Women who are getting married in Orange County should know all about what goes into wedding dress dry cleaning. That’s because if the dry cleaner you go through decides to use an unconventional cleaner, then your dress could be damaged, and you want to be able to preserve it for future generations and the memories associated with it. Let’s talk about the chemicals and the techniques that are best when it comes to wedding dress dry cleaning, so you have some idea of what is likely to happen.
In-House Preservation
First of all, it’s worth mentioning that you should look for an Orange County dry cleaner who says that they’re going to do the job in-house. If they’re shipping your wedding dress to another location, then it’s easy to lose track of it, and that would be a nightmare for you. You want to be sure to ask them if they do all their preservation work on sight. You don’t want them to send your dress somewhere so that it is washed in a big communal washing machine with other gowns.
Three Chemical Solvents
Three principle solvents are often used for wedding dress dry cleaning, so let’s learn about them right now.
Perc
Perchloroethylene, also called perc, is the most common solvent that is used for the treatment of wedding gowns. The reason it is so popular is that it has superior dirt and grease-fighting power, but it also doesn’t hurt delicate fabrics out of which elements of your dress are likely to be composed, like acetate, silk, and rayon. If your dress has such things as sequins or beads attached, all of that flair will need to be kept away from the perc, as it may damage them. That’s why hand washing is often going to be preferable for your gown.
Greenearth
Greenearth is relatively new in the field of Orange County wedding dress dry cleaning and preservation. It is a silicone-based solvent. It’s safe for sequins and beads, which is a plus. The problem is that it’s not quite as effective at getting things like grease out of a gown as perc is. It is the most environmentally friendly of the various solvents that are out there, which is always nice.
Exxon DF-2000
Exxon DF-2000 is a hydrocarbon, and it is also fairly new in the gown cleaning scene. It’s petroleum-based, and dresses with sequins and beads should be fine when it is used on them. However, much like the Greenearth, it’s anti-grease powers do not match up to perc.
Whichever of these three the dry cleaner uses, you’re going to want to ask them if they are using a virgin solvent on your dress. The answer you’re looking for is yes. If the solvent has been used before then it’s not going to be as effective with its stain-fighting powers, so you don’t want to use a place that recycles its cleansers to save a little money.
But Which One is Best to Use?
It would be tough to declare that any one of these three is superior to the other two. Each of them has its advantages as well as drawbacks. Perc could be regarded as delivering the most thorough or deepest clean, but there is the chance that the more delicate features of the gown might be damaged. The other two will be easier on the pearls, lace, etc., but you won’t get that deeper clean.
In determining which cleanser you want, it’s best to speak frankly with the Orange County dry cleaner about your concerns and get a detailed description from them about their preferred method for cleaning wedding gowns. It’s possible that they have some specific process that they prefer, and they should have plenty of pictures of dresses they’ve cleaned to demonstrate that their system works.
Is Wet Cleaning Preferable?
It may surprise you to learn that dry cleaning shops will often employ a little wet cleaning with wedding dresses if there are noticeable stains on the garment. For food and beverage spills like soda or alcohol, or even dirty hemlines, water may be preferable before the dry cleaning occurs. Water cleaning does not leave a chemical residue, so it leaves the dress in good condition.
It also removes sizing, which is a substance like starch that is added to the fabric of your dress during the manufacturing process. Getting that sizing off of there is a good idea as you get the dress cleaned after your wedding because you’re probably going to be storing it somewhere like a closet, and mice and other pests are attracted to sizing.
Because of all this, it is not uncommon for a dry cleaning establishment to want to do a preliminary wet cleaning as well as a dry cleaning of your dress. If they have had proven success with this technique, then there’s no harm in letting them do it, just so long as they’re not proposing to put your dress through an industrial cleaning process along with many others simultaneously.
Many wedding dresses come with care labels on them that indicate which chemicals the maker thought would be best for cleaning them. Sometimes these labels get taken off during alterations of the dress, though, and if that happens, then you will likely need to defer to the knowledge of your dress cleaner. That’s yet another reason why it’s imperative that you use a good one.
The best Orange County wedding dress dry cleaners should have their technique worked out, and they should offer you a guarantee that your dress will not be damaged. Whichever chemicals they use, be sure that their treatment of your dress is careful, deliberate, and that they end the job by putting the gown in packaging that will protect it for many years to come. You should be able to take it out and look at it when you are feeling sentimental, and when you do so, it should look as fresh and new as when you first bought it.