Friday, March 28, 2014

Here’s when dry cleaning is the only intelligent choice!

There are certain types of fabrics for which regular cleaning is simply not suitable at all. They demand special cleaning procedures or else can end up losing their shine and quality. Certain cloths like coats, suits, heavy gowns, garments with sequin work and intricate detailing are often labeled as ‘dry clean only’.

They are given this tag because attempting to wash those using regular methods can damage them. This is when professional dry cleaning services come in handy. Instead of water, special solvents are used during dry cleaning procedure to remove stains and odor. Clothes that need cleaning are placed inside a machine, which looks almost the same as regular household ones.

These machines come built with rotating drums. Once started, the machine gets filled with solvent which helps dissolve all the dirt and spots in the fabric. Once the rinsing is complete, warm air is blown to dry clothes off. Air is used to evaporate any solvent particles, which may still be there.

Majority of people especially those from working class do not have time to do laundry management or garment cleaning let alone handle every single piece of cloth separately. It is hard to imagine anyone who has time on his hands to sit down and start sorting out clothes one by one and classify them as dry clean only and regular wash clothes.

So it is best to hand this responsibility over to those who best know how to deal with dirty laundry. Now let us look at the most common fabrics that are not fit for regular wash. Garments made out of subtle fabrics like silk usually need expert attention. Normal wash can leave water spots on silk garments.

Other delicate and fine fabrics like fine muslin and chiffon are also prone to damage if not handled rightly. Putting them into regular washing machine can tear them apart. Thick clothes like woolen fabrics, suit jackets, and coats are other candidates that need special pampering. Dry cleaning is essential to avoid them from shrinking or losing their shape.

Attires with special finishes such as pressed crease or pin tucks can only be maintained by professional cleaning.
Dry cleaners are also contacted by people who are unable to get rid of certain stubborn spots despite several normal washes. For example, greasy stains are easily removable using special solvents rather than fighting them off with regular detergent and water.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

What will happen, if you machine wash your ‘dry clean only’ garments?

Garments with “dry clean only” label come with a strict warning from manufacturers that they are tend to be damaged by too much water or harsh chemicals. It is a clear indication that clothes with such labels need to be cleaned with mild solvents.

Unless the label suggests the fabrics like silk, acetate, velvet, wool, and taffeta need to be dry-cleaned to protect its natural shine and color. Mild solvents contribute to restore the fluffiness of fur and woolen garments. The attires like cotton, linen, cashmere, polyester, acrylic, and nylon can be washed at home.

 If you attempt to machine-wash your “dry clean only” clothes, it will do nothing but degrade its quality in terms of color and fabric. This is because of the reason that fast rotation cycles of domestic machines cause colors to bleed and even can damage the sensitive fabrics. Other than this, machine cycles prevent fabric to absorb detergents. When machine rotates, its cycles create friction between water and fabric, which slowly decrease lifespan of garments. This is where the professional dry cleaners come in.

The very first point where dry cleaning wins over home based washing is that it is carried out using chemical-free solvents. Additionally, professionals rely on commercial washers to clean delicate attires. The commercial machines gently penetrate the solvents through fabrics and clean them. In this approach, clothes are cleaned without using water.

In addition, all attires are cleaned under the expert supervision. Proper to cleaning, attires are identified to determine the right washing approach for them. The soiled and dirty garments are passed through a pre-treatment and stain removal process in which the rigidness of stains is identified and removed using a special treatment.

Now, based upon the type of the fabric, attires are dipped into special solvents and washed properly in machines. After a gentle cycle, machine starts the removal process in which solvent is properly extracted from fabrics. After all the cleaning agents are removed, machine begins drying cycle at the required drying temperature. Upon the completion of this process, attires are re-checked for stains.

Finally, finishing process is carried out in which clothes are gently ironed to remove crease and to give an attractive “ready-to-wear” look.

Monday, March 3, 2014

Dry cleaning to protect your expensive garments

For people who do not have the sufficient time to do laundry on their own, dry cleaning services come in handy. Additionally, for clothes that come with the tag “dry clean only”, it is important to follow special cleaning methods other than traditional wash.

Tag indicates the special advice from manufactures that fabric has tendency to shrink and lose its color if traditional washing techniques are adopted. If your wardrobe contains such garments, it is best to dry clean them. Now, you may have a question in your mind that how garments are cleaned in this method.

The basic point where professional dry cleaning services differ from home based washing is that foremost one do not use water. Is it really possible to clean garments properly without using water. Answer is simply yes. Instead of using water, special solvent, called as perchlorethylene, is used to remove rigid stains and dirt from the deep layers of your fabric.

The favorable reason of going with dry cleaning method is that it is far superior in stain removing than that of traditional one. Moreover, experienced professionals know how to treat different types of stains. This method is best to deal with grease and oil stains on different types of fabrics. Use of mild solvents and touch of professionals collaboratively give attires a brand new appearance.

The fabrics that need special attention and care are silk, georgette, chiffon, and crepe chiffon. If a fabric contains large amount of silk content, it has higher tendency to shrink or get longer when exposed to normal wash.

Cashmere is a kind of fabric that needs to be washed suing special measures in order to protect its natural softness. Along with, Cotton voile is a kind of fabric that tends to tear and change its shape because of its delicate nature. Special precautions need to be taken to clean attires with embroidery, sequins and bead work.

To make sure that your garments retain their natural appearance and shore event after wash, professional services can be considered. With the significant advancements in washing techniques, professional cleaners have started using environment friendly products replacing traditionally used harsh detergents. Their services also comprises of ironing so to return your clothes back in ready to wear state.