Storing your wedding dress

1. Once you get your wedding dress home. Remove any protective plastic wrapping or plastic clothing bag from the wedding dress. This is important as plastic does not allow the fabric to breath and delicate fabrics such as silk will react to changes in temperature and will ultimately deteriorate if left in an environment that does not allow the air to circulate around the garment. Plastic protection is fine but should only be used for transporting wedding dresses for short periods.
2. Pad a good plastic dress hanger with cotton batting and cover with muslin, or wrap with terry toweling (dish towels) are good or buy good quality padded dress hangers. 
3. Hang the dress in a cool dry closet or wardrobe and stuff the bodice, sleeves and any deep folds in the fabric with acid-free tissue. This will help to retain the shape of your wedding dress and minimise creasing.*** Do not use normal tissue paper as it contains residual acids from the manufacturing process which can damage the fabric of your wedding dress. 
4. Wrap the wedding dress in muslin, a white sheet or doona cover and store in your wardrobe or closet away from direct sunlight. Hang some moth balls in a net bag and tie to the hanger with ribbon to protect the garment. Take care not to crush the wedding dress with other clothing. 
5. Check your wedding dress every couple of months to make sure that the straps or other parts of the wedding dress are not stretching.

Tip: Do not hang bias cut silk gowns from the shoulders for long periods. As over time the wedding dress will stretch – to avoid this distribute the dress evenly through multiple padded dress hangers to avoid creasing and over stretching. 

After the wedding 

• Have the wedding dress professionally cleaned as soon as possible after the wedding (within two weeks). Some stains, such as sweat, perfume and alcohol, may be invisible at first but will darken with time if not removed immediately. 
• Point out any stains and discuss with your selected dry cleaner what type of solvent they will use to clean your dress. The three most common solvents used are Perchloroethylene, Stoddard solvent and Exxon DF-2000. Make sure your dry cleaning profession uses virgin solvent on your wedding gown. 
• Most gowns will be cleaned effectively with Perchloroethylene. Although special care must be taken with a wedding gown that is heavily beaded as Perchloroethylene is not suitable as it will damage the intricate beading or crystals. 
• If your gown is made from polyester beaded or not beaded it will be effectively cleaned by wet cleaning. This is the best cleaning method for most food stains and produces excellent results. The bottom line is ensure you discuss all of these details with your dry cleaning professional and that you are comfortable with your choice.
• Choose between box and hanger storage. It may be practical to keep the wedding dress in a box, but hanging the garment in a wardrobe or closet is the best way to prevent creases. Obtain plenty of acid-free tissue paper. This is a requirement whether you fold or hang the dress. Your dry cleaning professional may be able to supply you with an acid free box and acid free tissue.
• Line an acid-free cardboard box with acid-free tissue paper if you are storing the garment in a box. Lay the hem in the box first and then fold the wedding dress accordion-style, placing a layer or crumpled tissue paper between each fold. Stuff the inside of the bodice and sleeves with crumpled tissue. Layer more tissue on top and cover with the box lid.

Follow steps 2, 3, 4 and 5 above if hanging the wedding dress.