Wearing a used wedding dress

[shigidigi]

I have been talking with a girl online about purchasing her wedding dress (not 100% sure on it yet, but the price is right so if it doesn''t work out I can always get another dress and sell this one).

Anyway, it hasn''t been dry cleaned since she wore it and I would obviously have that done before I chose to wear it, however- does anyone know how much it would cost to have it cleaned before wearing?

I have heard of people cleaning dresses after wearing them (mainly for preservation purposes) but I know that can run hundreds of dollars. Do you guys think I could get the dress cleaned for less than $100?

 

[xapora]

I bought a used dress and had my dress cleaned for around $130. They say it costs more if you have a lot of beading on your dress, but my dress has tons of beading and lace and they didn''t charge me very much more than the flat fee for wedding dresses. The cleaners had to ship it out to get cleaned and it took about two months to get the dress back. It basically just needed some cleaning on the train. It looks brand new and I saved so much money buying it used and having it cleaned than if I had bought it brand new.

 

[brgirl]

Hello! My wedding dress was a sample, so it had some dirt along the bottom and a few places here and there. I did some research on the internet to see if I could clean it myself. It''s silk, so I just researched ''cleaning silk.'' I found a cleaning solution called Dr Bronner''s Castile Liquid Soap - Baby Mild. It is a mild soap you dilute with warm water. First I spot cleaned some edging on the dress to make sure it would work (since I was getting it hemmed, much of the bottom was going to be chopped off anyway). It worked great! So you can always try that route. I think I am still going to get the dress pressed at at dry cleaner because I don''t have a good steamer at home. But that shouldn''t cost as much as cleaning!

 

[shigidigi]

Thanks xapora and brgirl!! I never knew Dr. Bronner''s could clean silk- that''s good to know!

 

[ponderer]

I now this seems logical, and I dont want to insult anyones intelligence, but if you do try and clean it yourself don''t put it in the washing machine.

My grandma makes quilts and baby blankets for people out of their wedding dresses and usually hand washes them. Synthetics are easy to hand wash. Natural fibers can be a little tricky, Im not sure what she uses, I never thought to ask.

She told one girl that she would clean the dress before she started the quilt to ensure that she only used material on the dress that did not have stains. The girl thought she would just do it herself and it completly ruined the beading and lace, which is so vital to the personalized look of the quilt, by throwing it in the machine.

Also, be wary of having your dress cleaned by a dry cleaner before the wedding. My good friend took her Reem Acra to be steamed before the wedding and I guessed they tried to spot clean the dress and left several dinner plate sized pee colored stains on the skirt and train. Thank god there was another dress to be had and two seamstresses spent the day before her wedding altering the new gown.

Good luck cleaning!

 

[ice_princess]

I would be very careful to take a dress to be cleaned before the big day.
My friend had her dress cleaned before and the cleaners completely ruined the whole thing. It was a disaster. She ended up having to get married in it even with the pieces that weren't fitting right because she couldn't afford to get a new dress and didn't have enough time to try and fix it. Please find a reputable place or someone you can trust (ie a dressmaker, they usually know how to correctly clean dresses) because some of these cleaning places just DO NOT care whose big day they are ruining!!!