Send Them to the Local Cleaners

When you need your finest clothes cared for, the local dry cleaners is the best place to take them. There are many fine fabrics like silk, wool, and rayon that require the care that only commercial dry cleaning professionals can provide. Instead of ruining your clothes by trying to wash them in your home washer and dryer, read the labels and follow the manufacturers’ instructions. Using the local dry cleaner will actually save you money in the long run because you will not have to replace your fine, expensive clothing very often.

Nothing Dry About It

Calling dry cleaning ‘dry’ is a complete misnomer, because there is really nothing dry about it. The only thing that causes the word ‘dry’ to appear in the title is that the liquid that is used does not contain any water. Dry cleaning solution is known throughout the industry as a liquid called ‘perc’ – which is the short form of a long scientific name. Before perc was used, dry cleaners used solvents like kerosene, which was the first dry cleaning product that was discovered by accident in 1855. Dry cleaners were known for using highly toxic and flammable materials until perc was created; with perc, dry cleaners need less equipment and they can get clothes cleaned faster than before it was available to the industry.

Necessary Steps

When you drop off your clothing for a dry cleaning visit, there are a few steps that the dry cleaning clerk will perform. They include inspecting and tagging the clothes; this is when the clerk will ask you if there is anything wrong with the clothes and it is important that you show any of the flaws like stains and small holes. If you do not show the flaws they might not get repaired or cleaned properly. If you think about all of the clothes that pass through a dry cleaning business, it is likely that those doing the cleaning might miss something.

Once you have your clothes tagged and inspected, your clothes will be pretreated so get the stains out. Then, the clothes are put through the official dry cleaning process, where they are put in a machine with the dry cleaning solution. If the cleaners notice that there are still spots remaining, they will work on them by hand with a stain-removal liquid. Finally, the clothes will then be prepared to send home with you. Your clothes will be pressed and folded, so they look like new.

How to Help

There are a few things that you can do to keep your costs low and your turn around time quick. As soon as you notice a stain, work on pretreating it before you bring it to the cleaners. It is also important to mark where the stains are with a safety pin or paperclip. If you can show the cleaners where the problems are, they will be able to work on it instead of having to hunt for the problem. If you want to pretreat the stain but you are not sure how best to approach it, you can always call your dry cleaner and ask for advice.