By
Ben Anton
Many people have an issue with the price of professional dry
cleaning. This fact alone has led many to seek out different, less
expensive methods such as home dry cleaning treatments. While they
provide a cheaper alternative to professional dry cleaning, many remain
skeptical as to how effective they really are.
The Process
Regardless
of its name, dry cleaning uses perchloroethylene to remove soil and
stains from fabric. It is able to dissolve greases and oils and
prevents shrinkage, loss of color, and fabric distortion. The process
begins with the pretreatment of spots and stains using special cleaning
agents. The garments are then loaded into a machine and washed with
perchloroethylene, then pressed and packaged.
Two types of home
dry cleaning products exist: with a dryer bag (i.e. Dryel) and without a
dryer bag (i.e. Dry Cleaner's Secret). Both processes begin with
removing spots with the provided spot remover before either placing the
garments into either the dryer bag or directly into the dryer along with
the cleaning cloth, depending on the product. When the garments come
out of the dryer they are wrinkle-free and typically require no other
treatment.
Benefits and Drawbacks
Professional dry cleaning has obvious benefits, obvious drawbacks, and less obvious drawbacks that need to be brought to light.
When
you bring your clothes to a professional dry cleaner, you can typically
expect nothing less than perfect. Your clothes will most likely be
clean and stain-free, and all the wrinkles pressed out. The entire
process is more precise and thorough than the alternative at-home dry
cleaning methods. You get what you pay for. Speaking of which, the
cost of professional dry cleaning is a major drawback. It's expensive,
with prices ranging from nearly four dollars to over twenty dollars,
depending on the size of the garment, the fabric and the amount of
treatment needed.
A little known fact about the process of
professional dry cleaning is that the chemical perchloroethylene poses
health risks to both the people handling the garments while they are
being cleaned, and the customers who wear the clothes afterward.
Home
dry-cleaning is a cheaper alternative. It costs less than fifty cents
per garment to dry clean at home if everything is done correctly. It
also freshens and removes wrinkles in one simple process without the use
of harmful chemicals. The biggest drawback is that home dry cleaning
kits cannot remove stains that are larger than a dime and sometimes need
to be touched-up after the first cycle.
The Verdict
The
truth of the matter is that deciding between professional dry cleaning
and home dry cleaning is a matter preference, budget, and necessity. If
you have heavy or large stains, professionals can do the best job, but
if you know that your local dry cleaner uses chemicals that may be
harmful to your health then you might want to avoid using their service.
If you have smaller stains or simply need to refresh a piece of
clothing, then How To Dry Clean At Home is your best bet.
