STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Christine · Coach

Thoughts about dry cleaning?

esquiress · Marc Jacobs

i think the general rule is if it says dry clean "only" you have to dry clean but otherwise you can hand wash. and i think cashmere is better handwashed, right?

i don't really know how to handwash, though i've done it a couple of times (the ladies here gave great advice on how to do it) and it's usually more convenient for me to go to the dry cleaners so that's usually where i go. i also only have two dry cleaners that i trust w/ my clothes--one near my parents' house and one near my work. i never take any of my clothes anywhere but there. the place near my parents' is reasonably priced but i can't remember how much it costs...but i know the place near my work is expensive, again i can't remember the prices but I know it's more expensive than the other place. sorry, i'm not very much help!

cc · Marc Jacobs

I hand wash most of my clothes but I do bring all my coats and a good portion of my work clothes (especially winter stuff) to the dry cleaners. I've always just gone to whichever cleaners is closest and I have never had anything ruined. A few times things have shrunk after repeated cleanings but it was never extreme. I live in Manhattan and the place I go to now charges $3.35-$3.50 for things like sweaters and skirts. I do bring a few of my things to a more expensive specialty place which is always recommended in places like NY Magazine. Anything super delicate like fancy dresses or embellished things (like a skirt of mine that has leather trim) goes to the special place. HTH!

luckylily · Gucci

Personally, I think the chemicals in dry cleaning can be really harmful to clothes. I try to avoid it. I delicately hand wash any sweaters, tweeds, or other knits that say dry clean. I have one silk item that I won't wash, but so far using Dryel has done the trick.

This may sound gross to some, but I don't clean my clothes unless I have to. I feel like so many items look significantly different after the first wash or dry clean, I try to do it as little as possible. I'm totally paranoid about my clothes getting damaged either by my washing technique or the dry cleaner. Of course, I wash my personals after 1 wear.

Elle · Hermes

I am also leary of the dry cleaners. The chemicals and process can be damaging if done too often, so I try to avoid it as much as possible. If it's feasible, I wear something underneath my 'dry clean only' items to keep them from getting dirty quickly from sweat, deoderant, etc. Most things that don't see too much close-to-body wear I dry clean only once or twice per season (sweaters, coats). Suits/pants/tops/skirts, maybe once every 3-5 wears or sooner if they get something on them.

honey · Gucci

yeah i don't really like to dry clean my clothes unless i have to. i've found that most things can either be handwashed or run through the washing machine on a gentle cycle and hung dry. this is what i do with most of my clothing and i've only messed up one pair of pants (they shrunk but hopefully i lose enough weight to fit into them again).

it's really, really important to go to a good dry cleaner. i've had them mess up stuff b/f and it's really frustrating. i've found that a lot of places that advertise super low prices don't really care for clothes the way they should. i usually dry clean my work pants, and even then i've noticed some damage to a couple of pairs (though that could totally be the fault of the manufacturer.) as far as horror stories, the biggest problem i've had is with stuff turning colors (probably due to the chemicals they use). and like lukylily and lmonet i usually wear stuff underneath my clothes (beaters) so they don't get dirty as quickly.

-- Edited by honey at 19:32, 2005-08-17

blink · Coach

it is definitely better to handwash cashmere, it stays softer this way too.

I haven't had good luck with dry cleaning my wool sweaters either, so I only handwash those too.

Work clothes-button downs, trousers, suit jackets all go to the cleaners.

Renee · Kenneth Cole

When you handwash - do you always use woolite? And do you wash in cold water? I always bring my cashmere to dry-cleaners but I want to try handwashing now...

Christine · Coach

Thanks for all of the info, ladies! I'm going to start wearing thin tissue tees (like from Jcrew) underneath sweaters so I can postpone the cleaning until after a few wears.

The things I ruined last season by handwashing them were 2 Banana Republic sweaters made from 100% merino wool. I washed them carefully with Woolite in cold water, laid them flat to dry, and then when I was folding them to put them away, I noticed a couple of holes in each one! (I was so disappointed!!)

I hope handwashing cashmere will not bring about the same results, since it's more of an investment.......

blink · Coach

I use woolite to handwash, by the way.

I meant to share also that in the past, my all white stuff has once or twice come back from the cheap cleaners with a gray tint. This is because they re-use the chemicals.

Once they shrank a wool sweater, I asked them to try to correct it, but there's not much you can do. I did not get a refund for the value of the sweater, but I should have asked!!

I have actually never used an expensive dry cleaner. I would probably do so if I had more expensive attire or the next time I need a coat cleaned.

laken1 · Hermes

Although I'm not really an expert, my ex-husband was a distributor to dry cleaners so I went to about a jillion conventions & spent a lot of time with dry cleaners, so I think I learned a thing or two.

Like anything else, you get what you pay for. The cheap cleaners are just that, cheap. I have never understood it when a person says something like "that $1.25 dry cleaners ruined my $150 dress!" - duh, don't bring it there. I reserve that really yucky dry cleaner for my clothes I really don't care about, but quite honestly don't bring them there at all anymore.

I think it's like any other service industry - you have to find someone you can build a relationship with. Ask to meet the store manager. Ask questions. I would be over cautious with stuff that I am in love with. I had a unique opportunity to know the actual dry cleaner owners, but if they are a locally owned, not really chain kind of place, the owner is most likely at that location. I would go out of my way to say "hey, i really love this sweater so please take special care of it" - I'd like to think if anyone did the same that they'd get treated well. In any industry there are yucky people and people who take pride in their work. I'd look around for a price point you are comfortable with & try out a couple of place - then notice the little things - like when you bring something in without a button, do they replace it for you? I think things like that mean so much & make such a difference - you can tell if they care or not.

Having said all that, I often wash hand wash or dry clean only stuff in my delicate cycle then hang it to dry. To be honest, if something is super high maintenance to keep up, I probably won't wear it often because it's in the "hand wash" or "dry clean" pile all of the time. But that's just me.

An interesting story about refunding ruined items: i once bought a velvet party dress with beading that i planned to wear to 2 functions. I spilled something on it at the first party (naturally) so I brought it to the dry cleaner. They told me at the counter - look this says dry clean only but i can tell you that all this beading is going to fall off when i do." So they did a spot treatment on the dress, i wore it to the second event, then they dry cleaned it for me. Sure enough, the beading fell off. They gave me a letter that they had followed the instructions on the tag, i took it back to dillards with my receipt & they gave me a full refund on my dress. Not sure that's a normal occurrence, but it happened!

HTH

-- Edited by laken1 at 14:30, 2005-08-18

lsubatgirl · Gucci

Well I have good and bad with dry cleaners. Mainly good but I did have one shirt that was discolored but I can still wear it because it isn't that noticeable. I haven't gone back to that dry cleaner. Keans is a chain and they are ok but they tend to break buttons on clothes (or use to at least)

I would ask around for suggestions. I went to one that advertised that they handled bridal dresses and brought a nice silk BR dress to them with stains and they couldn't do anything to get them out and charged me $20 for it. I went to a cleaner a friend recommended and my dress is almost perfect now and it was only $6!