Dry Cleaning

I've never had anything dry cleaned before, but I have a couple suits that I've owned for a year or two, and they're starting to get funky. One of them says dry clean only on the tag, but the other doesn't.

My question is, can you have anything you want dry cleaned? Could I bring my nice dress shirts in, instead of putting them in the washing machine and having them come out wrinkled? Or will the nice Korean lady (she really is Korean. I'm not being stereotypical) just take my money and put them in a washing machine?

 

It depends on the fabric. If you have an all-wool suit, yup, gotta have it dry cleaned. If it's an all cotton suit with no lining, you can probably wash it--with care.

Oh, and you can wash your own shirts and then, you know, iron them although freshly laundered dress shirts, lightly starched are very nice.

That said, dry cleaning is tough on clothes because of all the chemicals they use. I'd never send an all-wool sweater to the dry cleaners.

That help?

 

You've NEVER had anything dry cleaned? How old are you, 8?

You can have anything dry cleaned, but that's not practical because it's too expensive when you can wash a lot of things yourself and learn how to operate an iron.

 

I'm well past 8, and I've never had anything dry cleaned either. Is this some unwritten requirement of adulthood? Mortgage, 401k, regular dry-cleaning ...

 

If you're too cheap or lazy for dry cleaning, I'm a firm believer in Dryel, which allows you to faux dry clean your dry clean only stuff at home using your dryer.

 

Thanks for the help. Previously, I was a journalist, so I didn't have any clothes that needed dry cleaning

Hopefully, my suits and pants won't smell like train now!

 

I have just started taking my shirts to the cleaners to get washed and pressed.

Sure, it's not cheap ($2 per shirt), but they come out looking 10 times better than when I attempted to iron.

And believe it or not, I feel quasi-professional when I walk into the office with a wrinkle-free, nice dress shirt. The pants still are a challenge (I try to wear mostly wrinkle-frees when I can), but at least it's a start.

And guys: How often do you dry clean your ties?

 

I'd highly recommend dry cleaning dress shirts. They look so much better that even those that you try to iron at home. And you can find some cleaners where it might be only a buck or $1.50 per shirt. Money very well spent.

 

Dryel works great... I use it all the time... The only thing I dry clean are my suits and sports coats...

When I was single, I would dry clean my button-down shirts because the local place would charge $6 for five shirts and I only use an iron when I absolutely have to... I'll iron a polo shirt, but with some of those button-down shirts, it just takes too long...

 

I have all my dress shirts washed and pressed and have done so for years. It is completely worth it. I was paying about $2 a shirt but then I found some coupons in those weekly Value-Pak mailings or whatever they are (I'm sure most people get something similar) and am now down to 99 cents a shirt at a different place near work.
Also, if you get medium starch and wear a shirt underneath, you can usually get away with wearing the shirt twice between trips to the cleaners...(I may pay to get my shirts washed, but I am still a cheap bastard).

 

Yes, dry-cleaning's convenient but if you know how to iron properly and you have a can of spray starch, you can pretty much have your shirts look just as good.

And if your shirts are being drycleaned (as opposed to laundered), they're not going to last very long.

 

Paging Monica Lewinsky to the dry cleaning thread. Monica Lewinsky to the dry cleaning thread.