We have all been there. We buy something we are extremely excited to wear. We put together a stellar outfit. We are the talk of the event because of our sartorial genius. Then the unthinkable happens, like a real-life Brawny advertisement; we watch in slow motion as something spills all over our new garment and ruins our night. Or, at least, we thought it ruined our night.
It is about to get much worse. We strip ourselves of the garment and look to the care tag to find those dreaded words: “Dry clean only.” Every man should know how to get clothes dry cleaned, but isn’t it a huge pain in the rear? There are a few things you can try at home before you head to the dry cleaner.
What exactly is dry cleaning?
Even though it’s called “dry” cleaning, the simple fact is that the clothes you send to the cleaners are still getting wet, but with a chemical called perchloroethylene (perc), not water. Perc is a chemical solvent that removes dirt, grease, and stains. It’s also what causes that somewhat industrial smell that’s in clothes when you first pick them up from the cleaner. As you might imagine; with a name like that, it’s associated with pollution and some health risks (more for the cleaner than for you), so more environmentally friendly chemicals have been pressed into service lately.
The real truth is that a lot of brands label their clothes “Dry clean only,” because it’s safer for them: It’s less likely that they’ll have customers returning delicate garments that have been treated like underwear or old socks and tossed into the washing machine and dryer. Sometimes, it just pays to seek professional help.
Take it to the cleaners
Regardless of what many tags say, you should be prepared to take some of these things to the cleaners just to be safe. Like we said, professional help is always a safe bet when it comes to your favorite clothing.
- Tailored suits: Their carefully assembled interior construction requires special treatment.
- Silks (other than washable silk): Shirts, pocket squares, scarves, etc.
- Neckties: One trip through the wash, and you will see the tie’s innards become outards.
- Linen: A lot of linen is fine to be washed at home, especially if you don’t mind wrinkles or are patient with an iron. Otherwise, let the pros handle it.
- Leather and suede.
- Clothes with any kind of fancy embellishments like sequins, beading, or fringes,
- Delicate fabrics like rayon or odd fabric blends where the different fibers might have different reactions to water temperature or cleaning agents.
- Anything with a bad, oil-based stain.
Do try this at home
A lot of clothes can be cleaned with a little loving care at home. See if you can spot clean a stain as soon as possible to save yourself some trouble in the first place. Otherwise, you should be able to wash any clothes with simple construction (no padding, linings, or interlinings), natural fibers like wool or cotton, certain silks, and linens, and for sure, most man-made fibers like polyester are usually safe bets. To be honest, most men’s clothes are made of pretty hardy stuff, so you usually don’t have to worry.
Spot-check for colorfastness
Whatever you’re cleaning, and whatever you’re cleaning with, find a spot somewhere where nobody will notice if something goes wrong, like on an inside bottom hem. Make sure that a deep, dark color is colorfast (think about the first time you wash a pair of dark blue jeans). Wet a small spot with water or the product you’re considering using and dab a white cloth or a cotton swab on it to see if any color rubs off. If it does, take it to the pros.
Try a home dry cleaning kit
Usually, anything you would typically go to a professional for is something to stay away from when you go to the store and see an “at-home” option on the shelf. However, at-home dry cleaning kits have come a long way in the last couple of decades.
Companies like Dryel and Woolite have made it their business to succeed at keeping you from having to go to the dry cleaners for two extra trips. However, they are not perfect. They typically work by steam cleaning your garments in the dryer using cleaning pads and stain-absorbing pads in a dryer bag. Be careful what you do with these; however, as they aren’t perfect for everything. Leather, suede, fur, and velvet aren’t a good idea at home.
Steam cleaning
Steaming your clothing outside the dryer may be something only thought for removing wrinkles, but it does more than that. When you hang a garment and heat up water to push through the cloth using a handheld steamer, you cause the individual threads of the fabrics to swell back up to their original shape.
This does multiple things. First, it can help remove stains by loosening them from the fibers, making them easier to remove. Second, it refreshes the garment, giving it a brand-new appearance. While this is the perfect choice for cleaning your suits and dress shirts in between wears, you should avoid using this for leather and suede.
Hand (or delicate machine) washing
If you have ever been to China or many other countries outside the U.S., you know that washing machines and dryers aren’t as prevalent. Many people around the world hand wash their garments in the sink and hang them to dry. The good thing about this process is that it is much more delicate on fragile fabrics and usable for animal hides like leather and suede (don’t submerge them in water — use the wet cloth to clean).
This may feel like a tedious task when compared to tossing things in the wash and going about your day until it is time to switch them over to the dryer, but it will significantly increase the lifespan of your clothing.
As you start to invest in more upscale clothing, you will find those “Dry clean only” tags more and more often. This isn’t a bad thing; it’s simply going to require you to alter how you care for your clothing. One last note, the chemicals used at the dry cleaner or in your home are damaging to your clothing and can break them down prematurely. So just because you can do it cheaply at home doesn’t mean you should do it more than you absolutely need to.
