To have never, ever had anything Dry Cleaned?

[Ooopsadaisy]

Dry Cleaning is a mystery to me.

Is this unusual?

have you never owned a suit?

Yep, many suits - they said dry clean only.

I thought - sod that.

I hand washed it gently in lukewarm water with a small amount of non-bio, rinsed it in lukewarm water and drip dried on the line.

No probs. ££££££ saved.

Nope never have either - tend to avoid dry clean only where possible but someone I know who worked in the clothing industry said that dco labels were often, not exclusively, but often used just to cover the manufacturers back sides against claims of shrinkage.

i am v. suspicious of dry cleaning. it never seems to actually clean anything.

interesting about the hand washing. i have definitely chucked some dryclean only stuff in the machine

I've never had anything dry cleaned.

A few of my clothes say "dry clean only" but I just assume they're being fussy and tell them to hop in the washing machine with everything else. They come out clean, I'm happy.

What about a smart wool winter coat?

washing would ruin a lot of my dresses...but you're right, often labelling says dry clean only to be safe rather than sorry!

YABU don't your clothes stink? Dry cleaning is the simplest thing in the world, you hand them a bag of dirty clothes and a few hours later you get them back all clean and hanging in nice wrapping. I wouldn't dream of risking my expensive clothes with a soaking!

I have also hand-wash/drip-dried:

Bridesmaid dresses
Silk dresses
Mens' suits
School blazers
Cushion covers
Sofa covers
Winter coats (best done in the bath and then chucked out of the window to save dripping on the stairs).
Curtains
Rugs

I'm glad I'm not alone.

dry cleaning is also an environmental disaster area.

maybe i should start experimenting with dh's suits?

I put all my suits in the washing machine, always have.

Silk dresses work very well in the bath with a bit of eco gentle handwashing liquid.

I've only ever had my wedding dress dry cleaned. Everything else I've hand washed and it's come out ok.

DuplicitousBitch - tell me about the environmental effects of dry cleaning.

The reason for this thread is that a friend of mine always sesm to be picking up or dropping off dry cleaning whenever I'm with her and it makes my head hurt when I see how much it costs her.

If there is an environmental cost too, then I think she would want to know (she's very conscious of this sort of thing).

She thinks I'm some sort of heathen for never dry cleaning.

YANBU.

I work in fashion and I have it on excellent authority that anything that states "Dry clean only" on the label CAN be handwashed in silk detergent.

Anything that says "SPECIALIST clean" (usually things with heavy embellishment or delicate detailing, I would take to the cleaners...

the chemicals are fairly toxic. alot still use perc which is known to be harmful to the workers. disposing of the chemicals is a nightmare.

I love the smell of dry cleaning, which raises my suspicions on their useage of chemicals

I've washed loads of dco clothes inc silk/wool etc. If you do it with care, there's not much that can go wrong imo.

Thanks bupcakes - Must admit I've never used Silk detergent - just a bit of non-bio. Will look out for it.

I have had a dress from Monsoon with a lot of embellishment - beads and stuff (if you knew me in RL you would PYSL at how unusual this sort of garment is for me) - I got away with hand-washng that too.

Toxic chemicals! Yikes!

If this is generally known - why do some people still dry clean?

A friend who worked in a dry cleaners told me it's really not worth it, doesn't clean that well.

Dh's suits but that's for him to take, collect and sort out himself!

Yes Perchloroethylene is still used as a dry cleaning agent.
It is classed as toxic, dangerous to the environment and is also a suspected carcinogen.
I don't buy clothes that need to be dry cleaned.
You can buy machine washable suits - DH has several.

Perchlo..thingy even sounds menacing doesn't it?

I'm glad I'm not alone.

My friend has 5 or 6 items every time we go. She is clearly mad.

As an experiment, when I got in from work I put the wool M&S coat I've been wearing for a few weeks into the washing machine cos I don't really like it and it has come out lovely and clean and absolutely fine!

The only thing I should have dry-cleaned but didn't was a cream wool cardigan with wooden buttons - I washed it and it ended up with brown streaks from the buttons on the cream. But everything else has come up fine. I hate the smell of dry-cleaned clothes too.