Wow, using a word like BEWARE in a title really sounds strong. And the first question you may have is “What is Wholesale wedding gown cleaning?” and why should I be afraid of it?
What is Wholesale Wedding Gown Cleaning?
The word wholesale is the first indicator. Wholesale means that another business is the final distributor or the retailer. So the wholesale price has to be low enough that the retailer can make a profit. Retailers for wedding gown cleaning are usually actual dry-cleaning shops and bridal shops.
Who Uses Wholesale Wedding Gown Cleaning
It makes sense that a bridal shop would use a wholesaler. After all, they aren’t in the cleaning business. So they find a wholesale company who offers their wedding gown cleaning and preservation services for a reasonable price, and then they mark it up and sell it to their brides as an add on to their wedding gown purchase.
But why would a dry cleaner use a wholesale wedding gown cleaning and preservation company? They are in the cleaning business! Wedding gowns are large, take a lot of space in their dry cleaning machines. They can be fragile, have delicate trims, beads and sequins that can come loose and often very dirty hemlines. In short, wedding gown cleaning is a lot of work with a fair amount of risk.
Wholesale Wedding Gown Cleaning is Big Business
So wholesale wedding gown cleaning is big business. Some wholesale companies have trucks that pick up and deliver wedding gowns from dry cleaners and bridal shops as part of their service. Others require the wedding dress to be shipped to them. Either way, they handle a huge volume of wedding gown cleaning which is done in very large machines, with as many as 30 dresses at a time. Herein lies one of the challenges: your wedding gown cleaning will be done with 30 other wedding gowns.
Wholesale Wedding Gown Cleaning Challenges
Some of the other challenges are:
- The attention your wedding gown will receive (or not receive)
- The quality of the preservation supplies.
Keep in mind the first word – Wholesale. What this means is that the shipping (or pick up and drop off), cleaning, pressing, and preservation all have to be done for a minimal price, which is usually under $100, so that the retailer (dry-cleaner or bridal shop) can then mark up the service and make a profit as well. So the service you may pay $200 for is actually a $100 service.
To make a profit, wholesale companies cannot afford to waste time on extra care or money on higher quality preservation supplies. It is unlikely that their preservation boxes are both acid-free and lignin free. It is a high volume, lower quality operation.
Heritage Garment Preservation – Wedding Gown Cleaning
Here at Heritage Garment Preservation we provide individualized care for your wedding gown. Most gowns are hand cleaned to ensure thorough stain removal and reduce the risk of damages to a wedding gown fabrics and trims. Our preservation supplies are the highest quality available, acid-free and lignin-free, which will give you the best protection against yellowing that is available. We would love to give our tender loving care to your wedding gown.