Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with drycleaning

Why are formal clothes more likely to be dry-clean-only than casual clothes?

madcaptenor — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 06:57:23 -0800

Why are formal clothes more likely to be dry-clean-only than casual clothes? I went to a wedding last Saturday, and I'm going to another one tomorrow. Both times I'm wearing a suit. The suit, of course, is labelled "dry clean only". This is inconvenient for me, since all my other clothes are machine-washable, but I'll do it.

This got me thinking: why are "formal" clothes, in general, less likely to be machine-washable? Are there reasons having to do with how the fabric is made? Or is this purely a status thing -- that wearing clothes that need Special Cleaning makes you more important than the people who can just throw their clothes in the washer and let them spin around? I'm hoping there's people who know more about fashion than I do who can answer this.

A quick Google indicates that there exist machine-washable suits: here, here, and here are press releases disguised as newspaper articles about them. (It's telling that these come up higher on Google than places where you could actually buy them.)

What's the wholesale laundry service like?

dyerfr — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 08:38:42 -0800

Where can I find an overview of the Dry cleaning/laundry business? Some level of detail with respect to costs and cost structure of having the clothes shipped offsite would be great. So I have this idea for a business - it would presumably leverage existing 'wholesale' laundry services... you know, the ones that do the actual cleaning for the retail establishments where you drop off your clothes. My limited understanding is that the place you drop off is - sometimes, at least - not the place the actual laundering takes place.

I don't need chemical cleaning, but 'regular' laundering.

If I was to leverage one or more of these wholesale shops, what might I expect to pay - structure (trip charge, per item, etc)... The wholesaler would need to pick up the clothes from one or more locations, take them to their laundry service, and return them in a matter of (probably) 8 or less hours.

Any help from the hive mind would be appreciated!!

Next time I'll just Fabreeze it.

snickerdoodle — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 05:36:46 -0800

My dry cleaner lost my clothes and refuses to do anything about it. Three weeks ago, I dropped off some fairly new (less than one month) clothing (maybe $500 value) off at the dry cleaner's, along with some of the boy's shirts and pants. Shirts and pants get delivered, my stuff does not. The dry cleaner keeps stalling and asking for more time when I try to get a resolution to the issue, then promising he'll call and never doing so.

So now a big chunk of my newly-acquired "real job" wardrobe is gone. What do I do? Is 3 weeks a reasonable timeframe for admitting that it's lost, or should I give him more time? Am I legally entitled to any compensation, or is this a small claims sort of scenario?

This is NYC. Bonus points for recommendations for a new cleaners in the north side of the West Village.

Is there any way to get around hand washing clothes?

invisible ink — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 20:17:36 -0800

I recently bought a beautiful burgundy sweater coat. Unfortunately, I failed to notice the wash & care instructions, which state "Hand wash cold/separately." How exactly does one go about hand washing a large piece of clothing? The tag says "93% acrylic, 5% polyester, 2% wool." Is there any other way I can get this garment cleaned? Would Woolite be an option? Dry cleaning?

Does dry-cleaning induce colorfastness?

unknowncommand — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 12:32:22 -0800

Will dry-cleaning cause my comforter cover to be colorfast? I have a new comforter cover that is very bright blue with a thin, white-lined flower design.

It is very hard for me to wash it on delicate, as I do not have my own washer-dryer. I also worry that, even on delicate, the blue will run into the white; it has already gotten a tad moist, and this has occurred.

I am okay with dry-cleaning initially, but this will ick me out (and be a pain) in the long run. If I dry-clean once, will this affect its color fastness at all?

Help Save My Favorite Sweater!!!

jefficator — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 12:51:38 -0800

Help! I spilled laundry detergent on my dry-clean only sweater! I don't know how serious this concern should be...but I'm worried its very dire!

I accidentally spilled a greater-than-insignificant amount of Tide laundry detergent on my favorite cable-knit wool sweater. Does hope exist? The dry cleaners are closed today...can they get laundry detergent out of dry-clean-only clothing? What should I do??

Help my beloved sweater!!

Don't Wanna Wreck Grandma's Closet

Medieval Maven — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 19:28:59 -0800

I need Cleaning Vintage Clothing 101. I have acquired, as part of costuming a show, a number of vintage pieces in varying conditions (mostly excellent to good condition). They all need to be cleaned and pressed. I am unsure how to to proceed, as this doesn't seem like the sort of thing one simply drops at the drycleaners and trips away thinking All Will Be Well. Do I look for a particular sort of drycleaners? One that advertises a particular sort of service? Do I soak the garments in a weak solution of Oxy Clean or similar? Does what sort of fabric it is matter?

For context, I have worked with "vintage" clothes before, but these are from the 40's, and the other things I've dealt with have been from the 60's and 70's primarily, so not as old and usually of manmade fibers. I'm dealing with crepe, satin, linen, vintage millinery (no, really), tulle, lace, rayon, wool, and cotton.

How do I care for my husband's business suits?

angelfish — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 10:23:35 -0800

How do I care for my husband's business suits? For some reason it seems that none of the dry cleaners in town can return a suit to me without it looking like crap. The outside breast-pocket hangs open, the seam where the arm meets the shoulder is puckered, and do they even press the bottom of the sleeves? It's not a crisp fold, so the lining hangs out. These are expensive suits and it seems like they should look fabulous. It just occurred to me that maybe there's something else I should be doing besides sending them to the cleaners. Or do I just need to pack up and move to a town with better cleaners?

Sweating up the Dry-Clean-Only

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 06:20:19 -0800

Sweat-a-filter: Dry cleaning isn't working! How can I permanently remove body odor from dry-clean-only clothes? I live in a very humid, hot climate. Cruelly, I also live in a place where I and most others are required to wear business suits to work every day, including on days when it's like a sauna outside. I'm naturally a very sweaty person, which is embarassing for me all summer long, but it's especially bad when I have to look and feel presentable for a business meeting and instead I end up drenched in sweat. My sweat, naturally, smells like sweat, and I'm constantly paranoid that I smell bad. Now I'm afraid that my clothes are making me stink.

After living here a while, I'm now finding that suits I've owned for more than a year (and thus sweated into many, many times) smell like body odor even when they're clean. They're all dry-clean-only, but dry cleaning only removes the smell temporarily. The first time I wear an old suit, by the end of the day, it smells like I haven't cleaned it in weeks. Most of the suits in question are cotton or wool with either natural fabric or nylon lining, and it's mostly the lining that smells like BO, although I'm paranoid that I can be smelled from a distance because the stink is strong.

I've tried switching dry cleaners a few times. I've tried Dryel and other "freshening" products for dry-clean-only clothes, but that appears to just mask the smell for a few hours, after which the stench returns. The smell is concentrated mostly in the armpits and the crotch area, where I sweat the most. I have a few really expensive suits, so I don't want to have to throw them away after a year of wearing them, but I'm embarassed to smell like I haven't showered all summer long. I'm spending a fortune dry cleaning after each wearing, and still, my clothes smell like BO.

I never have this problem with any of my washable clothes, including ones made of synthetic fabric. Washing in the machine with detergent seems to remove any traces of sweat or odor. Even the dress shirts that I wear under the suits come out clean, despite the fact that they're absorbing more of my sweat than the suits are. I can't wash my suits with water and detergent, can I? Can I give some special instruction to my dry cleaner (I've been embarassed to say "my clothes smell like BO" and ask them what to do about it, but is there some specific treatment I could ask for)? Is there a magic laundry tool that I can pretreat suits with before having them cleaned to remove the smell? Is there at least some way I can prevent new suits from becoming funkified?

One man's shirt, and 5 women's? That'll be $50, please.

psmealey — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 11:05:33 -0800

Why does getting articles of women's clothing laundered, dry cleaned and/or pressed at the cleaners cost more than it does for comparable articles of men's clothing? On average, dry cleaners charge from $1.00 to $2.50 more on up for shirts, slacks, suits, etc. Is there a reason for this other than "because they can"? Do women's clothes require special machinery to be cleaned, pressed and folded?

Save my blazer!

amber_dale — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 15:09:18 -0800

Laundryfilter: Stain remover stained my favorite blazer? The dry cleaner has failed. Help! I got two tiny, rice-grain-sized spatters of catsup on my white blazer. I immediately attacked the spots with a Shout Wipe in an attempt to prevent the stain from setting. Then I noticed that the label said "dry clean only," which I assume is because it has a synthetic lining (the outer fabric is 100% cotton). I took it to the dry cleaners the next day. The areas where the fabric was dampened by the Shout were sort of dingy and yellowish although the actual catsup dots were near-invisible.

Two cycles through the dry cleaners later, the two inch circles from where the Shout dampened the fabric are still visible. Is it too late to try washing it in water? Has the stain remover stained my blazer? If it cannot be saved I'm going to have a tailor rip it up and make a copy -- I love it that much.

Any advice?

Same-day cleaners in midtown

dentata — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 16:58:37 -0800

[ManhattanFilter] Same-day cleaners in midtown? Just flew in to NYC, I need a good place to get my suit dry-cleaned and pressed by the end of day Sunday (tomorrow).

Any thoughts?

please fix my pants

krunk — Tue, 12 Apr 2005 08:10:18 -0800

Last summer I had a pair of black dress pants dry cleaned. I didn't check them out until a month later, at which point I noticed that there was chalk-like stains all over the pants. I assumed it was dry cleaning fluid/whatever, and took it to another cleaner to get it sorted out, to no avail. Can anyone suggest how to fix my lovely trousers? The other cleaners said that there was no way that it could've come from dry cleaning and that I must've washed it myself. They even yelled at me and accused me of defiling the good name of the dry cleaning industry!

Apparently it may have lost some of the color (in wispy, smoke-like lines?). Is it possible to get them recolored?

(I don't remember where I originally had the pants cleaned either.)

Can I hand wash 'dry clean only' wool pants?

naomi — Mon, 14 Feb 2005 10:57:57 -0800

I've got several pairs of lightweight wool dress pants from Ann Taylor. They are marked dry clean only. Suppose I hand-wash these pants in cold water and lay them flat on a towel to air-dry. Will the laundry gods punish my impudence?

Taking Care of Silk

ferociouskitty — Fri, 09 Apr 2004 09:57:50 -0800

I have quite a few silk blouses, and I'm curious about the various washing instructions. Some are dry-clean only, others hand wash/line dry, and others still are machine wash/tumble dry. (As well as other assorted combinations). Why all the variations, when all are 100% silk?