• Never allow a wedding dress cleaner to store your gown in a box with a “viewing window.” Windows are made of fabric-damaging plastic – chemically unstable by nature – that can age and discolor your gown over the years. Trust your treasured gown to the same cleaning and preservation methods used by the Smithsonian Institution and leading museums and libraries across the U.S.
  
  
• Never allow a cleaner to vacuum-pack your gown. It causes wrinkles and traps moisture, which promotes mildew, your gown’s greatest danger. Also, beware of cleaners that claim a guarantee to persuade you to keep the box sealed.
  
  
• Never let a cleaner seal your dress up in a box. A properly preserved box from White Way will prevent silverfish and moths from damaging your gown. Plus, your dress will breathe rather than suffocate. Museum conservators open and inspect their preserved garments every two years. White Way recommends you do the same.
  
  
• Don’t be swayed by cleaners that promote blue tissue, falsely sold as being able to prevent aging or discoloration. Any preservation material next to your gown should be free of dyes. White Way uses unbleached muslin and acid-free, lignin-free tissue with neutral pH, materials preferred by museum conservators.
  
  
• Clean and preserve your gown right after the wedding. Over time, stains become more difficult to remove, so the sooner your gown is cleaned and preserved, the better results you will have. Unprotected it will fade and yellow, or even deteriorate and become brittle in spots. Consider asking a trusted friend or relative to bring your gown in after the wedding. Our Wedding Gown Cleaning and Preservation Gift Certificate makes it convenient to plan this in advance.

How do I care for my preserved gown?

Museum conservators recommend storing the box in a closet located on an inside wall. Check the gown periodically (every year or two) and refold it along new lines. Before touching your gown, neutralize your hands in water mixed with a little baking soda. Keep handling of your gown to a minimum.

If the gown is worn again, it should be recleaned and put back into the same box with its desized, unbleached muslin and acid-free tissue. The cotton muslin liner should be washed every few years with a neutral detergent such as Dreft.