding gown in a plastic bag. The petroleum can react with the gown. When storing your dress you will want to store it away from excessive heat in an attic and basement.

The cost of wedding gown preservation may be as high as $300.00. Some gowns that are covered with intricate bead work, embroidery and lace require special care in the cleaning process. Shop around locally and online. Ask questions about the cleaning and preservation process. If you have a good knowledge it will help you make the best choice for preserving your gown, you never know your gown may someday be worn by your daughter or granddaughter.

Erlene Clifton has owned Celestial Selection Bridal Salon for 9 years. Visit her store website for more information http://www.celestialselections.com or http://www.wedding-gown-preservation.net for your wedding gown preservation needs.

Author: Erlene Clifton
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Excise Tax

The care label inside your wedding gown is the best way to clean it. Not true. The instructions for care on the label may not be the only way-or even the best way-to clean your wedding gown. The care label simply means that if you follow the instructions, and the gown is damaged by the cleaning process, then the manufacturer and not the cleaner is liable for the damage. That is why you will sometimes see instructions such as “Do not dry-clean. Do not wet-clean. Spot clean only.” This language absolutely protects the manufacturer from any liability because the manufacturer is essentially telling you not to clean your wedding gown. However, an experienced cleaner who specializes in caring for gowns can very probably clean your gown without a problem. Just be sure the cleaner is a specialist who is willing to take responsibility for your wedding gown if he or she chooses to do something other than the instructions on the care label of your gown.

Blue tissue should be used to package your wedding gown. Not true. There is usually a little truth in an old wives’ tale, and we know, for example, that an apple a day really is good for us. But blue tissue paper is NOT good for your gown, and no one really knows why it was supposed to be good for wrapping heirloom gowns. It may have something to do with bluing. There is a reference to bluing in an early seventeenth-century English play, and bluing comes from indigo, a naturally alkaline substance that can neutralize any acidic content that might cause yellowing. Bluing also adds a trace of blue dye to fabric, which, again, offsets any yellowish cast in white fabric. In the 1920s and 1930s, wedding gowns were often wrapped in a deep blue paper, but the paper was waxed, and the wax prevented the acidic content of the paper from damaging the bridal gown.

Whatever the history behind this idea, blue tissue is absolutely the wrong thing for preserving your heirloom gown. Blue tissue is not acid-free and, worse yet, the paper will, if it gets wet, dye your gown blue. Then your gown will need to be restored to the true color. Only white, completely acid-free tissue and completely acid-free wedding chests should be used for heirloom gown preservation because ordinary boxes and tissue contain acid that scorches bridal gowns. Some will tell you pH neutral materials are good enough for gown preservation, but they are not. The neutralizer is water soluble. A damp environment will dissolve the neutralizer, and pH neutral paper and paperboard will then re-acidify. Acid-free means that all acidic content is removed when the paper and paperboard are made, and therefore, by definition acid-free materials cannot re-acidify. Only acid-free materials are good enough for Gown Preservation.

Sally Lorensen Conant, Ph.D., formerly a museum curator, is Executive Director of the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists. She is expert at gown preservation and at Gown Restoration. She helps brides find wedding gown specialists who will care about their gowns as much as they do. Members of the Association in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Ecuador specialize in caring for wedding gowns, both new and old, and each member of the Association honors the guarantee of every other member of the Association.

Author: Sally Lorensen Conant, Ph.D.
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Cool mobile gadgets