When and How to Dry Clean Your Clothes

Section: Tailoring and Clothing Maintenance - Blog

click to view

Dry cleaning is convenient, and keeps clothing clean and ready to wear, but it isn’t always the smartest maintenance method. Excessive cleaning with harsh chemicals can shorten a garment's wearable lifespan, which means buying replacements more frequently. Here’s our recommendations for when, where and how to clean your clothes to protect your investment.

Dry Cleaning Pros and Cons

How do you handle it when an expensive tailor made men's suit is either damaged or lost during the dry cleaning process? Well, if you would rather prevent such losses in the first place, the solution is to be prepared. After all, dry cleaning expensive clothes like men's suits shortens their usable life and isn't always the appropriate solution.

Here's some questions to ask yourself before dry cleaning your clothes:

• How often do my clothes really need dry cleaning?
• How will the dry cleaning solvents affect the woollen fibres of my suit?
• Is there a difference between cheap and expensive dry cleaning services?

What is Dry Cleaning?

Dry cleaning is a cleansing process in which a solvent called perchlorethylene of DF2000 is used to clean the clothing. The solvent is run through the garment, and then is extracted along with dislodged oils, food, dust and other dirt particles. The process is referred to as dry cleaning because no soap or water is used.

The dry cleaning process comprises these steps:

• You leave your clothes with the dry cleaner
• The dry cleaner tags the clothes
• The dry cleaner sorts the clothes based on what needs to be done i.e. dry cleaning, laundering, ironing or altering
• In most instance, the clothes are then taken to another location
  
• Stains are pre-treated based on what caused the stain
  
• The clothes are loaded into large machines where they sit in baskets and rotate in the dry cleaning solvent
• The solvent is drained from the clothes using centrifugal force
  
• The clothes are inspected for any remaining soiled spots and post-treated, if applicable
• The clothes are lightly steamed, pressed and ironed where applicable
• Lastly, the clothes will be sorted, shipped and stored for pick-up

Typically, all the individual dry cleaners in an area are owned by a few companies. Additionally, they may all use the services of the same contractor, and this is why most cannot offer same day service.

Further, all the dry cleaners drop their individual sets of garments at the same contractor's facility. Therefore, if a garment is lost, it usually can't be recovered. This is because the garment was lost in a much larger facility than the one where it was left.

Lastly, since most dry cleaners use the same master cleaning facility, there are few if any benefits for paying more. Our recommendation? Use dry cleaners who do their work in-house.

Does it Need Dry Cleaning?

In most cases, odours caused by light, smoke or food can be removed by brushing your clothing and hanging it in a well-ventilated area. If you happen to spill food or drink on an outfit, spot clean as necessary by gently blotting the cotton or woollen fabric with clean water.

Tough Stains

For stains that require quick attention such as mustard or red wine (especially on light coloured or silk fabrics), drop them off at the cleaners the following morning. In such cases, change the garment if possible, or carry on as if it doesn't bother you. For hard-to-remove stains like these, skip home remedies like club soda and salt. Avoid rubbing a stain or putting water on a fabric that cannot be washed in water. It could result in damage to the fabric, especially if it is fragile.

How often to Dry Clean Woollens

Each man wears his clothes in a unique way. Professions and conditions of use vary from person to person. Therefore, we recommend you send the garment to a dry cleaner when spot cleaning, brushing or airing the garment isn't effective.

Avoid Excessive Cleaning

Remember, frequent dry cleaning will strip and weaken the woollen fibres, thereby damaging their ability to crimp. This makes the garment age unnecessarily.

Choosing a Dry Cleaner

Selecting a dry cleaner is similar to selecting a tailor. Here's some tips:

• Understand the basics of men's style so you appear knowledgeable when conversing with them.
• Instead of relying on recommendations from friends, consider the opinions of smartly dressed men.
• Work with someone who combines knowledge with good communication skills. They should listen to you, understand what you're saying, and provide technical inputs, wherever needed.
• They should not be satisfied until you are satisfied. They must understand your requirements and work constantly to be calibrated accordingly.
• They should understand the value of style and timeless fashion as their skill set and knowledge is only useful if combined with an understanding of classic men's styles.
• Look for visual evidence of their claims to perfection.
  
• The best tailors and dry cleaners usually have long waiting periods. Can you afford to work within their schedule constraints, or do you need someone who can attend to your needs quickly in an emergency?
• Choose a dry cleaner with a great replacement policy. Will they replace or give you depreciated value as listed in the International Fabricare Institute's Fair Claims Guide?
• They should offer an easy-to-understand, itemized price list, which includes starting prices, extra costs etc.
• How many years have they been in business?
• How much training do they have? For example, if you take a silk shirt in for laundering, do they point out that a harsh washing method like laundering would destroy the shirt? Do they recommend dry cleaning instead of laundering? Testing their knowledge of the cleaning process could add to your confidence in their abilities.
• Do they use environment-friendly cleaning techniques involving CO2 instead of using cancer- causing solvents like perchlorethylene? Techniques that use CO2 also provide a superior level of cleaning.

avoiding Lost or Damaged Clothing

Check online review sites to learn about others experiences with a particular dry cleaning business. While disgruntled customers may post a negative review more often than pleased customers post positive reviews, you could use the points raised in the review to check on the quality of services provided.

Always Get a Receipt

Whenever you leave your clothes at the dry cleaners, you should receive a detailed receipt which includes: a legible description of your clothes, the date you left them, who you left them with, and what you needed the dry cleaners to do.

Build Relationships

Create a long term relationship with a merchant that builds trust between both parties. Therefore, it is as much in their interest as in yours to build loyalty and repeat business. Strike up a conversation, tip if the services merit it, learn their names, and ask about their family. It will be much easier to handle any problems on a personal basis than on a business one.

No matter how careful you are, you may occasionally lose a garment in the dry cleaning process. Hopefully, it wasn't your expensivecustom suit or business shirts, but if it was, we'd love to be a part of the replacement process.

Whether you need to replace a lost garment or just want to add something new to your wardrobe, there are plenty of styles to browse in the Sydney showroom of Montagio Custom Tailoring.Book a personal appointment today or stop by at your convenience.

Original idea for article from Antonio Centeno, author of the internet's most actionable men's style guide. We recommend a read!

Image Credit © Pixattitude | Dreamstime.com © Retro Clipart | Dreamstime.com