Wedding Gown Cleaning & Preservation

…because you want your wedding day to last forever!

Cleaning Process

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Preservation

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Fox Cleaners couture wedding gown care includes your personal inspection and archival, museum-quality storage materials. Vintage gown restorations and vintage veil restorations. The Fox Cleaners team are the trusted experts when it comes to preservation, cleaning & restoration.

Cleaning & Preservation

You can trust Fox Cleaners to remove stains by hand and protect your wedding gown throughout our MuseumCare™ ZeroCarbon™ wedding gown cleaning process according to the highest standards and pressed by hand.

Bridal Gown Preservation

We carefully hand clean your wedding gown with gentle chemicals that dissolve the different kinds of stains.  Plus we take extra steps to be certain all stains, both seen and unseen, are removed because wedding day spills such as soda, wine and cake (many times caused by a guest and unnoticed by you) can dry without leaving a visible mark. Otherwise, these sugary stains, which are not dissolved during ordinary dry cleaning, will caramelize into ugly brown stains. Once all stains are dissolved, your wedding gown is rinsed in pure solvent until all chemicals are removed and your wedding gown is completely clean.

Vintage Gown Cleaning/Preservation

Heirloom wedding gown preservation and vintage wedding gown restoration are our specialties. If the wedding gown of your dreams is a family bridal gown that time has yellowed and stained, call us! We specialize in restoring antique gowns and vintage bridal gowns to the true color without damage to delicate fabrics or dyes. We remove stains and discoloration that ordinary dry cleaners cannot.

Whether it is a vintage wedding gown or vintage wedding veil or one of those special gowns you or someone in your family wore as a child, we can renew it for your special day. You can trust us to give your vintage wedding gown or family wedding gown the care and attention it deserves.

WEDDING GOWN CLEANING

Please note that additional charges may apply for certain restorations, size and embellishments that need special care.
$ 300* *Starting Price
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Wedding Gown Preservation Options

All include the premium box kits with custom monogramming.

SMALL

$ 200
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MEDIUM

$ 250
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LARGE

$ 300
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Answers to All Your Wedding Dress Cleaning and Preservation Questions

Cleaning a wedding gown is costly because it requires a specialized process far beyond standard dry cleaning. Our bridal specialists meticulously hand-clean each dress, followed by any necessary dipping or machine cleaning, and dedicate hours to pressing intricate details like lace and long trains. Given that wedding dresses can range from $2,000 to $20,000 in value—not to mention their sentimental worth—they demand exceptional care. We have a strong reputation for handling gowns, including those valued up to $30,000, with the utmost attention and expertise, ensuring beautiful results every time.

When you bring in your gown for assessment, you’ll receive information about potential risks and a consent form. Wedding gowns are intricate, with unique fabrics and designs that aren’t made with cleaning in mind. We prioritize transparency so customers can make fully informed decisions, rather than ignoring risks that, while unlikely, could occur. With years of experience and thousands of gowns successfully cleaned, we believe this honest approach is best. However, we remain confident in our ability to deliver perfect results.

We estimate 2-3 weeks for gown cleaning during the off-season and up to 4 weeks during the busy season. This timeframe is due to the high volume of gowns we handle and the meticulous hand cleaning and specialist attention required. However, if needed, we can prioritize a gown and complete it in as little as a week. Typically, brides don’t need their gowns back urgently since they’ve already been worn, but if timing is ever a concern, we can make special arrangements.

There are many cheaper options for cleaning your wedding gown, including online services and non-specialized cleaners, but they often outsource the work and lack the experience needed for delicate gowns. Our team has received specialized training to ensure unmatched expertise. While some cheaper providers might do a good job, we only hear the horror stories—like customers needing to pay for a second cleaning after failed attempts elsewhere, which also makes stain removal harder. Before opting for a cheaper service, consider whether they truly specialize in gowns, and ensure you know who is handling your dress and where.

Deciding what to do with your gown after cleaning is a personal choice. If you plan to sell it, preservation isn’t needed, but if you’re keeping it or passing it down, proper preservation is crucial to minimize aging and damage. Without preservation, gowns can develop yellow age marks and weakened fabric over time. We recommend storing it in either a museum-quality preservation box or a muslin preservation bag to slow down aging. However, keep in mind that no storage method fully prevents aging, especially if the gown isn’t cleaned first, as even invisible stains can quickly yellow.
Your wedding gown represents one of the most important days of your life and is often a significant and personal investment. You may also wish to pass it down to a family member someday. Similarly, other family heirlooms hold deep sentimental value. These cherished garments might include christening gowns, military uniforms, graduation robes, sports uniforms, costumes, quilts, and handmade items.
Textiles are vulnerable to hazards like light, humidity, poor air circulation, stains, fumes from non-archival materials, mold and mildew spores, pollutants, insects, and improper handling. While fabrics like silk and wool naturally yellow over time, you can minimize yellowing by keeping your gown away from light, which is a major cause of discoloration. Additionally, fumes from poly bags can damage clothing if stored in them for extended periods.
Treasury boxes are sturdy and designed to stabilize humidity, block light, dust, pollutants, mold, and mildew, while allowing for air circulation. Unlike many storage options, they don’t use brown or white kraft paper lining, which can be harmful. Avoid boxes made from kraft paper or pH-neutral paperboard, as brown kraft is acidic and can damage textiles, and pH-neutral boards might harm delicate fabrics like silk and wool.
We preserve your garment in a fully archival textile storage box made from fluted polypropylene, a chemically inert polymer. This material is non-absorbent, offers superior moisture protection compared to cardboard, and resists temperature and humidity fluctuations. Our proprietary boxes are made from the same material used by The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City to store historical costumes.
The ideal location for the box is in a living area of your home with good airflow, away from heat sources and direct light. Suitable places include under the bed or on the top shelf of a closet. Avoid storing the box in unheated areas such as basements, attics, or garages, as moisture and temperature fluctuations in these locations are not suitable for textile storage.
We recommend inspecting the gown every two to five years.
The box should be stored flat and level. Do not store it on its ends, as this can cause the gown to shift and create an unsafe position.

To choose the right box size, fold the gown accordingly: triple-fold for smaller gowns and double-fold for larger gowns, then measure the depth.

  • For a depth of 2” to 3”, select a small box.
  • For a depth of 4” to 5”, choose a medium box.
  • For a depth of 6” or more, opt for a large box.
For archivists and conservators, “acid-free” means a material has a pH level between 7 and 9.5. If it’s too alkaline (over 10), it can weaken natural protein fibers like silk and wool, while if it’s too acidic (below 6.5), it can degrade the paper and harm the textiles inside. Lignin, a fiber in wood that helps trees stand, decomposes over time and releases acidic, corrosive elements that cause paper to yellow, become brittle, and weaken. The Kappa number measures lignin content, with a standard of less than 5 (indicating less than 1% lignin). Our paper tests to a Kappa number of less than 5.
The unbuffered acid-free tissue paper serves as a filtration layer, absorbing any acids that may be released from the gown’s components. It also acts as a pH indicator.
Natural unbleached muslin is stable and non-acidic, making it ideal for preservation. It is the same material used by museums worldwide, including the Smithsonian. We have tailored this material into bags for convenient use with our boxes. It provides excellent protection against moisture and contaminants commonly found in buildings.
We offer free exchanges on Preservation Kits and guarantee you’ll get the correct size box. For issues with your box, call us. All items can be returned or exchanged within 15 days of purchase, with a 20% restocking fee and non-refundable shipping charges. Personalized items cannot be returned or exchanged, but we will correct any errors we make. For damaged packages, keep all packaging materials and notify us immediately.
If the gown needs to be handled, wearing gloves will prevent body oils and contaminants from coming into contact with the fabric. Over time, these oils and contaminants can oxidize and cause brown stains.