What Kind of Garments or Fabrics Should Be Dry Cleaned?

Among the many things that we procrastinators put off, dropping off clothes to the dry cleaner tops the list. We’d rather gather all the similar colored clothes, shove them in the washer, add the detergent, a tap here and a knob twist there and the clothes are clean, and ruined! Not all clothes are meant to be washed at home; some require extra TLC. So how will you identify clothes that need to be sent for professional dry cleaning? Here are some tips:

‘Dry Clean Only’

 

This is a no-brainer. Most clothes that are required to be dry cleaned by the manufacturer come with a ‘dry clean only’ tag. Now you can’t be lazy enough to flip that label on the collar and look for instructions! 

Consider the Fabric 

 

Regardless of the label, always take silk, velvet, wool, acetate, and taffeta garments to the dry cleaner. Although linen, cotton, polyester, cashmere, nylon and acrylic can be washed at home, it is important to check for colorfastness. You can do this by moistening a cotton swab with a mild detergent and dabbing it gently on a hidden seam of the fabric. If the dye comes off, rush to the dry cleaner!

Embellishments 

 

If the garment has a lot of embellishments, such as beads, buttons, sequins or embroidery, they can get spoiled in the washer with strong detergents. Garments with embellishments or decorative items should always be taken to professional dry cleaners.

Price Tag 

 

If you have spent nearly 100 bucks (or more) over a garment, you should not, by any means, let it near your washer at home. Expensive clothes are meant to be dry cleaned, no questions asked. 

How Often? 

 

For procrastinators like us, and for the convenience of the rest, there are god sent laundry pickup and delivery services! Yes, you read it right! But that doesn’t mean that you send everything from your socks to suits for dry cleaning every other week. 

Although it’s a multi-factorial decision, in general, any type of garment should not be dry cleaned more than once a month. Frequent dry cleaning can spoil the fabric by making it look dull and old. 

Now that you know what kind of fabrics should be dry cleaned, contact The Dhobi (the god gifted dry cleaning service we were talking about) to have your clothes picked up for dry cleaning at a preferred time!