With the month of February all but over, Classic Cleaners dry cleaning specialists are seeing the usual chocolate-y aftermath of Valentine’s Day.

“Chocolate has been around almost as long as man,” says one Facebook commentator, adding that, ever since Mayan times, the cocoa bean was considered to be an aphrodisiac, and that “It should be no surprise that chocolate has become – or rather remained – an edible symbol of love.”

And that’s not just in the U.S., our Classic Cleaners bloggers learned. In Japan, where Valentine’s Day was first introduced in 1936, Japanese chocolate companies make half their annual sales around the February holiday!

Not everyone views chocolate company Valentine’s Day profits in a positive light.  “They’ve got us exactly where they want us”, complains blogger Corine G. of helium.com.  “Vitamin D deficient, high on expectation but low on cash…already too fat to care yet early enough in the season to know we can start dieting later. All the chocolate industry has to do is package the cocktail of mood enhancers that is called chocolate …in a heart-shaped box.”

Whatever your particular take on the Valentine’s Day/chocolate connection, at Classic Cleaners we know it translates into chocolate stains on clothing and table linens. Howtogetridofstuff offers an important piece of advice:

“The first thing you should always do before trying to remove stains from an article of clothing is to ….make sure you’re not going to destroy it during your efforts. If it’s dry clean only or you’re not sure, you’re better off taking it to the dry cleaners – why take the risk?”

At Classic Cleaners, we agree. Our stain removal technicians are trained to analyze fabrics and fabric stains and select the most appropriate treatment. Meanwhile, remember never to rub a stain.  Instead, lay the stained area down on several layers of paper towels and blot the backside of the fabric with a heavy-duty liquid detergent.

Next, bring the garment to Classic Cleaners’ store – there’s one near you!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

 The ivory wedding dress has become the favorite brand in many young lovers’ eyes,” according to the writers of weddinginthebox.com.

“Ivory seems to be the predominant color chosen by brides who are getting married the second time, opines www.professosrhouse.com.

So, which is it? Asks one Classic Cleaners’ blog reader.  Can first-time brides wear ivory, and can white be appropriate for a “second time around” bride?

As specialists in wedding gown care and preservation, Classic Cleaners professionals typically meet brides – and their dresses – after the big color decision has already been made.

• Before the big day, Classic Cleaners performs alterations and prepared dresses for travel to a destination wedding site.
• After the wedding, Classic Cleaners’ expert stain removal process comes into play. Many brides select MuseumCare preservation in hopes a daughter or even granddaughter will be able to someday carry on the tradition.So, no, we’re usually not consulted on color selection ahead of time.  But, since, at least one reader has popped the ivory vs. white question, here’s what we know:

Only since Queen Victoria’s wedding was white even used for wedding dress.  In fact, the color thought to symbolize purity and virginity was blue, with white meant for mourning!  Later, white became a status symbol, meaning you could afford to spend money on a garment that would be worn only once!

The most sensible response we found to the white-ivory question was given by a Yahoo!answers reader:  “My dress is off-white because it goes better with my complexion!”

In recent months, Classic Cleaners has dry cleaned, prepared, restored dresses in red, gray, ivory, and white, ranging from worn only once to 47 years old! We can tell you – they are all beautiful.

Our final answer (yes, Regis!) to our blog reader’s query – Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials.  Whatever color makes you feel most beautiful – IS most beautiful!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

Handmade in the small English town of Honiton, the lace on Queen Victoria’s wedding gown took more than one hundred lace makers more than six months to create. When the queen married Prince Albert in 1840, she started a trend by wearing a white dress – before that, white gowns were quite unusual.

To this day, lace adds a beautiful romantic touch to garments, especially wedding and christening gowns. Two famous types of lace are Chantilly and Alencon; each can come embroidered with seed beads and pearls.

The delicate surface of lace demands special sewing techniques – and special lace dry cleaning care. If the holes in the lace are large, there is even greater danger of snagging and tearing (this is especially true with vintage wedding gowns).

One of the wedding gown dry cleaning challenges the professionals at Classic Cleaners face comes from stains accumulating around the beaded edges of lace. The “terrible threes”, sugars, salts, and acids, do the kind of damage to wedding gowns with which conventional dry cleaning methods cannot cope.

 The clean, safe, and unique methods of wedding gown hand cleaning, dry cleaning and preservation perfected over the years by Classic Cleaners have kept many a lacy wedding gown in an enchanting state of perfection!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

“Sing me no song! Read me no rhyme! Don’t waste my time, Show me!” sings Eliza Doolittle in the musical My Fair Lady.

Recent Classic Cleaners blog posts have featured MuseumCare™, our wedding dress preservation system, guaranteed by all members of the worldwide Association of Wedding Gown Specialists.

Summerlot dress before restoring

While we love singing songs and reading rhymes, in today’s blog post we’re going to show

Summerlot dress after restoration

and tell you about the very special linen and lace wedding dress brought in to Classic Cleaners by customer Virginia Summerlot. Virginia’s daughter, a California resident, is getting married next year and plans to wear her mother’s 47-year old restored gown, matching gloves, train, and all. This promises to be a wedding story with not one, but two happy endings! (Who knows? With proper care and preservation, there might be more encore performances in store for this gorgeous garment!)

The special hand cleaning and preservation treatment system used on the Summerlot gown was showcased by Classic Cleaners at the

Classic Cleaners' Booth at the Scottish Rite Bridal Fair

bridal display at the Scottish Rite Cathedral on January 8th and 9th of this year. Our table features awards, photos, and the acid-free, archival quality wedding dress box we use for heirloom preservation.

Sing you no songs, you say?  Read you no rhymes?  Any time, we’ll show you!

By Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team