How to Prepare a Dress for Gown Preservation

Gown preservation is a common method to keeping wedding dresses and other gowns in their original condition throughout the years. Without gown preservation, your expensive, ornate, and one of a kind dress will turn yellow, develop must or mildew, and possibly become moth-eaten. It is important that you preserve your gown if you want it to last as a keepsake or an heirloom. Here is a guide to preparing your dress to be sent away for gown preservation.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Wedding gown
• Gown preservation company

1. 
    

   Before you send your dress, store it on a flat surface. Do not hang the dress, as this may stretch some areas of the fabric. Be sure that the place is not a high traffic area of your home but is still an environment with controlled temperature and humidity.

2. Do not try to clean out any stains on your dress or take the dress to the dry cleaners. Most gown preservation companies would rather have the dress sent in as is so that they can be sure to correctly clean any stains before preservation.

3. If your gown preservation kit includes stain markers, be sure to use these. Carefully examine your dress for stains and mark them using only the special markers. This ensures that no stains are overlooked by the gown preservation company.

4. Send your dress off for gown preservation within 6 months after your wedding date. Stains set over time, so the sooner you can get it cleaned and preserved the better.