There is a category of wedding items that are not thrown away after the wedding but handed down. The lace veil the bride or the maid of honour wears belongs there - handmade, fragile and often older than everybody at the celebration. And that is precisely why it usually gets ruined, not at the wedding itself, but in the following two weeks.

The day after the wedding is the most dangerous

The rule is counter-intuitive: once it is home, the lace must not be packed away immediately. It should be hung on a padded hanger to air out and to be checked for pulled threads or make-up marks. That brief inspection is the moment the damage can be prevented - later is already too late.

Cleaning is not a job for the house. For valuable or antique pieces you go to a dry cleaner that works with delicate fabrics and with lace. Any attempt with household products is an attempt with an irreversible price.

How to store it properly

The best method is to wrap the lace loosely around a sturdy cardboard tube first lined with tissue paper - the same kind used in fabric shops. If there is no room for a tube, folding is allowed, but very gently and with tissue paper between the folds to cushion the weight.

For wrapping, use a clean linen or white cotton sheet, or tissue paper, so the fabric can breathe. Plastic is forbidden - it causes the lace to yellow. Once a year the lace should be taken out and aired. And most important: damp is lace's greatest enemy, so the storage place must be dry, otherwise the fibres oxidise.

Not all lace is the same

Black antique Chantilly lace is the most fragile of all - the thread is silk and it usually deteriorates because the entire tulle or the ground is handmade. For badly damaged pieces the only option is professional restoration, meaning transferring the pattern onto new tulle.

White blonde lace is also delicate, with handmade silk tulle, and washing is not recommended. Lace with Brussels appliqué or made with bobbins is more durable because the tulle ground is machine-made. Needle lace is far more delicate and is not recommended for washing.

Yellowing is common and comes from oxidation of the fibres. Before any attempt at whitening, you need to assess whether the yellow is the silk ageing naturally or is dirt - and only a specialist can judge that, and there are few of them left.

Here, grandmother's lace and embroidery routinely end up in a plastic bag at the bottom of a wardrobe, because plastic looks like protection. One fold with tissue paper and one dry shelf are the difference between an heirloom and a piece that will fall apart in the hands of some future bride.