Should You Clean a Wedding Dress At Home?

 

So… let me get this straight.

 I shouldn’t hand wash my dress

 I shouldn’t try using an iron to get rid of wrinkles 

 I can’t put it in the wash with the rest of these clothes…what gives?! 

What should I do? 

 

Short answer is to bring it to Happily Ever After Preservation where we can clean the dress with our professional methods. But with that answer comes a slew of lots of other questions. For example, how much does it cost to get a wedding dress cleaned? What if it needs repairs? How long does it take for my dress to get cleaned? Is it too late!? 

 

Where Should You Take Your Wedding Dress To Be Cleaned? 

Your best option for cleaning a wedding dress is to take it to the dry cleaners. More often than not, there aren’t many reliable DIY stain removal options. We would highly recommend that you do your research even if you don’t select us to clean your wedding dress. Look for companies that specialize in wedding dresses.

How Much Does Wedding Dress Cleaning Cost?

Dress Cleaning can range from $350 and more. Here at Happily Ever After Preservation, we offer dress cleaning only services for $299, and for $29 more you can also get your dress preserved with our keepsake package. Happily Ever After Preservation has been cleaning wedding dresses for over 25 years, so we proudly  consider ourselves experts. 

Each dress goes through a six-step inspection process when received.  The owner personally inspects each dress to determine the safest and most effective cleaning method. Each dress may be cleaned up to three times to ensure that we have done our best to get it looking good as new. 

 

How long does wedding dress cleaning take?

Service times can vary, but a normal cleaning process can run 4-6 weeks. 

 

Is it too late to clean my wedding dress?

Simply put, it depends on the  stain that you are wanting removed, and also the amount of time  that stain has been there. For example, if your dress gets a wine stain, immediately bring it to the dry cleaner. The longer that you wait, the more permanent that stain is. 

We offer vintage dress cleaning and we do evaluations before accepting. You can send us pictures using our texting service on our website. 

A frequent question is, can a wedding dress be cleaned after 5 years? In every case, any gown can be cleaned. But stain removal can be affected by time. Expectations should be reasonable. 

 

Can you clean a wedding dress at home?

Yes. However, we would not advise it. With the many different materials, sewing techniques, accessories, etc. there is a lot to take in when cleaning a dress. If you have a silk wedding dress, we highly advise you NOT clean it at home. 

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us!