l etoile

My dry cleaning bill is outrageous and at the same time I know a lot of the Dry Clean Only tags are put on garments unnecessarily. I have washed a dry-clean only sweater on delicate with excellent results and am now considering trying a few other things, such as a rayon-blend dress.

I tried those dry clean at home in your dryer products and am not impressed. They seem to make the clothes smell good, but I'm not sure they really get them clean.

I certainly would weight the cost of the garment against the risks of washing, but on somethings I'm thinking of giving it a try.

Anyone else put some of their dry cleaning through the laundry? How were the results? Any rules of tumb on what you can safely wash? I would of course do the garment separately and on gentle.

Mary2e

I wash my cashmere sweaters. They come out beautifully & actually even softer. I'm careful to block them on a towel. I was incredibly surprised they came out nicer than when they went in.

I've also washed silk knit sweaters with fairly good success. Some come out perfectly fine, others not so fine. So far I'm ahead .

I have stopped buying rayon blouses because of the cost of dry cleaning and have started home dry cleaning my other wool sweaters. They come out fine for me, and it's saving me a fortune.

I'm no longer wearing business suits to work, so my dry cleaning bill has gone down anyway. BUT, I have to dry clean washable pants only to ensure I don't lose any length.

Mary

lalala

cashmere sweaters with absolutely no problem, that has saved me over 150 bucks a year.

All my shirts are cotton, so they go to the cleaners.

I agree that most of those in home cleaning things are bit stinky. I'm not sure if you have bulk dry cleaning in your area, but that might help with slacks and shirts.

lala

techgirl

I machine wash some of my dry clean only knits (sweaters, knit tops, dresses, pants). I use the delicate cycle and will hang them dry at least the first time until I get an idea of why the item is dry clean only.

Hand washing also works wonders for some of the synthetics if you are afraid to try the washer. Woolite works nicely.

Daydream

I did at home, used a special wool shampoo (I dont like that woolite stuff tehy sell here), and a special handwash cycle at the washign machine, never ever had a problem! No dryer though.

Jenbel

Confused about this, why do you get shirts dry-cleaned if they are washable?

I dry clean about once every six months, which means most of my clothes are either washable or I only wear them very occasionally (ball frocks). If there is anything I think may be washable (rayon for example is usually washable, but marked as dry clean only), then I will do a gentle cycle or a cold hand wash first. I don't wash anything I would hate to lose!

l etoile

Guess I will continue dry cleaning my dry-clean-only rayon. Sounds like it's not a good idea to wash it. http://www.fabriclink.com/Rayon.html

lalala

oops, what I meant to say is that

"I am a lazy person, so I take my shirts to
the cleaners so that they can press and starch them for 1.29 so I don't have to"

lala

cawhite

Lala, I am in the same boat with you on that one! I love my cotton shirts to have tons of starch in them...and I am really horrid at ironing stuff like that and not ending up with any wrinkles. I usually end up adding a few!

SkiAdcock

As you all know from my burning the eggs experience, I am not domestic.

Anything w/ a drycleaning tag on it goes to the drycleaners.

The only time I didn't do that (I missed the label) my lovely expensive blouse shrunk enough to fit the neighbor's daughter across the hall - who was very young at the time.

Besides not being domestic, I'm w/ lala on the it's much easier to drop stuff off than spend my (limited) time doing handwashing etc.

------------------
Sharon

prncess674

You should invest in a one of those sweater drying rack. I used to do the towel on top of the washer but I was constantly having to move it and it took forever to dry. I invested in a set of sweater drying racks. The sweaters dry twice as fast and I can move the drying sweaters around on the racks without having to re-lay them.

http://www.organizes-it.com/images/s...y1tier-rev.jpg

Punki

I dry clean almost everything (my guys' tuxes, everybody's suits, my good dresses, scarves, etc.) at home in the dryer with Dryel. I love the stuff and have used it for years. If I watch the timer and immediately remove and hang things after the cycle is finished, I don't even have to press them.

I hand wash all of my silk knit tops and Softwear pants (my daily wear) and cashmere and/or wool sweaters. Sometimes if I have a lot of sweaters to clean all at once (like after this weekend's trip to Whistler) I may dry clean a load, but I too prefer the way they turn out when I hand wash them. Sometimes on a beautiful sunny day, I will have a crazy spell of sweater washing and hand wash tons of sweaters and block them on towels on the back deck to dry.

Like, lalala and cawhite60156, we send our woven cotton shirts to the cleaners to be washed, starched and ironed. Pure laziness.

[This message has been edited by Punki (edited Dec 02, 2003).]

l etoile

Punki: I suspect Dryel doesn't have the same chemicals a regular dry cleaner would use, but you might want to avoid using it on your cashmere. I've always been told that dry cleaning chemicals break down the cashmere fibers (just like regular washing apparently does to rayon). It may come out fine the first several times, but eventually it will wear out much quicker than it should. Cashmere is just too darn expensive to risk it. Speaking of cashmere ... I have to share my latest indulgence: cashmere sheets. They are soooo wonderful to sleep on.

Jenbel

Aaahhh, all clear now. Its similar to me having (and wearing) shirts as little as possible so that I don't need to iron them - does that make me more or less lazy since I couldn't be organised to take things regularly to the dry cleaners?

Punki

Thanks, letiole. I actually hand wash all of our sweaters about 95% of the time, only dry cleaning them on those rare occasions when the weather is horrible and everybody in the house seems to have dirty sweaters all at once.

I actually enjoy doing laundry, hand laundry and dry cleaning. Especially the feeling of having everything clean all at once.