Do I Have To Dry Clean It?
Oh it KILLS me! We as a society have completely abandoned our desire to care for things. We kneel at the altar of Convenience and hope the gods of Machine-Washable, and Next-Day-Shipping look kindly on our sacrifice.
We are so far removed from a place of knowledge, that we now fear what we don’t understand. Dry Cleaning was as difficult as putting gas in your car. Now it’s on the same level as getting an oil change, most people don’t understand the process, we outsource completely, and maybe just maybe, some of us ignore it completely and hope the blinking light just goes away overtime. Lets talk about it….
Dry Cleaning
Brief History
Next time you’re at a networking event and you need a fun fact here's one, in 1821, Thomas Jennings became the first African American in American history to file and own a patent. The patent was for a process called “dry-sourcing”, one Jennings discovered while operating his tailoring business in New York. (To give you some sense of how historically significant this was, the Compromise of 1820 would stop the expansion of slavery into the newly acquired states but states like South Carolina were banning anti-slavery legislation). - a guaranteed ice breaker for any social setting.
Dry Cleaning vs Washing
Dry Cleaning and Washing are as different as cooking and baking. Same same, but different. The general idea is that, rather than using water and detergent, garments are cleaned with organic solvents that work to lift stains without damaging delicate fabrics such as silk, wool and velvet. The clothing is all put into, what looks like, massive washing machines, and then inspected and repeated until clean.
It takes skill and training to understand proper chemical mixtures and how to apply them to specific fabrics.
I know I cannot be the only one who never tires of seeing those massive belts spin around, bringing my clothing to the front. I can’t help but imagine behind the scenes looks similar to the final door battle in Monsters, Inc between Randall and Sully.
In Reality like anything else there is a multi step process:
They Tag the Clothing, this helps with that overwhelming filing process. I have barcodes in all of my clothing now.
Inspection: Garments are inspected, stains are marked, and any pre-treatment is done if necessary. At this point buttons or embellishments are covered to protect them from the heat.
Dry Cleaning Machine: The clothing goes in and the cleaning solvent is pumped into the machine. Yes there is a “spin cycle” to ensure that the chemicals have an even distribution.
Second Inspection: Now we remove, (we, like I’m helping at all haha), and inspect the garments to ensure all stains and dirt has been removed.
Wrap Up: Depending on the type of fabric, the cleaner will now press, iron or steam each garment to get rid of wrinkles. *Note- many people use dry cleaners JUST for this step. Please stop this.
Dry Cleaning Best Practices
Ask an expert. Ask someone if your clothing should be dry cleaned, like a local Bard. If you don't have one, there's me.
When you drop off your clothing, tell the staff about any stains.
You should only dry clean your garments every few wears. So if you wear a suit once a month, you should dry clean it a few times a year.
And finally. If you have any garments that are dry clean only, I will guarantee they will last you 10x longer than any of your machine washable shirts. So the shirt from your local Bard that costs you $325, that you can’t justify buying, yeah, lets talk when your $90 machine washable shirt is all warped and faded in a year, and then you add more to the collection. Soon you have 15 of those shirts and keep adding more because they're so affordable. I don't have a calculator but I feel like 15 x 90 might be more than $325. Okay enough of me being snarky. I just want you to have a better grip on the resources available to you and that investing in good clothing can save you money in the long run. I have 8 dress shirts, yes, EIGHT!! But I thought about them and made smart choices. You would probably assume I had 50.
