What are the benefits of dry cleaning? Let us count the ways – 26 of them to be exact.
The process of dry cleaning
Dry cleaning uses solvents to get rid of dirt and stains in fabrics. As the name suggests, there is little if any use of water. The solvent is designed to be soft on the fibre. It is also manufactured in environmental friendly manners in a bid to contribute to the nature conservation measures.
The dry cleaner loads the right kinds of cloths together or separate in the machine and adds in the right kind and measure of solvent to get rid of the specific kind of dirt and/or stains. After the machine cleans the cloths, the dry cleaner takes them out and handles them in the right manner.
Back in the days, the only other service would be to fold the cloths to get of creases and to pack them. Nowadays, however, owing to the high level of competition, dry cleaners are going a step ahead and correcting any alterations that may be on the cloths. This makes dry cleaning an all-round cloth-care process.
Among the advantages of dry cleaning is its ability to dissolve grease and oils in a way that water cannot. Natural fibres such as wools and silks dry clean beautifully, but can shrink, distort, and lose colour when washed in water. Synthetic fibres like polyester also respond well to dry cleaning, whereas they can retain oily stains after washing. Dry cleaning helps to return garments to a “like-new” condition using precautions to prevent shrinkage, loss of colour, and change of texture or finish.
The benefits of dry cleaning
Considering the amount of money, you have to part with to get the services, dry cleaning has quite a lot of benefits and almost no faults. Here are some of them:
Cleanliness is next to godliness, but it is also still one of the most unproductive tasks, or is it. You will probably take about 2 hours to get all your laundry done that is if you are doing it by hand. Those will be two less hours. However, you will feel more comfortable in the cloths and around people, and that goes in a long way in your day-to-day life. Therefore, yes, cleanliness is indeed next to godliness.
Dry cleaning is however a better way to get the best out of both sides of the coin. It does a better job for a small fee and in quite less time. Here is; how the dry cleaning process works and the final benefits.
1. It is gentler to the cloths
Unlike other methods of cleaning cloths like using the hands or a washing machine, dry cleaning is quite gentle on the cloths. It does not involve all the pressure and the gripping, just the use of the solvent and the machine.
2. It eliminates the use of water
Water is one of the necessary mediums required for cleaning cloths, but it is not the only medium. It also has some disadvantages. For instance, cloths may lose their colour when soaked in water, or the fabric may crease and shrink, losing shape. Dry cleaning eliminates the use of water, thus eliminating the possibility of these disadvantages.
3. It does a better job
Dry cleaning can remove some stains and odours, which may be hard to get rid of using other cleaning methods. This is done by cleaning the fabric with the right organic solvent in the right conditions. This result in an overall cleaner and more comfortable fabric.
4. It is suitable for many fabrics
Cloths are not made for the sole purpose of covering the flesh, they are also meant to bring out the beauty and style in you. This may sometimes require the use of some delicate but fine fabrics, whose main disadvantage is that they may respond badly to how they are cleaned. Dry cleaning takes care of different kinds of materials to ensure the fabric retains its shape and feel.
5. It goes beyond clothing
The dry cleaning process can be used to clean even certain types of shoes in the same manner and offering the same benefits. A shoe like the UGG boot for instance can be easily cleaned using this process.
The limitations of dry cleaning
The dry cleaning process is excellent, but it is not ultimate. There are some kinds of dirt and stains that dry cleaning cannot get rid of, and neither can many other cleaning processes. It is credited for its ability to remove “most” of the stains, which other processes cannot.
It would however, come in handy if clients were to inform the dry cleaner of the kinds of stains they want removed or what caused the stain. It would help in selecting the solvents and knowing just how to go about the process.
Considering the benefits of dry cleaning and the limitations, dry cleaning remains a great option for cleaning fabric.
Alterations: Professional dry cleaners are full-service clothing care specialists. Alterations are one of the many services they may offer in addition to dry-cleaning your clothes.
Buttons: Dry cleaners repair loose buttons or sew on new ones, if necessary.
Convenience: All you have to do is drop your clothes off and pick them up. Your dry cleaner takes care of the rest. Why waste hours doing laundry and ironing when you get quality and convenience with dry-cleaning?
Expertise: From fashions and fabrics to stain removal to the latest cleaning technologies, dry cleaners have the expertise to clean your clothes right. Why do it yourself or settle for a second-rate job from a so-called “home dry cleaning kit” when you could trust it to an expert?
Finishing: Thanks to special pressing equipment, professional finishing gives garments a crisp, wrinkle-free, like-new appearance that cannot be beat. There are no rumples or creases out of place. In addition, by taking your clothes to the dry cleaner, you do not have to spend your weekend standing over an ironing board and a hot iron.
Garment storage: Do you have too many clothes and too little space? Some cleaners provide garment storage for out-of-season items. The garments are stored in a vault, which offers protection from insects, fire, burglary, flood, and mildew damage. Furs used to be the primary storage item, but today dry cleaners receive woollens, household items, and other items to store as well.
Household textiles: Dry cleaners do not just clean clothes. Many dry cleaners also process household items such as blankets, comforters, decorative pillows, rugs, and even upholstery and draperies.
Inspection: Before they return a garment to you, quality dry cleaners conduct an inspection to make sure your order has met their own and your expectations. If they spot a problem, the garment is sent back to receive further attention. Safeguards like this help ensure that your clothes will look their best when you come to pick them up.
Just right: That is how your clothes will look when you pick them up from your dry cleaning professional.
Knowledge of fabrics and fashions: You may know what rayon, silk, and cotton are, but what about angora, faille or seersucker? There are numerous fabrics and fibres that dry cleaners must know about in order to care best for the clothes they receive. Each fabric can respond positively or negatively depending on the treatment administered.
Laundry: Dry cleaning professionals also have commercial laundry departments where they process shirts, cotton pants, and other items. With the convenience and superior level of pressing that comes with commercial laundry.
Moths, safeguards from: Clean clothes are the first step to preventing moth and other insect damage. Insects can damage clothes either directly or indirectly. A group of insects feeding directly on a fabric causes direct damage. Indirect damage is caused when insects feed on spilled food or perspiration on the fabric. Moths attack the garment directly, especially wool and wool blends. Some cleaners provide mothproofing as a service. Mothproofing is a chemical treatment given to fabrics that provides protection from insects without leaving the objectionable odours that mothballs do.
Neckties: Ties are often made of delicate fabrics (such as silk) and require special care. Whether you have spilled gravy on your favourite tie or are just looking to spruce it up, a high-quality dry cleaner is best equipped to clean it.
Odour removal: Some dry cleaning establishments specialize in odour removal and flood and fire restoration of water- or smoke-damaged items. These dry cleaners use ozone generators to do an ozone treatment. The contact between ozone and the odours embedded in the textiles causes oxidation to reoccur, resulting in the elimination of the odours and the release of oxygen. This is a safe and effective process.
Preservation: Many dry cleaners specialize in the preservation of wedding gowns, christening gowns, and other family heirlooms. Preservation is a special type of storage that helps prolong the life of a garment for years and years. Dry Cleaners often say that; they are not just preserving a customer’s garment; they are preserving a memory.
Quality: This is what dry cleaning experts should provide and you should expect from them. Accept no less.
Restoration: In addition to preservation, dry cleaners may specialize in the restoration of old wedding gowns, heirloom items, and antique textiles. These items often are very delicate and require great care. Restoration specialists have the expertise to take in these items, although the level they can restore them to depends on their condition at the time they are brought in. It is not uncommon, though, for a cleaner to restore a wedding gown originally worn by a bride-to-be’s grandmother well enough that the bride can wear it in her own wedding.
Stain removal: Dry cleaners use complex procedures and special stain removal chemicals to remove stains. Stains are divided into two major categories: solvent-soluble stains and water-soluble stains. Different stains require different treatments; which stain removal technicians are trained to administer. Why risk a disaster using an over-the-counter “all-purpose” stain removal product or trying a “home remedy” when you could rely on your drycleaner’s expert stain removal abilities?
Technology: Dry cleaners are on top of the latest cleaning and fabric technologies.
Upholstery: Dry cleaning professionals are not just clothes care specialists; they are textile care specialists. Some cleaners will even come into your home if you would like to clean the upholstery of your couch, chairs, and other furniture. These cleaners have special, portable equipment that allows them to clean upholstery and draperies.
Value: A good value is what dry cleaners provide their customers through quality work, excellent customer service, and the extra free time to do the things they’d rather be doing instead of washing and ironing clothes.
Extend the life of your garments: Contrary to the belief of some, frequent cleaning does not damage clothes. Frequent cleaning extends the life of a garment by removing stains and ground-in dirt and soils.
Yellowing: Frequent cleaning removes stains that, if left untreated, could oxidize and cause yellowing. Exposure to heat or the passage of time can cause stains from food, beverages, and other oily substances to oxidize and turn yellow or brown, much the way a peeled apple turns brown after exposure to air. Once they become yellow or brown, these stains become much more difficult to remove and often cannot be removed.
Zip in and out: That’s how long it takes you to drop off and pick up your dry cleaning. Again, convenience is paramount to good dry cleaning.