Community Discussions
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ELI5: How does dry cleaning work?
Main Post: ELI5: How does dry cleaning work?
Top Comment: dry cleaning is not dry in the sense that it doesn't involve liquids, it's dry in the sense that it doesn't use water like regular washing does. The clothes are washed in liquid solvents like perchloroethylene that don't cause problems with certain fabrics/dyes that regular washing might. These solvents tend to be more 'oily' than polar like water is
ELI5: What exactly is dry cleaning?
Main Post: ELI5: What exactly is dry cleaning?
Top Comment:
Dry cleaning is basically just like a large front load tumble drum washing machine with the exception that no water is used. That is what is implied by the "dry" part. But in reality the clothes get plenty "wet", just not with water. There are many solvents that we use now other than the old traditional tetrachlorethylene. They are all safer and less toxic. But they are all still solvents that excel at removing oily stains. For other stains we usually add a bit of spotter chemical to the stain to pretreat. And we inject a specially blended detergent into the solvent to help break up and dissipate some stain solids like food or mud. The dry cleaning machine itself has one or more huge tanks where it stores the solvent. During the process the solvent runs through many filters to catch debris and keep the solvent as clean and fresh as possible. Some of these filters we change daily, weekly, monthly, and some every few months.
As a third generation dry cleaner the strangest part to me is that the "dry cleaning" is probably the least important part. Most of our customers could wash these items at home but then they would have to iron them which is the chore they don't want. Of course the ironing is easy for us because the solvent creates far fewer wrinkles than soap and water would, and we use huge expensive specialized presses that make getting out the wrinkles fast and easy. From our perspective as the folks doing the work the hardest part of the job is the effort we put into having to keep everything organized so after tumbling around with all your neighbor's clothes we can pull out only yours and get them back to you.
If any of you have any other questions about what we do and how we do it I would love to try and answer them.
Is Dry Cleaning worth it ??
Main Post:
As dry cleaning costs have increased dramatically for me in the last 5 years. I wanted to ask the community about if dry cleaning is really worth the expense ? I’m a male that wears business professional nearly every day. Dress shirt and dress pants. I bought most of my items from Brooks Brothers years ago. The shirts cost about $75 and the pants about $125. With that being said , being charged $3.20 & $7.00 for a shirt and pant dry clean is leading me to ask the question of is it worth it ? From looking online it seems as if it may be meant more for stain removal or very delicate items. Can the community give me some insight so I can make a decision on if I should continue using a dry cleaning service ? Thank you !
Top Comment: Just check the care label inside the clothes and see if they are machine washable. If you don’t want to pay for dry cleaning there are dress pants and shirts that are fine to wash. Stay away from wool (can’t be washed). But also be prepared to have to iron those shirts and pants (not so easy if you don’t have a steam iron at least.) Most customers at my shop are happy to pay for the convenience of someone else doing it. Also, $3 and $7 is very cheap for drycleaning, so sounds like you’re getting a good deal.
does anyone take their clothes to the dry cleaners any more?
Main Post:
I remember when I was younger up until I was in college that there were dry cleaning businesses EVERYWHERE, even inside of supermarkets for all of this "dry clean only," stuff that we buy.
I have one pair of Brooks Brothers dress slacks that I got for a dollar at a thrift store that need to be dry cleaned. I absolutely love them but I'm over here looking up the hours of the dry cleaner near me and they're absurd, like 9am-4pm.
How does anyone who has a job get their clothes dry cleaned or are we just not doing that anymore guys?
Top Comment: Washers and Dryers are so much better now than they used to be. especially for delicate clothing. Additionally the materials that required dry cleaning aren't super popular as they used to be like leather, silk, velvet, suede, and wool.
ELI5: How does drycleaning actually clean clothes?
Main Post: ELI5: How does drycleaning actually clean clothes?
Do Americans regularly use drycleaners?
Main Post:
In TV shows, picking up one's drycleaning seems to be a regular occurrence and characters seem to use drycleaners on a regular basis.
Is this accurate? I live in New Zealand and haven't used a drycleaner for a very long time. People here don't commonly use them - my mother mainly takes large items like duvets (like a comforter but thicker and with its own cover) which would be too large to wash i a washing machine?
So do you guys use drycleaners as much as TV shows suggest? If so, why?
Top Comment: I only use it for my suit, and I only wear that once every few years.
Suits - how often do you dry clean?
Main Post:
How often do you dry clean , suits, blazers and sport coats?
Top Comment: As infrequently as possible, as cleaning is the most likely thing to damage a suit.
PSA: Guide to washing clothes and dry cleaning
Main Post:
This is a topic that comes up quite a bit on MFA, so I've complied advice from various posts into the definitive guide. I hope it helps!
The basics
- Batch similar colours to cut down on loads. T-shirts and shirts can be washed together. Have a mix of underwear colours so no matter what you're washing you always have underwear.
- A front-loader washing machine is far gentler on your clothes than a top-loader. Hand washing is best, but hey, who has time. (Bonus: front-loaders are usually more efficient in water/power usage and better for the environment)
- Use less detergent than recommended - past a point more detergent doesn't mean cleaner, it just builds up in your clothes.
- Just because it doesn't smell, doesn't mean it isn't dirty
- The only items that should ever go in the dryer are underwear, socks, and possibly undershirts. Everything else should be hung to dry. Get a cheap fold-out clothes rack to dry your clothes on.
- Tumble dryers are brutal on clothes - even on delicate settings they are too hot for most items, and the tumbling will wear out the clothes very quickly. All that lint collected in the filters? That's the fabrics wearing down.
- Never dry clothes in the sun (except for whites) - it will bleach the colours very quickly.
- Dry cleaning is very harsh on your clothes, try to keep it to the minimum
Socks and underwear
- Socks and underwear should be washed after every wear, no exceptions.
- Washed on warm cycles (30 C, 80ish F)
- Can be dried using a dryer - these are the only items you should ever consider using a dryer - everything else should be hung to dry.
T-shirts, undershirts, sweat shirts and polo shirts
- T-shirts, undershirts and polo shirts - basically anything very close to you skin - should be washed after every wear, again, no exception.
- Sweatshirts can be washed infrequently, assuming you're wearing them over a t-shirt, after every 5 or more wears. This is solely dependent on how they're treated and how dirty you think they're getting.
- They will usually be ok with warm water (polo shirts may need a cold cycle)
- Gently pull them into shape before hang drying or flat drying for sweatshirts.
Dress/business/button-down shirts
- Should be washed after every wear. If you wear undershirts they can be worn 2 to 4 times before washing, depending on what sort of treatment they get while being worn, what sort of environment you wear them in.
- A good quality shirt, treated well, should last hundreds of wears and washes.
- Washed on the most gentle cycle in cold water. Hand washing is better, but time consuming. Some guides say that shirts should be put in a delicates bag to protect the collar points and cuffs, I've never found that necessary.
- Shirts should only ever be dried on a wood hanger to keep the shape - Ikea hangers are great for this. Never user a wire hanger - you will ruin the shape of your shirts.
- Under no circumstances have them dry cleaned, but laundered is OK, although they will not last as long if you send them out for laundering.
- If your business shirts start to get stained around the collar, a bi-carb of soda paste massaged into the collar and left for 10 mins works, other methods use a vinegar and liquid detergent mixture.
- If your underarms get a build-up that smells when you wear them, dipping the underarms in a 50/50 cloudy ammonia/water mixture and letting it sit for 10 mins is good for this. This also works well for t-shirts.
- NEVER re-iron dress/business shirts after wearing them once - you're cooking the sweat, dirt, dust etc. into the fabric and significantly increasing the likelihood it will smell after a short time. Ironing a shirt is not the same as washing it - it doesn't clean it.
Jumpers/sweaters/cardigans/knits
- Anything wool should generally be dry-cleaned, unless it explicitly says machine wash
- Then, only on cold, gentle settings, with a slow spin. Or even better hand wash (but never wring them out)
- Use a gentle detergent designed for wool.
- Knits should be gently pulled into shape, if required, then dried flat (that is, horizontally), either on a fold out drying rack even better on a pop-up mesh rack. These can be bought very cheaply.
- Never ever ever put these in a dryer.
Anything silk
- Extra gentle hand wash in cold water, with a very mild detergent.
- Hang dry only
- Dry cleaning is generally out of the question, unless you go to a specialist cleaner
Jeans/chinos
- Jeans/cotton chinos should be washed every 4 to 8 or so wears (you be the judge) or if the knees are starting to stretch out. Cold wash only.
- Exception - raw denim should not be washed, but soaked every 6 months to a year or even longer.
- Hang dry only.
Linen suits/trousers
- Linen trousers can be hand washed, cold only with a gentle detergent, or dry cleaned very occasionally. Hang dry only.
- Spot treatments on light coloured linen will show, so use with caution
- Linen suits should be dry cleaned only very infrequently (eg once a year). Even thought you might be washing the trousers, have the trousers and coat dry cleaned together, so if there is any fade from the dry cleaning you don't end up with a mis-matched suit.
- Especially with light weight linens, dry cleaning will wear them out very quickly.
Suits
- Suits should be dry cleaned only and very occasionally - usually once a year is enough, possibly more for lighter coloured suits.
- Steamed gently in between for shape/wrinkles and the pants pressed for creases. Hanging in a steamy bathroom is a good method if you don't have a steamer.
- You shouldn't wear a suit two days in a row - after you wear it it should be hung on a good quality hanger (to keep the shape), gently brushed and aired for a day or two.
- If you press the pants yourself, don't iron directly on the fabric, it will go shiny - use a damp ironing cloth
- If any suit claims it is machine washable, you should not be wearing it in the first place. Burn it.
Top Comment: Should be washed after every wear. That seems excessive. Most of my shirts don't seem dirty/smelly/wrinkly after a days wearing. I've also seen people here recommend not washing every wear.
At Home Dry Cleaning : r/drycleaning
Main Post: At Home Dry Cleaning : r/drycleaning