STAIN-FREE: Keeping Your Dress Pristine White
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Being in the spotlight in a white gown involves maneuvering through a wedding day fraught with champagne, red wine, canapes, and grass, all of which could be potential accidents just waiting to happen. If you have post-planning for your gown, such as preservation, resale, or even passing it on as a treasure to someone else, there are a few things to know about the kinds of stains that could set in and ruin your gown. First of all, relax and realize that, throughout your day, it's normal to pick up a few drops or splashes of something; most you'll encounter are removable with a good cleaner. Stains that prove trickiest are red wine, chocolate, ink, and lipstick, especially those that last all day. If your dress is polyester or synthetic, these stains will lift out without much fuss. 100% silks, which most quality gowns are made of, prove trickier to lift without some modification to the memory of the original weave. So what can be done?
If you purchase your gown from a salon or custom designer, ask for their recommendation for a cleaner post-wedding. Cleaning establishments have different product packages for gown preservation and restoration. Whether you're reselling or preserving, a thorough cleaning would include:
1.) Stain removal
2.) Overall cleaning and pressing
3.)Repair (button replacement, hem repair, etc.)
4.) Packaging the gown. For resale, this would mean putting the bodice onto a cardboard form and stuffing the rest of the gown with tissue
5.) For preservation, the gown would need to be properly boxed.
This is what the cleaner I send all my clients to does. Prior to the wedding, the finishing and pressing are done. Post wedding, cleaning, pressing, restoration, and preserving. If you do get a stain on your wedding day, it's handy to keep an emergency kit with rubbing alcohol and clean white cloths. Apply the rubbing alcohol (for dry stains like grease) or lukewarm water (for wet stains like wine) to the cloth, and gently (read: gently) blot the spot from its outer edges in; whatever you do, don't work from the middle outward or you'll be spreading the stain. Ideally, to dry your gown, use a hair dryer on low about six inches away. If it is an oil-based stain, sprinkle some baby powder on it.
For those of you contemplating preservation, after the gown is boxed, avoid the attic, basement or that room off the garage. Attics are prone to extreme heat in Summer months--cold in winter and basements and outdoor rooms generally have moisture problems that could mildew your gown over time. Temperate places like the top of a closet shelf should work. For resale, you'll want to connect with the best cleaner available.
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