Wedding dress cleaners

AvonEnniskerry

Hi I am looking for a recommended wedding dress cleaners... Based either around Dublin or Wicklow and if they are open on Saturdays its a bonus as I work mon to friday - meaning I dont have to take time off work.
Also how mush should I be expecting to pay to have a wedding dress cleaned???

watna

I worked in a bridal boutique for a short time one summer. We always recommended Lyk Nu in Donnybrook as the best place to get a wedding dress cleaned. No idea how much it costs though!

Toots

I'm not sure where to recommend since I haven't sent mine in anywhere yet, but I phoned around a few places and the average cost seems to be about €150 - €200. Another thing to bear in mind is it might need a second clean because sometimes if there's a stain it won't come out first time.

BC

I got mine done in a local cleaners in Dublin, it cost 50 euro and it was perfect.

Toots

BC wrote: »

I got mine done in a local cleaners in Dublin, it cost 50 euro and it was perfect.

Ooh, which cleaners was it and whereabouts? The main reason I've been putting off getting mine done is that the quotes I've gotten so far have been so expensive.

BC

Toots, it was Impress cleaners beside Denis Mahonys in Kilbarrack.
They have a factory place there - it's cheaper to go to the factory than the actua Impress shops.

The dress was covered in fake tan and dirt so i was very impressed that they got it spotless!

Monife

Toots* wrote: »

I'm not sure where to recommend since I haven't sent mine in anywhere yet, but I phoned around a few places and the average cost seems to be about €150 - €200. Another thing to bear in mind is it might need a second clean because sometimes if there's a stain it won't come out first time.

OH MY GOD!!! :eek::eek::eek: That is just absolute crazy money to clean a dress. Recession obviously hasn't hit those drycleaners. I am just gobsmacked, I can't believe it. Some dresses only cost double the price they quoted to clean.

Honey-ec

Monife wrote: »

OH MY GOD!!! :eek::eek::eek: That is just absolute crazy money to clean a dress. Recession obviously hasn't hit those drycleaners. I am just gobsmacked, I can't believe it. Some dresses only cost double the price they quoted to clean.

As soon as they hear wedding dress they treble the cost of cleaning a comparable evening dress.

I stuffed mine into two pillow cases and washed it in the machine at home on a handwash cycle. It came out perfect, and as with the previous poster, mine was covered in fake tan, spilled drinks and the train was as grotty from trailing around the floor all day.

The vast majority of clothes that are marked dry clean only don't need to be dry-cleaned at all, clothing manufacturers use it as a cover-all to save them testing their fabrics properly.

Monife

Honey-ec wrote: »

As soon as they hear wedding dress they treble the cost of cleaning a comparable evening dress.

I stuffed mine into two pillow cases and washed it in the machine at home on a handwash cycle. It came out perfect, and as with the previous poster, mine was covered in fake tan, spilled drinks and the train was as grotty from trailing around the floor all day.

The vast majority of clothes that are marked dry clean only don't need to be dry-cleaned at all, clothing manufacturers use it as a cover-all to save them testing their fabrics properly.

Gosh, I would be terrified at putting mine (not married yet though, 12 days, but who's counting) in the washing machine, even on a handwash cycle. But I certainly wouldn't pay those extortionate prices, if someone even quoted those prices to me I would be tempted to have a row with them. I suppose it is like anything to do with a wedding, the minute you mention the "W" word, everything trebles in price. Disgraceful!!

Honey-ec

Monife wrote: »

Gosh, I would be terrified at putting mine (not married yet though, 12 days, but who's counting) in the washing machine, even on a handwash cycle.

Don't be. A handwash cycle in the machine is generally less aggressive than a dry-cleaning. And my dress was big with a lot of hand-beading, but it came out perfect. But look, it's your dress and it obviously depends on how you feel about it. I knew I was never going to wear it again so if it got wrecked, I could live with that. But, as I said, it was absolutely fine.

Here's my dress:

Monife

This is my dress. I know I am getting ahead of myself (but always good to pick up tips and advice), do you think my dress would be ok in the washing machine? I know I am definitely going to get tan on it and also the train is so damn long (regretting that now but fell in love with the dress) so even when it is buttoned up (you know the buttons the alterations girls puts on the back to bring it up a bit for the evening), the train will still be dragging a good bit. Unfortunately, it will probably be dragged through a lot of spilled drinks, even if I try to be careful, it will get to stage in the night where I wont realise

Edit: By the way, your dress is GORGEOUS!!!

prettygurrly

@Monife, your dress is beautiful too..enjoy your wedding.

i got my mum's antique lace and silk wedding dress cleaned in Excel cleaners on Trinity Street in Dublin 2. I dont think it was extortionate...they were open on saturdays too

Monife

prettygurrly wrote: »

@Monife, your dress is beautiful too..enjoy your wedding.

i got my mum's antique lace and silk wedding dress cleaned in Excel cleaners on Trinity Street in Dublin 2. I dont think it was extortionate...they were open on saturdays too

Thank you. If you dont mind me asking, how much was it?

prettygurrly

it was a good few years ago so i cant remember but 60 euro sounds about right...as i said, not extortionate for a one of a kind dress...

emeldc

Honey-ec wrote: »

The vast majority of clothes that are marked dry clean only don't need to be dry-cleaned at all,

Honey-ec wrote: »

A handwash cycle in the machine is generally less aggressive than a dry-cleaning.

Those two quotes are absolute rubbish.
Any wash cycle is more aggressive than any drycleaning cycle. Sure if the vast majority of clothes could be washed there would be no need for a drycleaners at all.
As for the cost, let me explain,
When you leave in your trousers or skirt for dry cleaning how much do you pay? About €7 or €8. Thats because your garment is cleaned with 25 or 30 other garments in the machine at the same time, thus making it viable to run the machine in the first place.
When you leave in your precious wedding dress, do you think the drycleaner puts it in the machine with all the dirty suits. Of course he doesn't. Your dress gets pride of place in the machine.......on it's own. Now how much do you think it costs to run one of these €40k machines. Add up to 2 hours of stain removal by hand to get the muck and tar out of the train, the red wine, guinness, a couple of bottles of fake tan and all sorts of other stuff and you might get some idea why they are a little more expensive to clean than your average evening dress.
My advice would be to follow the instructions on the label.
Find yourself a reputable dry cleaner. Don't be afraid to ask to see some of the other dresses he has cleaned. Be prepared to pay €100 - €150, no more.
Sure as 'Honey-ec' says, if you're not going to wear it again, it doesn't matter if it gets wrecked..................I must try saying that to a customer some day :rolleyes:

LashingLady

I got mine cleaned in Express Dry Cleaners in Ranelagh. It cost €85. I got married in Vegas and had a photo tour and ended up in a nightclub after the reception and when I got home my poor dress was black all up the back. The cleaners got all the gunk out first time, and I was delighted to sell the dress for half what I paid for it!

I was being quoted €230 in Craft Cleaners in Baggot St for the same job. I went and got the dress back after having a chat with the women in Ranelagh. They suggested to me that your relationship with your dry cleaner needs to be akin to that with your doctor! Not sure about that but I did like that they had a good frank chat about what they could and couldn't do with it.

Moonbeam

In Newry it is 30-40 pounds to get your wedding dress dry cleaned by a specialist cleaner.
In Dublin we were quoted anything from 100 - 200.

AvonEnniskerry

Everything seems to be cheaper up North than down South. I would not be happy paying anymore than €200 for my dress to be cleaned. Problem is to get a quote the dry cleaners are saying they need to see the dress ( assess the fabric and see how much work it'll be) but I havent got the time to be trecking around with my wedding dress.

lazygal

I got my dress cleaned in a local dry cleaners, it cost €80 and came up perfect. I was quoted €200 from a well known city centre place, total rip off. Try a local place, more than likely they'll do it.

AvonEnniskerry

That's a good idea. Is silk particularly hard to clean?

emeldc

A silk wedding dress in the wrong hands can spell disaster. Be very careful where you leave it. There's nothing wrong with some local dry cleaners but ask to speak to the dry cleaner him/herself and insist on looking at some of their work. If they're any good they'll be happy to show you.

lazygal

Our local place does a lot of debs dresses and wedding/event dresses so was well able to give me an idea of what the end result would be. The other alternative is to try cleaning it yourself, a friend of mine did this with great success:

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf55131275.tip.html

AvonEnniskerry

Thank you for all your help. I have dropped it into a recommended place in Clondalkin. Your wan there seems to be very knowledgable. I will let you know what dress comes back like. She also has dress boxes there which is brilliant as my dress is to long to have hanging up in an ordinary wardrobe. The cleaning cost me €120