Wedding Gown Prep & Restoration
May 26th 2009amburUncategorized
Does Your Gown Need a Touch-Up Before
Your Wedding Day?
- We will pick-up your gown before your wedding day.
- Our experienced technicians will hand press your gown.
- Our skilled packaging personnel will tissue shape your gown and place it in a protective cover so it can travel safely.
- Delivery service is available to your designated location (whether it be downtown Toronto, Mexico or Muskoka).. Additional charges may apply outside of our pick-up and delivery areas.
- After your wedding we will pick it up at a location of your choice. We will then clean and preserve your gown while you are enjoying your honeymoon!
Prices vary depending on the construction of the garment and the types of stains, but you should expect to pay from $300 to $1,000 for a couture gown. Beware of cleaners with a fixed rate — this usually means that they treat every dress the same way.
Line up this service before your wedding, since the sooner you have your dress treated, the better the results. To be on the safe side, ask your maid of honor or another attendant to drop it off for you while you’re honeymooning or call and arrange a complimentary pick up from Creeds.
Wedding Dress Cleaning: If you are contemplating buying a sample or used wedding dress, a great starting point in evaluating the purchase is to understand which spots and stains can be cleaned and which can’t.
Tips and advice for evaluating a stain/discoloration:
To understand if/how a stain can be treated, first see what the dress is made from. Cleaning is all about the dress fiber. The way in which the fiber is woven gives the fabric its look (satin, taffeta, organza, tulle, crepe, etc) but the fiber itself determines how it can be cleaned.
There are two main types of wedding dress fiber: silk and non-silk (usually polyester or acetate and sometimes cotton). The fiber information can be found on the dress’ care label. And be sure to look at the fiber content for each element of the dress (lace, lining, trim, etc).
Non-Silk Fibers:
As a general rule, there is very little risk to buying a stained and discolored dress made of a non-silk fiber. Almost any stain or discoloration can be removed from these.
But note that a really dingy/ shopworn non-silk gown needs to be cleaned professionally rather than “spotted out.” That’s because you may dissolve the dinge when you dissolve the stain. And spot removal will remove specific stains but leave white spots.
Silk Fibers:
Silk is a different story because it is much trickier to clean successfully. Of the two types of stains, water soluble and not water soluble, stains that are not water soluble such as lipstick are easier to remove. Leave stains from coffee, tea, or wine to the professional.
The truth is a good professional cleaner can remove almost any stain, but there are some things no cleaner can do:
1) repair broken fibers
2) remove yellowing from overexposure to sun or fluorescent light
Broken fibers:
When evaluating a stain, check to see if the fiber underlying the spot is damaged. For example, if a car door slams shut on a dress, the result can be a greasy stain plus broken/rubbed fibers. When the stain is removed, you will see areas that do not reflect the light in the same way that unbroken fibers do. There is no way to “unbreak” or mend fibers. So depending upon the way in which the fibers are woven, these areas will be either more or less shiny than other parts of the fabric. This kind of damage is very common when the dress has been worn with a “French” bustle; the horizontal line of soil across the back of the dress where the fabric has rubbed against the floor may come out but may leave a whitish line in its place.
Light exposure:
Vertical yellow stripes may mean the fabric is “sunshot.” If a dress has been hanging for a very long time, fluorescent lights can cause discoloration. Inside the dress’ folds will still be white because that part was not exposed to the light. Sun causes the same effect if the dress is left in the shop’s window for too long.
Other Types of Yellowing:
Yellowing/discoloration is not usually just a spot. On a silk gown, yellow areas may mean there has been a chemical change that cannot be reversed. Even if it can, the yellow may be very difficult to remove, especially if there is also metallic embroidery in that area because chemicals that remove the yellow can turn the metallic embroidery black.
Yellowing usually happens when:
• the gown has been worn by someone who perspired heavily (or has been tried on multiple times). You will see dark yellow in the underarm area.
• something containing sugar spilled on the gown, and the sugar has caramelized.
• the dress has aged. Much like silver turns black when it oxidizes, fabric turns yellow over time.
In general, very badly discolored gowns may not be a good buy. If the gown is polyester, it may be expensive to clean it properly, and if it is silk, it may not be possible to remove the discoloration.
But remember that if you plan to hem the dress, the new hemline will hide any marks on the current hem.
