How To Make Your Bridal Outfits Last Longer!

Wedding season is on in full swing, and our calendar is full of bridal outfit bookings!  Being in the rental business, one of our primary goals is trying to keep all our bridal outfits (incl. wedding gowns, lehengas, sarees and shervanis) looking absolutely fresh. We take it as a personal challenge to maintain them with utmost care, and find innovative solutions to rectify even the most minor kind of damage! Listed below are a few tips we have shared for those brides who wish to cherish and preserve their bridal outfits for the longest possible time…

• Send your outfits for dry cleaning as soon as possible! We know you will be busy with post-wedding rituals and your honeymoon, but do assign a friend or family member to make sure your outfit is dry cleaned immediately after the wedding. The longer sweat and dirt remains on a fabric, the higher the chance of permanent damage to the outfit.

• Wrap heavily embroidered garments in a thin cotton/muslin cloth before storing. Keep them in a dark part of your cupboard to prevent discolouration, away from dust, sunlight and moisture.

• Make sure you fold and re-fold these garments once a month so that the silk/zari doesn’t get damaged along the crease lines. On removal of the garment, expose it to air before storing it again.

• Avoid hanging extremely heavy sarees, keep them folded in a saree pouch instead. Saree pouches are readily available in marketplaces (in Mumbai you can find these in the Santacruz Station Road Market, Manish Market or Bhuleshwar)

• If you see a coloured stain on your white wedding gown (which might have been left from coloured confetti or makeup or anything else) that doesn’t go even after dry cleaning, you can try soaking the damaged portion in fabric whitener (as per the instructions on the product package). We have had excellent luck removing stains like this from satin, taffeta and net fabrics.

• Never use water on a heavily embroidered or silk fabric as water leaves permanent marks on these easily.

• Always use professional drycleaners for steam pressing and dry cleaning your heavy garments. Trying methods like ironing them at home with a cloth on top are usually ineffective and can often lead to disaster!