Cleaning and preserving your wedding dress involves a detailed and specialized process to ensure the gown remains in excellent condition for years to come. CBB works with a third-party provider to professionally clean and preserve your gown. This process will remove soil and invisible stains that, given time, will ruin fine fabrics and adornments.

So How Does It Work?

Brides who wish to have their gown professionally cleaned and preserved, Simply drop off your gown and we will handle the rest. Here’s an overview of the steps involved:

• Inspection: The first step is a thorough inspection of the gown. The wedding dress specialist will examine the gown for stains, spots, and any areas of damage. It's important to identify and document these issues for targeted treatment during cleaning.

• Pre-spotting: Stains and spots are pre-treated with specialized solutions to break down and remove them effectively. This may involve hand-spotting delicate areas and using appropriate techniques based on the type of stain (e.g., wine, makeup, dirt). These techniques will ensure that oils and visible stains and marks are removed, as well as those troublesome stains that may not be visible to the eye.

• Cleaning: The wedding dress is cleaned based on its fabric and any special care requirements.Ordinary dry-cleaning will not dissolve sugar-type stains or salt

• Rinsing: After cleaning, the gown is thoroughly rinsed to remove any residual cleaning agents and solvents. This ensures that no chemical residues remain on the fabric.

• Drying: The gown is carefully dried, typically using specialized equipment that prevents over-drying and heat damage. This is crucial to maintain the gown's fabric and embellishments.

• Pressing: Careful pressing, folding, shaping and inserting in the preservation box is the next important step in the process. Once the gown is clean and dry, it may be pressed or steamed to restore its shape and smooth out any wrinkles. Care is taken to use the appropriate heat and pressure levels to avoid damage.

• Preservation: After cleaning, the wedding dress is preserved to prevent yellowing and damage over time. This typically involves the following steps:

• Acid-free storage materials: The gown is placed in an acid-free, high-quality inner box to prevent yellowing caused by exposure to air and light. Acid-free tissue paper is used to pad and protect the dress.

• Sealing: The acid-free preservation inner box is then sealed with a heat-shrink neutral clear vinyl material. This process will protect your gown from contaminating air, dust, and potential infestation. After sealing, a proprietary process removes the oxygen from within the seal. Finally, your gown is placed in an outer protection box.

Bridal gowns do not have to have been purchased from CBB.