Berthon’s Cleaners, Inc.

Wedding Gown Inspection

Wedding Gown Before Cleaning

WEDDING GOWN CLEANING SPECIALISTS

             Why send your wedding gown to the big city like New York or Chicago or Los Angeles where you pay the big city price and unknown service. Send it to BERTHON'S CLEANERS, INC. where you can be sure that your gown will be treated like it was our own. Click on contact us and receive instructions on how to mail us your wedding gown for cleaning and packaging for long-term storage. We are not a small drycleaner operating on a shoestring nor are we so large that your gown is lost in the massive volume of gowns with no personal attention. We are a mid sized drycleaner with the financial and technical resources to have the best equipment and experienced personnel to handle your cherished garment. Dry cleaning is a very technical process that requires close supervision of the dry cleaning filter and the solvent so that you do not have dry cleaning odor or soil redeposition causing the gown to look dingy. The selection of the proper solvent is important for good soil removal and for the safety of the fiber or trim. In some cases some trim must be removed before cleaning to avoid damage to the trim.  Each gown is inspected by our certified environmental drycleaner with over twenty years of experience, to determine the best cleaning solvent for the fiber content and the trim. If there is any indication that our cleaning process may cause a problem with your gown, you will be contacted before processing to discuss the problem.

            If your gown has heavy soil around the hemline or makeup stains on it our inspection should see these spots and they are removed before cleaning. We pay particular attention to underarm stains because wet side stains such as perspiration do not come out in dry cleaning. The word dry-cleaning is a bit misleading because the solvent is not dry but it is a liquid that contains no water. Stains that contain sugar such as drinks or cake should be pointed out to us so that the sugar can be removed before dry cleaning. Often sugar stains are invisible before cleaning but in time the sugar may caramelize and turn brown and it is very difficult to remove caramelized sugar stains. This is unfortunate because sugar is so easy to remove before cleaning but we must be told of the stain if it is not visible when we make our preliminary inspection. After the gown has been inspected and pre spotted it will be dry cleaned or wet cleaned as per the instructions on the label. If there is no label, we will use our best judgment as to what procedure to use. If there is any question in our mind we will contact you before cleaning. Your gown will be cleaned but no more than three at one time. Three gowns allow good solvent flow and cushion the gowns during agitation. The length of the cleaning cycle and the drying temperature are carefully monitored. After dry cleaning, your gown is inspected again the make certain that all the stains are removed. If necessary the gown will be pre-spotted and re-cleaned until we are satisfied that the gowns is clean and all the spots have been removed to the best of our ability and without damage to the fabric.

            After cleaning your gown is pressed by an experienced finisher who is looking for spots or stains and open seams or missing buttons while pressing the gown. If any are observed, they are corrected before the gown is sealed. After the gown is pressed it is inspected by a person with over twenty years of experience working with wedding gowns. When our inspector is satisfied that the gown is ready to be boxed, it is placed with any accessories such as the veil or shoes, etc. and sent to be packaged. The gown is carefully folded, stuffed with acid free tissue paper and placed in a plastic bag with some silica gel to remove any moisture that may be in the package. Then some of the air is removed from he bag and it is sealed. The same process is used for any accessories that were sent. The gown and accessories are placed in an acid free box for storage. The box is labeled and dated so anytime within ninety days the gown may be returned for processing if you are not satisfied with the quality. If you bring your gown into our plant, we open the box and have you make a visual inspection before you leave the plant to insure it is your gown and you are satisfied with the quality. If you mail you gown to us we ask that you open the box when it is returned to you so that you can decide if the quality meets your expectations. If it does not meet your expectations you may return it to us at your own expense within ninety days with specific written instructions as to the nature of your complaint. We will follow your written instructions or if it is determined that we cannot follow your written instructions we will contact you and discuss the best way to handle your request. After you receive your gown and are prepared to store it, we request that you store it in a cool dry place. Do not put it in a hot attic or a damp basement. The heat in the attic can cause the fabric to deteriorate and or turn yellow. If you store the box in a damp basement the box and or the gown may mildew and cause irreversible damage. We ask that you open the box periodically and visually inspect the gown to make sure it is safe.

            BERTHON'S CLEANERS, INC. is a dues paying member of the Better Business Bureau, Southeastern Fabricare Association, Alabama Dry Cleaning Coalition, National Federation of Independent Business, and the International Fabricare Institute that trained our certified environmental drycleaner. Do not trust your dry cleaning to any dry cleaner that is not a member of the International Fabricare Institute. Click on our link to the web site for the International Fabricare Institute for more information about them. Each of these organizations provides BERTHON'S CLEANERS, INC. with a service that helps us to be a more professional dry cleaning business and provide the customer with the assurance of quality service and fair treatment at a reasonable price. For more information about us, click on History and read more about our nearly 100 years of service to the people of Alabama. Click on contact us for instructions on how to send us your wedding gown for processing.