Building a Better Storage System

All about garment storage and preservation

HOW-TO INFO

Garment Storage
Basics

How to Preserve
a Wedding Gown

Building a Better
Storage System

FAQ's

IN-DEPTH

Why light
damages fabric

Is acid-free
good enough?

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Building a Better Storage System

- a look at how we went about creating our own storage system, the materials used, and the method of construction.

First things first - the general concept

Although the detailed technical aspects of a new design are very important, the first thing to look at is - what type of product should it be? If you're designing a new car, it's no use starting with the tread patterns of the tires. First you need to decide on the general concept. Sedan? Sports car? Convertible? 2 or 4-door? What function are you trying to fulfill?

Since easy access and a preference for not having to fold the protected garment are important practical considerations, as well as easy storage in a normal household, we concluded that a simple bag arrangement would be the starting point of our design. It should be large enough to hold a garment unfolded - even a very full wedding gown. It should be very light in weight so as to drape very lightly over the garment. It is very important that the bag should breathe but it must also protect its contents from harmful airborne particles. So it would need to be made of a breathing material with a very tight weave. To avoid any possibility of damage from insects, the bag should be constructed of a material that is of no interest to bugs as food.

The material we chose is a strong, very light weight fabric with an unusually compact, unspun weave. The weave is so tight (9000 fibers to the inch - see photo), it can block particles down to just a few microns (millionths of a metre). This is smaller than most bacteria! (In fact this type of fabric is used to filter the air in hospital operating rooms.) It is a polyamide - essentially a form of nylon - so bugs won't eat it. To block as much light as possible, we chose a black color. The fabric is technically "water vapor permeable." This means moisture can pass through in the form of individual water molecules (i.e. water vapor) allowing the fabric to breathe, while running water is blocked due to surface tension.
We chose a Teflon^TM-coated version of the fabric. This has three advantages:

It gives the fabric a water-repellent finish
The slick surface allows the garment to move freely inside the bag
It is totally inert and acid-free ensuring long-term compatibility with all fabrics. Teflon^TM has been around since the 1930's and is one of the most non-reactive substances known to man. (Details)

To ensure easy and immediate access, we put a zipper in the bag. However, using a conventional zipper would negate the point of all the filtration from the fabric. It would be like having a leaky sieve in the bag. The teeth would also be a hazard to the gown when inserting, removing or closing the bag.
We chose a slide-lock type zipper - similar to that on a Ziploc^TM bag - that completely seals when closed. This way, only the air filtered through the fine fabric can reach the gown. Also, the zipper's smooth edges cannot snag delicate fabrics such as lace.

Construction

To ensure only top quality construction, the bags are assembled by hand. They are sewn in the US by skilled machinists. No sweatshop labor here! For flexibility, the bags are available in two sizes. The large is designed to accommodate the fullest of wedding gowns. The smaller size is suitable for average-length outfits such as cocktail dresses, bridesmaids' gowns etc.. The smaller size is also suitable for men's suits such as tuxedos, dress uniforms etc. with the trousers hung straight. (They should NEVER be left folded over a hanger for long periods.)

We call this product Garment Sentry^TM.

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