Risks of Sealing Wedding Gowns
Your wedding is over, the bills paid, presents opened and put away. A wedding is not only an incredible milestone, but also an amazing amount of work!
There are probably a few more things you need to do before you're finished. You may still need to write some "Thank You" notes, and of course, decide what to do with your wedding gown. If you are like most brides, you may plan on taking it to your local dry-cleaners and have it "sealed" in a preservation box. Isn't that what everyone does?
It's true that sealing wedding gowns in preservation boxes is a fairly common practice, but you might be surprised to discover that it is a technique not recommended by museum conservators who care for a variety of heirloom garments. While museum conservators do recommend cleaning and storing your gown properly, they do not recommend sealing heirloom garments in boxes. Why not?
- Fabric weakens where it is folded in the same way that paper weakens where it is folded, so that the creases may become permanent. (You may have experienced this if you have ever let down the hem on a garment.) Or worse, the fabric may tear at the weakened creases. This is why museums refold garments stored in drawers and boxes periodically.
- Inspection is critical in long term preservation. Unfortunately, if your wedding gown is sealed up tight, you can't inspect it at all. You may not even know if it has been cleaned satisfactorily to begin with. Periodic inspection preservation ensures that your wedding gown does not develop permanent damage from oxidizing stains or any other problems. The sooner problems are discovered, the more likely they can be remedied.
- Sealing promotes mold and mildew. If your wedding dress can "breathe", then the humidity remains constant around it. If any moisture were to condense inside a storage container, it would likely develop mildew.
Museum conservators recommend keeping all heirloom garments clean, cool, dry and wrinkle-free. At Heritage Garment Preservation, these are our goals also. When you choose our services, your wedding gown is treated as if it were our very own. And your treasured gown will not be sealed. We offer two far better choices: Heritage Box Preservation or our unique Museum Method (hanging) Preservation. For your peace of mind, we hand clean and press most every gown to be sure it is as clean as it can be without the risks of losing beads and sequins that is common in machine cleaning.
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