Should a wedding gown be drycleaned or washed?

A wedding gown should be dry cleaned. Dry cleaning is essential for long term storage of a wedding gown. Body oils from the skin could discolor the fabric over times, especially cotton and silk. Sugar based stains from food or drink can turn brown with age. Find a cleaner who specializes in cleaning for preparation of long term storage.

Dry clean!

Ask yourself...why are you keeping the gown?

If it is for sentiment...for someone else to use the gown in future, you not only want to dry clean it, but the right cleaners will actually offer a service to "preserve" the gown and any related accessories you want to include. It includes a special cleaning process and boxing the helps prevent aging and yellowing of any items. The process takes time and money and the result is a huge box for you to keep and store. 20 years later, my boxed dress at the time of my divorce, looked brand new! But then I didn't want the dress anymore...

If your just keeping the gown out of your own sentiment... no one else will wear it, then do you want to go through the time, money and hassle of the cleaning and storing? Sell it and it is a great recycling effort. Donate it to a bride that many not have the money for her own gown. A new idea I heard was take just a piece of the gown (if you don't want the whole thing anyway), scrap book that piece, or make a pillow out of it, or keep just a piece so that you can later make the garter for your daughter out of your own gown.

Ideas are endless, based on if you want to keep the dress "whole" or not ....

Good luck and blessings!

Drycleaned

I was told my a drycleaner that a wedding gown could be washed

Most dry cleaners send all the dresses out to a specialist who will clean the dress and pack it in special paper and box to keep it preserved. My husband owned 2 dry cleaners and NEVER cleaned them himself because of the delicacy of the lace, beadwork, sequins, etc. Some dry cleaning solvents are too harsh for the lace or beadwork or sequins, so good drycleaners will send them to specialists because of this. It is not cheap, but if you want to preserve the fabric and its color, it is worth it.

Invest in a proper dry cleaning---maybe someday your daughter will wear the dress!

Just to be safe i would dryclean it.