Wedding Gown Cleaning and Preservation Report

Part 4: Cleaning Bridal Gowns
The first step in the proper care of your wedding gown is to have it cleaned. But who do you trust with your treasured gown? Your local dry-cleaner? A national company? A little bit of knowledge will help you to make an informed decision.

You should be aware that many local dry-cleaners do not clean and preserve gowns in their facilities, but choose to send their customer's bridal gowns out to wholesale dry-cleaners. In determining the best cleaning for your gown, you will need to know which solvents your local cleaner uses, or if he sends bridal gowns out, which solvent the wholesale dry-cleaner uses.

For best results, find a dry-cleaner who uses virgin solvent for cleaning wedding gowns. Because of ecological regulations and expense, solvents are recycled. Impurities that are not filtered out of used solvent can be re-deposited onto garments. Garments cleaned in dirty solvent will have a dry clean smell.

A good dry-cleaner will use virgin solvent on all wedding dresses. A clean wedding gown should not smell like cleaning solvent. There should be no noticeable odor.

Wet-cleaning
Some dry-cleaning shops use what is called wet-cleaning for their bridal gowns. Wet cleaning is simply cleaning with water and has several advantages.

• It is the best cleaner for sugar spills, most food stains, and dirty hems.
• If the dress has been well rinsed, wet-cleaning leaves no chemicals on the dress, which will help to keep the dress in the best possible condition.
• Water washing removes the fabric sizing (a starch like substance added to fabric during manufacturing.) Removing the sizing helps protect your gown, because sizing is enticing to mice and insects!

Dry-cleaning
Three common dry-cleaning solvents currently used for bridal gowns are:

1. Perchloroethylene
   Commonly called perc. this is the most common solvent that dry-cleaners use. It is the best solvent for degreasing and may be your best choice if your dress is silk, rayon, or acetate and quite dirty. However, this solvent is more likely to damage sequins and beads, or melt the glue if they are glued on. A very experienced dry-cleaner will know how to protect the sequins and beads on your dress.
2. Stoddard solvent
   Harder to find, this is a petroleum-based solvent that is becoming rare. Because of fire regulations, this solvent cannot be used in strip mall type dry-cleaning establishments, and is therefore not commonly used. You may find this solvent in older dry-cleaning shops that have been around for a while. It is safer for cleaning dresses with sequins and beads than perchloroethylene. The Stoddard solvent shouldn't melt beads and sequins or affect the glue if they are glued on.
3. Exxon DF-2000
   This is a newly formulated petroleum-based solvent. Like the Stoddard solvent, it is safer for beads and sequins, but is not quite as effective at degreasing as perchloroethylene and the Stoddard solvent. However, it has fewer fire restrictions than the Stoddard formula and may be the formula of the future as many dry-cleaning shops change over to this new solvent.

Petroleum-based solvent
Some bridal gown care labels state, Dry clean only with petroleum based solvent. Both the Stoddard solvent and Exxon DF 2000 are petroleum based. But finding a dry-cleaner who uses one of these can be difficult.

If your gown care label specifies a petroleum based solvent, your local bridal shop may be able to refer you. If they are unable to help you, try looking up dry-cleaning equipment in your local yellow pages. Call a sales representative listed there. They can probably tell you which cleaners in your area use either the Stoddard solvent or DF2000. You may also check out the website www.df2000.com for a list of DF-2000 solvent suppliers by state. You can then call the supplier to find a dry-cleaner who uses DF-2000. When you find one, be sure to ask them how many wedding gowns they clean on a regular basis. Experience is important.

Dry-cleaner's experience
Experience is probably the most important factor to consider in selecting a dry-cleaner if your gown is silk. Silk is more difficult to clean and press than synthetic fabrics and requires a truly skilled cleaner. Check with your local bridal shops to see whom they use and recommend. Ask more than one bridal shop. Bridal shops have wedding gowns cleaned on a regular basis. They will probably give you the best advice. Ask the questions listed below to the dry-cleaner that the bridal shop recommends.

Essential questions to ask the dry-cleaner:

1. Does the dry-cleaner do the work on the premises or send it out? (If they send it out, whoever does the actual cleaning should answer the following questions.)
2. Does the dry-cleaner use dry-cleaning or wet-cleaning?
3. If dry-cleaning, what kind of solvent does the dry-cleaner use?
4. How much experience does the dry-cleaner have? Who actually does the cleaning and pressing of their customers' wedding gowns? Often one very skilled person will have this job. How experienced is he or she?
5. Does the dry-cleaner use virgin solvent for wedding dresses?

You should also know several things about your dress:

• What fabric is your dress made of?
• What kind of cleaning does the care label indicate?
• If it has a dry-clean only label, does it also have the symbol for water washing on it? Look carefully; the label may also state Professional dry-cleaning or professional wet-cleaning recommended.
• How soiled is your dress?
• What kind of stains does it have (wine, dirt, make-up, etc.)?
• Does your dress have sequins and beads that need protecting? Are they sewed on or glued on?

Cleaning Summary
If your gown and/or lining is silk, rayon, or acetate but does not have beads or sequins you should be able use a dry-cleaner that uses perc. That will be a plus if the dress is really dirty (look at the hemline!) Perchloroethylene is the best degreaser. If your dress is silk, rayon, or acetate, but has beads and sequins, the Stoddard formula or DF-2000 will be the safest.

Be sure to point out any stains to the dry-cleaner. Also, notify the dry-cleaner of any spills on the dress, even if they don't show. Dry-cleaning fluids will not remove sugar stains (such as wine or soda), so the dress needs to be pre-treated.

If your dress and lining are polyester, with or without beads and sequins, wet cleaning should be safe and will get your dress the cleanest. Check your label carefully, and look for a hand wash or dry-clean only label, or the symbol indicating water washing. If in doubt, test clean an inconspicuous area of the dress. You should be able to safely hand wash most polyester gowns if you are careful. *

*Disclaimer: Check the care label carefully. The manufacturer's directions should take precedence. The previous and following information is given in good faith but is without warranty. You must make the final decision on how your dress is cleaned. If in doubt, take your dress to the best dry-cleaner available. Use the above information to find one.