Mold Damage Repaired on a Vintage Silk Satin Wedding Gown

Here at Janet Davis Dry Cleaners we recently cared for a vintage silk satin wedding dress that was stored improperly and sustained mold damage along with the more common symptoms of poor storage - yellowing and wrinkles. I have included 3 before and after pictures including the front, the back and the underskirt. It is important to note that the photos of this dress were not retouched at all and that they were taken in the same spot with the same lighting conditions before and after we restored the wedding gown to its natural state.

Front
The top half of the wedding gown is lace and the bottom is silk. This wedding gown was hand made some time in the 1950's. You can see the mold around the neck and towards the bottom a little bit. If you click on the picture and zoom in, you can see there are little specs of mold all over this gown, especially on the silk. You can also see the prominent color change after we performed the restoration on this vintage wedding gown.

Back
The mold is more visible on the back of this wedding gown, especially on the lower right portion of the lace. Again, on the back you can see how we were able to remove the yellowing that has occurred on the silk and lace of this vintage wedding dress.

Underskirt
The mold is most visible on the silk portion of the gown's underskirt. You can see that removing the mold did not do any damage to the weave of the silk satin.








This vintage wedding gown restoration was performed at Janet Davis Cleaners in Berkley, MI.

9 Common Things Around Your Home That Can Destroy Your Clothes

There are a number of consumer products and things at home that can cause damage to your clothing, sometimes permanent damage. Unfortunately because most of these changes are masked the damage doesn't appear until the next cleaning at which point they are exposed. This is where a number of mystery stains come from. Have you ever spoken to your dry cleaner and said, "This stain wasn't on my garment before I had it cleaned." This may explain why!

Alcohol
Products that contain alcohol may discolor or remove the color of certain fabrics. The most common sources of alcohol are colognes, perfume, creams and medications, hairspray, along with common food and drinks. When these items are spilled on your garments, especially of the food or drink variety, other elements in the spill mask the damage until the garment is cleaned. The newly clean garment will reveal the damage caused by the alcohol.

Hair Care Products
Hair care products contain a lot of different substances that may damage your garments, most notably are oxidizing agents, acids and alkali's. Damage from hair care products may be immediate, but may also present itself after processing or may just develop slowly over time. You may see color change and/or the fabric will deteriorate.

Cologne
Colognes and perfumes tend to be alocohol based and therefore may be dangerous around garments that are not colorfast. Damage from colognes may not be present until after cleaned. Either the cologne will take the color of the garment out when cleaned or it may never leave the garment and will show up as a spot when pressed or steamed.

Cleaners and Detergents
Most household cleaners are alkalis but can also be a number of other things including acids and oxidizing agents. Always clean the house in clothes you don't care about to prevent damage to your favorite items.

Plastic Bags
Plastic is great for transporting garments but are terrible for storage. Dry Cleaners use plastic bags to keep your clothes clean and free of wrinkles in the short term but as soon as you get your things home, remove the plastic bags (but keep the paper garment covers as this helps eliminate dust from settling on the tops of your garments in the closet).

Light
In severe cases, long term exposure to light can deteriorate the fabric and shorten it's intended life. Fabrics can fade during normal use (couch cushions for example) or when they are being stored. Always keep your closet dark to prevent this sort of damage.

Deodorant
Perspiration and deodorant can both have an adverse effect on your clothing. Damage and color change in the underarm area are due to pH changes and the effects are permanent. Garments made of silk and other natural fibers are the most commonly affected materials.

Toothpaste
Common toothpaste, especially those containing whitening agents, is especially dangerous for your wardrobe. Contact with toothpaste may cause gradual discoloration or a complete loss of color. It is best get dressed after brushing your teeth. This will prevent the risk of toothpaste damage altogether.

Airborne Pollutants
Fume fading is a color change or color loss caused by the action of airborne pollutants. The lack of proper airflow or air change promotes the buildup of these pollutants in drawers or closets. Most often damage appears as lengthwise streaks and may be more noticible in the folds or pleats of a garment.

Photo credit: Romana Klee

Red Wine on a Silk Satin Wedding Gown

This may be every brides worst nightmare - somebody spilled red wine on the front of this silk satin wedding gown. The wine spill is a bit difficult to see in the picture so I put a light box around the affected area in the before picture. The wine spot was definitely visible in person.

We worked our magic on this gown and we were able to remove all traces of the wine from this wedding gown.  We used several gentle wedding gown baths followed by traditional dry cleaning to make this wedding gown look as good as new.

10 Secrets to Preserve Your Wedding Gown Forever

1. Hands Off! Do not touch your wedding gown with your bare hands after it is clean. The oils from your skin will be absorbed by the dress which could yellow your gown over time. Use gloves (cotton works best) to handle your wedding gown after it is clean.

2. Treat invisible stains. Most sugar based stains (from cake icing, white wine, etc.) are invisible at first, but quickly yellow over time leaving nasty stains. Make sure your gown is treated for all stains, visible and invisible.

3. 100% Clean. Make sure your gown is 100% clean meaning all stains (both visible and invisible) have been treated, nobody has touched your gown after it is clean and nothing has been applied to your wedding gown to preserve it.

4. Remove pads. Bust pads absorb body oils and perspiration and then slowly release them over time (a process called off-gassing) which will age your gown at a faster rate. Removing these items before cleaning will prevent this process from occurring.

5. Acid Free Box. Use an acid-free preservation chest, not one which is only pH neutral. If the box isn't fully acid-free, it could re-acidify over time which will cause your gown to prematurely age.

6. Use an acid-free bust form and acid-free tissue paper at every fold. This will hold the shape of your wedding dress, prevent wrinkles, all while helping to fight the effects of time.

7. Lignin-Free Box. Lignin content will decompose over time, releasing acidic and corrosive elements, making the box yellow, brittle and weak. Make sure your wedding gown preservation chest is lignin-free.

8. High Alpha Cellulose Content in box. A high percentage of alpha cellulose (87% or more) is necessary for longevity and stability in the wedding gown preservation chest.

9. No plastic window. Plastic is another material which will off-gas and turn your bridal gown yellow over time. A window in the preservation chest is fine as long as its made of a material that will not off-gas over time, such as archival clear oriented polyester.

10. Allow the garment to breath. A wedding gown that is properly preserved WILL NOT be vacuum or plastic sealed. Trapping air with your wedding dress will cause it to yellow faster and will set folds and wrinkles permanently. Cardboard has microscopic pores which will allow your gown to breathe properly. A plastic bag around the box is normal for transportation, just make sure to remove the plastic when you get your gown home.

6 Reasons To Preserve Your Wedding Gown Faster Than Apolo Ohno Skated the 500M in Torino

Okay, so I’m not telling you to skip the honeymoon to have your wedding gown preserved the moment you leave the reception. Having your wedding gown preserved sooner rather than later is important, and here’s why.

1. To keep your wedding gown as beautiful as the day you wore it for as long as possible. Your daughter or granddaughter may want to wear your gown one day. Preserving your gown will slow the aging process and offer the best environment for storing your gown.

2. To diminish yellowing, pre-mature discoloring and fading. Yellowing is the number one thing people look to correct down the road... prevent it now.

3. Poor storage can reduce a once beautiful wedding gown to rags. Storing a gown without preserving it first will allow the pH of the gown to change causing the gown to become brittle and weak. Over time the fibers will break down and the gown can be reduced to shreds. Once set into motion, this process can be slowed but is not reversible.

4. Stain removal is easier today than tomorrow. Body oils and makeup need to be removed or they may cause permanent stains in your gown. As time passes certain stains may be set forever while others are just more difficult to remove. Wedding gown preservation includes cleaning of your wedding dress.

5. Silent but deadly - invisible stains will start to caramelize and become visible. Soda, wine and cake spills or spots may not be visible on your wedding dress. Much like cutting open an apple, over time the stains will turn brown and ugly.

6. To sell it. Preserved gowns are much easier to ship than hanging gowns. Also, if you preserve your gown with an Association of Wedding Gown Specialists member, pressing will be free for the new owner.

Photo Credit: eoSos.de

Short Wedding Gown Before & After Video

This is a short video I created showcasing a couple of the wedding gowns we have cleaned in the past few months. It's my first video... let me know what you think!

Janet Davis Cleaners Attended The Association of Wedding Gown Specialists Annual Meeting in Las Vegas

Dave Matthews and Kyle Matthews of Janet Davis Cleaners in Berkley, MI attended the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists annual meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada March 4-7. Topics for this year’s meeting included what services dry cleaners can offer brides, what services brides are looking for, tips for cleaning wedding gowns and much more. The pair led a demonstration for the group on cleaning couture wedding gowns during a tour of a local member dry cleaners in Nevada. Other speakers included Jane Heflin, director of the WeddingChannel Couture Show, Ashley King of AshleysBrideGuide.com, Sonny Ganguly, Chief Marketing Officer of WeddingWire.com and Kathy Jo Peterson, a professional wedding planner.

During the plant tour portion of the meeting, Dave Matthews and Kyle Matthews of Janet Davis Cleaners led a demonstration on cleaning couture wedding dresses. “This method takes longer than traditional methods, but is safe for cleaning heavily beaded gowns and gowns with other ornate details,” said Dave Matthews during the presentation. Over fifty dry cleaners from across the country attended the demonstration.

Jane Heflin, director of the WeddingChannel Couture Show held twice annually in New York, shared her insight into the world of wedding gowns. The wedding dress is still one of the most important pieces in the wedding, according to Jane. Also, even with the prevalence of the internet in wedding planning, brides are still turning to magazines for ideas and inspiration.

Ashley King of AshleysBrideGuide.com, a Nashville-based wedding blogger, communicated the importance of using blogs to share your services with today’s bride. She advised that using a blog helps to showcase your talents and shares your personality with potential customers.

Sonny Ganguly, Chief Marketing Officer of WeddingWire.com, shared his Top 10 Marketing Resolutions for 2010. The theme of Ganguly’s talk was to engage directly with brides using the social media platform.

Kathy Jo Peterson, a California-based wedding planner, shared how we, as wedding dress cleaners, can help wedding planners by educating them about what we do. Peterson shared that out of all the wedding professionals she interacts with, dry cleaners are her weakest link.

The perennial favorite part of the meetings is the round table discussions which were held Saturday afternoon. Dave Matthews of Janet Davis Cleaners led the discussion about effective methods for cleaning wedding gowns. Other topics included social media, interacting with wedding planners, becoming more eco-friendly without diminishing services, and bridal fairs.

The association is a nonprofit trade group with members in the United States, Canada, Australia, and South America specializing in dress cleaning and wedding gown preservation.

Janet Davis Cleaners services all of your dry cleaning needs in Southeastern Michigan, with dry cleaning delivery service throughout Oakland County and Wayne County. There are locations in Berkley and Bloomfield and the company has been family owned and operated since 1938. Janet Davis Cleaners has been featured on WDIV-TV, WXYZ-TV and WDVD radio.