A Greener Cleaner

Don't get taken to the cleaners. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 85 percent of dry cleaning shops in the United States use perchloro–ethylene (PCE or perc), the main solvent used in dry cleaning. Perc is poison. Literally. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified it as a known carcinogen, yet each year 37 million pounds of it end up in our water, soil and air. Preserve your gown (and the Earth) with wet cleaning. It has been proven to be more efficient than standard dry cleaning methods, not to mention the EPA and professional garment and textile care industry herald it as an environmentally-preferable technology for cleaning. For museum quality preservation, check out Heritage Gown. They hand-treat each garment, using a non-toxic, recyclable solvent and then hang it on a100 percent cotton hanger, filled with acid free  tissue and then cloak the new heirloom in a dye-free cotton bag. This method will allow you to"inspect" the dress to make sure it hasn't been damaged due to oxidation.