When should I clean my wedding dress?

The sooner you clean your gown after your wedding, the better. That way, visible and invisible stains can be removed before they damage your gown's delicate fabric. Buyers are more likely to keep a dress if they know what to expect. 

Trying to sell a dress that has blemishes? Dry cleaning doesn't always eliminate stains. There are wet stains (coffee, wine, etc.) and dry stains (lipstick, dirt, etc.) that require different types of chemicals to dissolve. Fabric also plays a factor in removing a stubborn mark. For example, polyester and rayon are fibers that contain plastic wires that are woven together, which means the stain is sitting on top of the fiber and not penetrating the fiber. Other fibers like cotton, silk and linen tend to be more fragile and require more time to clean and reverse the damage. Stains on these natural fibers act like a dye and penetrate more easily.

Preservation is an unnecessary expense if you have your gown cleaned after your wedding and store it properly until it sells. Proper storage means things like keeping it in a temperature-controlled room with low humidity, and not storing it in plastic or exposing it to the sun.