Nashville weddings

Cherished Heirlooms - The 411 on Gown Cleaning & Preservation by Oakwood Cleaners

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Back in March, I attended the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists and was in awe.  Honestly, I never knew how much education and experience the specialists possessed and how much was needed (above the average cleaner) to handle and care for bridal gowns.  After I returned, I really wanted to know more and to share more with you so that you could truly understand the value in having a trusted gown care cleaner, like Oakwood Cleaners.  Plus, they will pick up your gown after your wedding from your hotel!  They offer unparelleled service and KNOW bridal gowns - from alteration to preservation. - Ashley

Your wedding gown is an investment that deserves its own place in your memories. It holds sentimental value and becomes something you cherish and keep for a long time, maybe even for generations long after you are married. So much care was put into making the dress then buying it and altering it to fit you perfectly but try as you may it will probably get dirty or stepped on during the wedding no matter how careful you are.  So, what's a bride to do after the wedding? Do we store it back in the garment bag in came in? Or purchase an extra large tote and stuff it in there? Luckily for us, there's a professional for that! 

Surendra Kumar, owner of Oakwood Cleaners has been in the dry cleaning business since 1985 and in the bridal gown cleaning business for almost six years to date.  The company is part of the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists and this is their guarantee that they are the best (and really only) wedding industry approved gown preservation and cleaning service in Nashville. Here's our interview with Surendra where he talks about Oakwood Cleaners, their services and the highlights of working in this business.

You consider yourselves the Greener Cleaner. What is your cleaning process?

Our cleaning process is completely non toxic and the cleaning process uses a solution made of silicone and it’s extremely gentle on the dress or anything we clean with it. A nice silk gown, if you clean it with something harsh, you’ll end up with something that will pull the sheen of the gown so what we use is gentle on the fabric, the trim work, the beading. We’re able to clean a gown with lots of fancy trim better than the traditional dry cleaning methods. That’s the biggest advantage to the bride because it’s gentle on the garment. It’s safe for people who are working on the gown and safe for the person wearing the gown – it doesn’t hurt them and it’s first and foremost it won’t leave smells and is very gentle.

(Picture source: Oakwood Cleaners)

What tips do you have for brides who are looking to save some cash and going the route of eBay/Craigslist or sample sales?

Try not to buy a gown that doesn't fit just because it is more affordable.  Avoid going more than two sizes up - even two sizes is pushing it.  Good gowns are made as close to your body size as possible and not typically made to be taken in too far and will end up not looking as nice. When you do buy a used gown, we recommend getting the gown fitted first before cleaning.  Be very wary of embellishments and beading - the more intricate the beading and embroidery the harder it will be to clean around it. Bear in mind this will also take longer to clean.

(Picture source: Oakwood Cleaners)

I'm sure there are some brides who are eager to know this - my gown is soaked in floodwater, can I bring it to you and can it be cleaned?

Depending on how bad the damage is, we've seen a ton of gowns coming in be it prom, formal, wedding and some of them are just soaking wet still in their preservation boxes. We’ve gotten tons of formal gowns that have water marks on them. Primary thing to do is hang them up and let them drip dry and get them dry. Not in a dryer but air them out.

Will letting the dress drip dry harm the gown in any way?

Most of these are white so the sun won’t hurt them. We had one come in dripping wet and I had to hang it up on a clothesline in the hot sun. It’s better to get it into the sunlight quick, it’s almost a disinfectant to a certain extent. When you’re dealing with mold and mildew it’s easier to get it out when it’s dry and flakey instead of soggy.

This gown that was brought in after the flood has some water stains.  It may take us a few weeks to get the stains out and I mostly have to digest the stains out using enzymes and then use mild detergents to lift them out. (Picture source: Oakwood Cleaners)

What does being part of the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists mean?

There are 500 locations worldwide who are part of this association. As part of the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists we honor each others' guarantees and our guarantee is that the gown won’t crack or turn yellow. For example I get gowns in that were preserved by someone part of the organization 30 years ago. One of these gowns had gotten stained from a water leak in their basement and they came to us to fix it. I checked with the association and took care of it because they had used another member’s services.  I’m almost 50, I don’t expect to be around at Oakwood in 30 years.  The good thing is, there will be someone who is part of the association 30 years from now that will take care of it.

The seal that comes on each preservation box with their guarantee.

Why should brides preserve their gowns?

Preserving protects the gown from the environment and in today’s environment with chemicals and fumes and pollutants that can damage the fabric. Let’s say you get your house sprayed for bigs, they get into the air and if your gown is exposed, over a period of time the gown just comes in contact with the gown and then there’s insects that eat at the fabric so you want to protect it.

Do you preserve veils?

I just did a veil that was first worn in 1856 by the bride's grandmother and we not only cleaned it we also attached some tulle to it and made it look more modern but it really was old, beautiful lace. Unfortunately, her grandmother is very private and didn’t want pictures taken of the veil.

Some girls may not be as attached to their gowns and do consider selling it after the wedding - is preservation necessary?

If you’re gong to resell it, just get it cleaned but not reserved. The only reason to preserve it is to preserve the memory to the next generation. It’s not unusual to see young women wear their mothers’ or grandmothers’ gowns. We do practically one or two a month, sometimes more where they’re wearing someone else’s gown.

So what are the advantages of preserving a gown?

If you’re sentimentally attached to your gown, and most brides are, you want to put the gown away so that 30 – 40 years down the road your daughter can wear it too. For example, I met with a bride today, we’ve been working on her gown for about four to five months now and it had been owend twice before by her mother and before that her mother's cousin. THe gown is about 50 years old. When we got the gown it was kind of brownish, almost grayish just being kept in a closet but luckily I was able to restore it. Her mother had a piece of lace that they had saved from when she redid the gown after the first time it was worn and the lace had been kept in a drawer and was in better shape and it didn’t have plasti around it so it almost looked like it was new so we had a good shade to work off of so we restored it and tailored it to fit more of what the daughter wanted and updated it and changed it to a princess neckline to wear. It’s still has character from when it was worn 50 years ago.

If the bride is leaving for her honeymoon the very next morning and is leaving straight from where she spent her wedding night, what can she do with her gown?

We will pick up your gown wherever you tell us you need it picked up.  We do prefer to meet the bride so she can tell us if there were any spills or stains - not all stains are visible and it helps to know.  But yes we do pick up at hotels and pretty much wherever you tell us to.  We'll even send destinations a shipment kit to send the gown back in if your wedding was out of town.

How are the gowns preserved?

We use a glue free plastic free box to hold the gown which will be in a mueslin wrap. The way I box the gowns, if you take the mueslin off, you can open the box. The lid is not sealed on the box and part of the reason we do that is 1) our preservation is museum quality and if you've noticed everything in a museum is exposed. Once you get the gown really clean, it doesn’t hurt it to be exposed to air because air will only react to stuff that is not clean but you want to protect it and you don’t want to keep it open all the time. I don’t put windows on my boxes because again I don’t like contact with plastic and glue. You’re getting into things that I try to keep away from a clean gown.

My gown in its box! Still in great shape, looks as good as it did the day I bought it!

The misconception in preservation is that it’s sealed and it's not, you can still open the box to look at the gown whenever you want to.  We include a pair of white gloves but taking the gown out is not recommended. The gown is packaged so no sharp folds happen. After some time the material can crack so we roll them in tissues so there are lots of rounded corners. Because it’s difficult to put it back way we packaged it please do let us know if you want to take it out, like if you want to wear it for portraits and we will repack it after. If not, you can still see the gown without taking it out and show it to people.

What do you like about what you do?

I enjoy meeting the brides and getting to work on the gowns that have a unique story - when we get the opportunity ot clean a gown that was worn 50 years ago, or a veil that was first worn in 1856 it adds excitement to a what is actually a mundane business.

So fret not if you step in some mud or get a little dirt on the hem, just let the Oakwood Cleaners team know where to pick up your gown or drop it off and leave it in their good hands!  We'd love to hear from you if you've had a good experience working with Oakwood Cleaners. Also, If you know any brides whose gowns were dirtied by the flood do let them know of this resource!

About the Author:

Tabitha

Blogging is something I’ve enjoyed doing for years. My interests lie mostly in lifestyle related topics like fashion, style, design, food and weddings. When I heard Ashley was looking to bring on new members to the ABG team, I jumped at the opportunity - I can’t think of a better way to stay involved in weddings than to write about them and to stay in touch with the trends and new ideas. Lucky for me, Ashley likes my blog and trusts my experience to bring me on and so far, it’s been a blast.

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send   Posted on May 25, 2010 | Filed under: Attire & Accessories