Can I Dry Clean My Wedding Dress?

Can I Dry Clean My Wedding Dress?

A glistening white wedding dress embellished with sparkling ornaments is the prized possession of every bride. It is an essential keepsake, the sight of which is enough to bring happy tears to a couple’s eyes… even after ages. Today, wedding dresses have become an heirloom forwarded from generation to generation — brides rarely sell their wedding dresses, as it is a unique token of an unforgettable day!

Therefore, brides are extra careful when it comes to cleaning and preserving their wedding dresses. While they do not think twice before giving their shirts, skirts, coats, and trousers to a dry cleaning business down the lane, they are suspicious of dry cleaners’ abilities to dry clean a wedding gown.

If you are one of those brides, you have landed at the right place. This blog will clear all your doubts and give you a precise answer to the question: “should you dry clean your wedding dress?”

The simple answer is YES. Yes, you can dry clean your wedding dress without any hesitation, but only choose a reputable dry cleaning business with years of experience in the industry. Dry cleaning is a safer option and effectively removes the stains without damaging the dress.

That said — and here comes the tricky part — the clean-only route is not ideal if you plan to keep your wedding dress as an heirloom for ages to come. Only go for cleaning if you will sell your wedding dress so that the buyer is not concerned about the hygiene and feels safe while purchasing the dress. However, if you want to keep your wedding gown as a memento, preservation — along with dry cleaning — is the ideal choice, as it will protect your gown from yellowing, dust, UV light, and stains.

Remember, standard cleaning is a way to get rid of the past stains on the wedding dress. Nonetheless, it will not prevent future problems, such as yellowing and structure loss, unless the dress is carefully dry cleaned and preserved in an acid-free box.

How to efficiently clean a wedding dress?

If you want to keep your dress as a memento, start planning in advance — right from the time you head out to shop for your wedding dress. Once you find the dress that best suits your expectations — and makes you look no less than a princess — ask the seller about its cleaning procedure. Being aware of the correct cleaning method will ensure the dress is not damaged and its delicate trim, beads, and sequins remain intact.

Remember to clean your wedding gown before storing it away in your closet for more than a few weeks — do not think it is clean if there are no signs of stains. Though your wedding gown may not look soiled, it has many stains that will surface over time. Such marks appear eventually and are hard to treat if not cleaned immediately.

Secondly, make sure to bring to your expert dry cleaner’s notice the stains and loose trims and buttons. Also, be sure to know how the trim is attached to your wedding gown, as some of them are connected with adhesive, which dissolves during the dry cleaning process.

Once the gown is dry cleaned and ready to be preserved, ask the cleaner to inspect it carefully. This will ensure: (a) all the stains are completely removed, and (b) the right gown is put in the acid-free box — receiving someone else’s gown would be the last thing you want.

At-home cleaning treatments are a good option for simple gowns made of fabrics that can be easily hand-washed. Pre-treat the stains with specially formulated detergents and clean the dress carefully. Once fully dry, inspect if all the stains have been removed and store them away from both artificial and natural light to prevent dress damage.

Cleaning the dress before and after the wedding is recommended if you rented the dress or want to store it as a memorable wedding token.

Here are some ways to clean your wedding dress without damaging it:

Dry cleaning: A proficient dry cleaning expert will clean your wedding gown using a chemical called tetrachloroethylene to clean the clothing efficiently.

Laundry cleaning: To remove stains and dirt, you can opt for laundry cleaning, which leverages hot water and basic detergents.

Hand washing: If made of less delicate fabric and does not contain a lot of embellishments, the wedding gown can also be hand-washed at home.

Tips to remember before dry cleaning a wedding gown

If you wish to go for the most preferred dry cleaning method to have a spotless white wedding gown, here are a few pointers to keep in mind:

• Check the label on the wedding dress that contains the cleaning instructions to know chemicals and methods best suited for the gown. Remember not to dry clean the old vintage dresses, as they do not do well under harsh chemicals.
• Inspect the dress where it is mostly dirty and check if the trim is ‘dry-cleanable’ — most of them are not and fade when exposed to strong cleaning detergents.
• Examine the kind of sequins and beads your dress has and how they are attached to the gown. They often dissolve if mixed with strong detergents; therefore, make sure that they can bear dry cleaning.
• Immediately dry clean the wedding dress, especially if it has a lot of stains — it is next to impossible to get rid of the nasty stains when they become permanent.
• Never attempt to dry clean your wedding dress unless you are a professional dry cleaner with the necessary equipment. Turning a pinch-penny when it comes to cleaning and preserving your prized possession will only ruin your wedding gown.

Why is dry cleaning and preservation the recommended technique?

Are you wondering what this magic behind dry cleaning is that drives people’s interests? Here are the top 3 benefits of dry cleaning that make it the ideal cleaning method for your wedding dress:

• Dry cleaning effectively eliminates stains caused due to varied reasons. But to ensure successful stain removal, give your dress to the dry cleaning expert as soon as the event ends, even if the dress seems clean. Some stains are not visible to the naked eye and surface over time.
• A white wedding dress is a delicate clothing item and is prone to yellowing. Even if you choose a different color for your dress, it will eventually fade. However, dry cleaning prevents discoloration, as it utilizes a non-toxic, odorless, silicone-based clear liquid that removes stains and prevents discoloration.
• Hanging a wedding dress in the wardrobe for a longer period results in fiber stretch. However, dry cleaning experts preserve the wedding gown in a clean, sturdy box that prevents the dress from exposure to light and dust as well as helps it retain its original shape. Therefore, dry cleaning the dress is ideal for preventing structure loss.

Why should you hire a professional wedding dress cleaner?

Considering the heavy sum already spent on the wedding, families often try to cut down other costs wherever possible. As a result, they opt for some do-it-yourself techniques to clean the wedding dress. But these ways are inefficient at removing stains and even cause the embellishments to come off. To prevent wedding dress damage, hiring a professional cleaner is imperative.

Here are the advantages of opting for the professional route:

• When cleaned by a professional, your dress is bound to look outstanding on your BIG day — ensuring you look fabulous too. If you choose to clean your gown yourself, there are high chances that you will do a lousy job due to a lack of knowledge and equipment.
• Be it before your wedding or after it, you will have endless items to strike off from your to-do list — and you would surely not want to add more sorrows by taking the burden of washing a weighty wedding gown. This is where a professional dry cleaner comes to save the day. They will conveniently pick up your dress from your doorstep, do their magic, and give you back a sparkling white gown — you have nothing to worry about.
• Once you are happily married, you would want to spend quality time with your partner — instead of trying to remove the stains from your gown. Hiring a reputable dry cleaning service provider will ensure you get to spend time with your soulmate without worrying about that wine stain on your dress.
• Most importantly, a reputable dry cleaning company has specific pieces of equipment and solvents that can efficiently remove the stains from your gown and preserve it carefully. This way, the original beauty of your dress will never dwindle.

Conclusion

Choosing a dry cleaning service provider is as important as deciding the wedding venue, choosing that perfect flavor for the wedding cake, or choosing the dress itself. Only an experienced dry cleaning company with the right knowledge can give you back your wedding gown in perfect condition.