We have posted many photos and stories about Finding “THE” Perfect Wedding Dress, now we have Rosario Intelisano who will be a regular contributor to share his secrets on “How to care for your Wedding Dress”.
Hello,
I am Rosario Intelisano, and this is the first of many contributions I will be making for Just as Planned.
My specialty, my passion, the core of my ambition is hand restoring and preserving bridal gowns. With many years in the industry, I am excited to share with you my little black book of tips to help you care for your dream gown.
As well as tips, I will include some of my personal experiences from working in this industry and the dresses (plus their stories). And don’t forget that I am open to any questions you may have and will be more than happy to answer them.
One of the most common questions I am asked is, “What do I do if I stain my dress?” The best thing you can do is leave it, do not apply anything to the stain and let it air dry. If the stain stays moist, bacteria will continue to grow and eat into the fabric making it harder to remove.
The second best tip is to avoid direct heat. Heat in general weakens material causing the fabric to yellow and age. This is why dry-cleaning is thought to “torture” the fabric and is avoided when it comes to restoring bridal dresses.
Lastly, I would recommend you take the garment to be professionally cleaned within a month of the stain occurring, the more time that passes, the more difficult it is to remove the stain making it harder to restore the dress to its original state.
I hope this article helps you next time you are in a state of frenzy from an incidental stain. Collect yourself and remember to leave the stain, let it air dry and take it to be professionally removed as soon as possible.
Just as Planned 
Confused, what is the difference between professionally cleaned and getting the dress dry cleaned? thanks
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Dry Cleaning 101 – How it works.
Confused, what is the difference between professionally cleaned and getting the dress dry cleaned?
A very good question, so to help clear up the difference I am going to give you a 101 in dry-cleaning. First things first, there’s nothing dry about it. It is so called because no water is used in the process and a lot of heat is used too. The garments are completely immersed and cleaned in a liquid solvent. Dry-cleaning supposedly picked up the name in the 19th century when a Frenchman, Jean-Baptiste Jolly, spilled an oil lamp on his greasy table cloth and noticed that it started to look cleaner. (Luckily, he was klutzy, slobby and keenly observant all at the same time.)
Today the chemical of choice is perchloroethylene, or perc, a liquid solvent used by almost 80 percent of all drycleaners. Perc works by saturating the fabric and breaking the molecular bonds that make up stains.
The clothes are dried, then pressed or steamed and returned to you stain free. It’s a miracle right? But there’s a catch. The same properties in perc that dissolve stains in your clothes also (over many visits) break down the natural fibres in the clothing itself, shortening the garments lifespan.
This is why we do not use dry-cleaning on delicate items such as wedding dresses, as the chemicals used in dry-cleaning in addition to the heat, will cause the dress to age, yellow and over a period of time lose it’s original form. Personally, when I professionally clean a wedding dress, the whole process is completed by hand; I work with your delicate fabrics, mix the right chemicals and percentages and use special techniques to remove any stains. During this process I do not apply any heat either. After a professional hand clean, there are no residual chemicals left on dress causing it harm.
Thanks for your enquiry and I hope this helps you in the future.
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