Learning to Communicate with Your Cleaning Service

Posted on: 16 October 2020

There are dry cleaning shops in almost every town, and some towns even have several. Most people take their clothing to the dry cleaner either regularly or on an occasional basis. However, there are some myths about dry cleaning floating around. If you want to know the truth, just check out the article below!

Myth: Dry cleaning is actually dry.

Have you ever wondered how dry cleaners manage to clean your clothing without getting it wet? Well, the truth is that they don't. The name "dry cleaning" is a bit of a misnomer, so it's no surprise this myth is so popular. What the name really means is that this cleaning process does not use water. It does, however, use a different liquid solvent called perchloroethylene, or "perc" for short. This liquid does not cause fabrics to bleed color, shrink, or distort as water does, and it evaporates very quickly, which makes it suitable for washing clothing that can't be washed with water.

Myth: Dry cleaning is really hard on your clothing.

Maybe your grandma told you not to have your coat dry cleaned more than once a year or not to have your suit coat cleaned every week because dry cleaning will slowly destroy your clothing. But this is not really true. Dry cleaning is not really any harder on clothes than washing in the washing machine. There's some friction involved, so the clothing does lose a little lint in the process — but you're better off keeping your clothing clean than letting it get completely soiled between dry cleaning appointments.

Myth: Dry cleaners over-charge for a job that's done by machines.

If you think all that your dry cleaner is doing is putting your clothing in a tumbler and pulling it out a few minutes later, then yes, their prices may seem a bit high. But dry cleaners do more than this. First, they have to look over every article of clothing for stains and treat those stains individually. They load the clothing into the washer, being sure to keep the tags straight so they don't lose track of what clothing is yours. Once the items are clean, they need to press and steam them. This takes a considerable amount of time, which explains why you might be charged $14 to clean a jacket.

Dry cleaning does use a liquid cleaner, is not over-priced, and does not ruin your clothing. If you've heard any other statements that you think might be untrue, ask your dry cleaner! They're a great source of information on this topic. For more information about dry cleaning, contact a local cleaner.