Many people who like to wear sharp-looking clothing like sweaters, suits, dress shirts, or dresses take them for dry cleaning. This helps maintain the texture and perfect appearance of the clothing while cleaning it of dirt and germs. However, not all good clothes need dry cleaning. Some clothes must be laundered and ironed to be free of dirt and germs and look sharp. Knowing when to dry clean and when to launder your clothes is necessary.
Dry cleaning and laundering differ significantly in the techniques and expected results. Understanding what each entails helps you decide whether to launder or dry clean a particular outfit.
What Dry Cleaning Entails
Dry cleaning is a technique that does not use water. Instead, it uses non-water-based cleaning solvents, like perchloroethylene, to remove odors and stains from clothes. The cleaned clothes are then crisply pressed to maintain their sharp appearance. Generally, dry cleaning is used on highly delicate fabrics. Some garments have dry-cleaning instructions on their label. You will likely damage them if you clean them in any other way.
Dry cleaning is a unique technique for delicate clothing, so it is more costly than laundry. People who offer dry cleaning services charge per piece of clothing to be cleaned. Dry cleaning also uses specialized equipment that is costly to purchase and maintain.
What Laundering Entails
When laundering clothes, you first use detergent and water to remove germs and odors. The process entails soaking dirty clothes and agitating them in a washing machine, which makes them appear slightly damp. The clothes are then individually pressed to give them a sharp appearance.
Laundering works well for most fabrics, including polyester, cotton, linen, and denim. Clothing to be laundered has laundering instructions on its labels. This is an inexpensive way to clean most clothes.
The Benefits of Laundering Your Clothes
Laundering provides a long list of benefits, including the following:
- It is an excellent way to remove sweat, dirt, oils, and odors from your clothes. Since the technique uses water and detergent, it works better at cleaning clothes of oil and sweat than dry cleaning. Thus, cleaning your cotton blouses and dress shirts is the best way. Once they are laundered, your clothes are pressed to give them a crisp, fresh look.
- Laundering is a more sustainable way to clean clothes. Although it still consumes energy, water, and detergents, laundering is environmentally friendly. Some professional cleaners use eco-friendly soaps to make their businesses even more sustainable. Modern laundry machines and other appliances, including commercial-grade machines, are also more efficient. Compared to dry cleaning, traditional machines use chemicals that are unfriendly to the environment. Some of these solvents can also cause your skin to react.
- Laundering is a cost-effective way to clean most clothes. You can launder your clothes at home and save money or pay for commercial laundering. However, this cost cannot be compared to the cost of dry cleaning. Dry cleaners charge per piece, increasing the cost of laundering several pieces. Additionally, detergents and the water used for laundering are more cost-effective than solvents used for dry cleaning. Dry cleaning machines are also costly to acquire and maintain.
- Although dry cleaning is considered gentle for delicate clothes, laundering is also gentle on fabrics. This is because it does not use harsh chemicals that could eventually damage your clothes. Detergents and water used in laundering are less damaging than solvents used in dry cleaning. Solvents cause your clothes to degenerate over time, which is different for laundered clothes.
The Benefits of Dry Cleaning Your Clothes
Dry cleaning is also beneficial in several ways, including the following:
- It is the best way to clean your delicate garments, for example, those made of cashmere, silk, wool, and any other natural fiber. These are the types of fabrics that can be damaged by water. Water causes the elements in these fabrics to stiffen or become rigid, which eventually causes your garments to shrink. Manufacturers understand how different fabrics behave when they come into contact with water. Hence, you must first read your clothes cleaning instructions to protect the garments and ensure long-term service.
- Dry cleaning enhances your clothes' longevity. Considering some clothes' costs, you want to wear them longer before paying for replacements. Dry cleaning protects your clothes from fading, stretching, and bleeding. It does not subject them to a cleaning process that causes the clothes to become distorted, like in a washing and drying machine.
- Dry cleaning is a sure way to remove some odors from your clothes, like mildew and smoke. Traditional laundering does not effectively remove some of these strong odors, making dry cleaning more effective for this task.
- Dry cleaning also removes some stains better than traditional laundering. When dry cleaning some clothes, professional cleaners undergo a pre-spotting procedure, allowing an expert cleaner to examine each piece of clothing and locate tough stains. Cleaners then determine the cause of the stain and the right way to treat it. This process is usually unavailable during laundering.
If one or more garments are stained, and you understand the cause of the stain, you can let the dry cleaning expert know beforehand to make this process easier for them. This also makes it easy for them to pick the suitable solvent for specific stains.
Find a Dry Cleaning and Laundering Expert Near Me
If you are looking for a cleaning expert for your clothes in Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach, or Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Boca Best Cleaners could be precisely what you need. We are experts in dry cleaning and laundering. We understand how each technique works and can help you determine the best way to clean particular clothing. We aim to keep your clothes clean of dirt, germs, odors, and oils and ensure they are bright and sharp-looking for all events. We also ensure longevity for all your clothes, saving you time and money. Call us at 561-613-0352 if you are torn between dry cleaning and laundering your clothes. We will help you determine what to do, depending on your clothes’s fabric and needs.
