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The care label inside your wedding gown is the best way to clean it. Not true. The instructions for care on the label may not be the only way-or even the best way-to clean your wedding gown. The care label simply means that if you follow the instructions, and the gown is damaged by the cleaning process, then the manufacturer and not the cleaner is liable for the damage. That is why you will sometimes see instructions such as "Do not dry-clean. This language absolutely protects the manufacturer from any liability because the manufacturer is essentially telling you not to clean your wedding gown. However, an experienced cleaner who specializes in caring for gowns can very probably clean your gown without a problem. Just be sure the cleaner is a specialist who is willing to take responsibility for your wedding gown if he or she chooses to do something other than the instructions on the care label of your gown.
Blue tissue should be used to package your wedding gown. Not true. There is usually a little truth in an old wives' tale, and we know, for example, that an apple a day really is good for us. But blue tissue paper is NOT good for your gown, and no one really knows why it was supposedly to be good for wrapping heirloom gowns. It may have something to do with bluing. There is a reference to bluing in an early seventeenth-century English play, and bluing comes from indigo, a naturally alkaline substance that can neutralize any acidic content that might cause yellowing. Bluing also adds a trace of blue dye to fabric, which, again, offsets any yellowish cast in white fabric. In the 1920s and 1930s, wedding gowns were often wrapped in a deep blue paper, but the paper was waxed, and the wax prevented the acidic content of the paper from damaging the bridal gown.
Whatever the history behind this idea, blue tissue is absolutely the wrong thing for preserving your heirloom gown. Blue tissue is not acid-free and, worse yet, the paper will, if it gets wet, dye your gown blue. Then your gown will need to be restored to the true color. Only white, completely acid-free tissue and completely acid-free wedding chests should be used for heirloom gown preservation due to ordinary boxes and tissue contain acid that scorches bridal gowns. Some will tell you pH neutral materials are good enough for gown preservation, but they are not. The neutralizer is water soluble. A damp environment will dissolve the neutralizer, and pH neutral paper and paperboard will then re-acidify. Acid-free means that all acidic content is removed when the paper and paperboard are made, and therefore, by definition acid-free materials can not re-acidify. Only acid-free materials are good enough for Gown Preservation .
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Source by Sally Lorensen Conant, Ph.D.
