This is a Pnina Tornai wedding gown that was brought to us for cleaning and preservation. The before pictures for this Pnina Tornai wedding dress are on the left and the afters are on the right. Pay particular attention to the hemline. The hemline before cleaning was dirty and had picked up a few things from the ground. After the hem is clean (if you… Read More »Pnina Tornai Wedding Gown Before & After Cleaning
Chiffon Chiffon is a lightweight, thin fabric finish that is somewhat transparent. Chiffon can be made with almost any fabric and can be dyed into almost any color (unless it is polyester which can be difficult to dye). Often chiffon is layered or used as a layer over a heavier fabric. This finish wears well, drapes well, and does not show pin holes. Organza Organza… Read More »Wedding Gown Fabric Finishes
Silk Silk is the most luxurious of the wedding gown fabrics. It is softly lustrous, smooth, resilient, absorbent, elastic and tough. These properties have been duplicated individually in other fibers, but never in this combination as in silk. Silk became famous in France, however it originated in China. A Chinese Empress in 2640 B.C. learned how to rear silk worms. She learned how… Read More »Wedding Gown Materials
Janet Davis Cleaners recently hosted industry expert Jane Zellers who taught several dry cleaners from all over Michigan how to properly clean specialty garments such as wedding gowns, both new and vintage. Jane C. Zellers, CED, consultant, lecturer and former owner of a three store dry cleaning establishment in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania has been involved in the laundry and dry cleaning industry for over 30 years.… Read More »Handling Specialty Items Vintage and Current
Getting married? Already married? Here are a few important tips to keep your wedding gown in tip-top shape. Always hang your wedding gown by loops inside the gown that are connected to sturdy side seams, never by fragile shoulder seams that can stretch or sag. Never store your wedding gown in plastic bags or vacuum-sealed, plastic wrapped containers because plastic emits fumes that can yellow… Read More »Wedding Gown Tips & Advice
Whether you are headed half way around the world or just to the next town, you want your gown to look fresh and unwrinkled for the ceremony. Here are some tips to help you and your gown travel safely! Traveling by CarSince most shops protect your gown with a garment bag and stuff it with a bust form plus lots of tissue to keep the… Read More »Traveling with Your Wedding Gown
It’s hard to believe this is the same wedding gown. This particular wedding gown was purchased in 1953 at Hudsons and has been kept in an attic since the wedding. This vintage garment restoration was particularly difficult because of the deterioration of the material due to its storage. The armpits and seams were already threadbare and other areas were weak as well. This limited the… Read More »1950’s Wedding Dress Restoration
This is an Amelia Casablanca wedding gown that we cleaned. These pictures of the dress were taken just before it went home to its owner (in fact you can see the garment bag ready to be zipped around the dress). She was thrilled when she picked it up. Unfortunately, I don’t have any clear before shots available. This dress required a lot of individual attention.… Read More »Amelia Casablanca Dress
Here are some before pictures of a wedding gown we cleaned from a bride who was married on a beach. She was able to keep most of the gown pretty clean, except for the bottom. The sand and dirt managed their way into all of the layers of the dress. The middle layer was somewhat protected by the other two layers (Scroll down to see… Read More »Beach Wedding
This dress was brought to us 13 years after the bride wore it, celebrated in it, and after a guest spilled a drink on it. She told us that she was, “only getting married once, so why get it preserved?” It turns out that her sister is now getting married and thinks this is the perfect gown and wants to wear it at her own… Read More »Wedding Gown Restoration