Dry cleaning your clothes is an expensive proposition. For many business people, the need to have suits properly cleaned may seem non-negotiable as it relates directly to their professional appearance. However, with a little effort, you could be saving money and looking good. Read on…
Avoid buying clothes that need dry cleaning
While there are some items that are going to need dry cleaning no matter what, such as suits or wool coats, purchasing clothes you can wash at home is less expensive. Cotton dress shirts are easy to wash at home, and if you take them out of the dryer while still a bit damp and hang them, ironing is minimal.
There are also shirts that are of the non-wrinkle type. Buying those instead could literally save you hundreds of dollars a year.
Consider which can be washed at home
Many items that say dry clean can actually be cleaned normally. Since manufacturers are only required to put one method of cleaning on a garment, they do just that. Rayon, for example, can be washed at home as long as you take care not to shrink it with warmer water.
Purchase a home dry cleaning kit. While these kits are expensive when compared to normal detergent, they provide a good alternative to traditional dry cleaning when all your garment need is some freshening up. Used in your dryer, these kits provide you with a pretreatment, a “dry cleaning” cloth and a bag. You pre-treat your stains, put the clothes in the bag with the cloth and run the dryer for a while.
The cloth will infuse your dry clean only clothes with fragrance, the steam generated reduces wrinkles and the pre-treatment takes care of most stains. The fragrances can set off allergies in sensitive individuals, so try the system out on something that isn’t essential first.
Care for dry cleaned clothes properly
Unless the item is worn against the skin, cleaning it annually is generally enough. Take off your dry clean only clothes promptly and hang them up. Use a clothes brush to remove any surface dirt and use pads or bolsters to ensure that they lay correctly when hung. Let the item air out for a day or two before you return it to your closet. With proper maintenance dry clean only clothes can last a long time.
Take your clothes to the cleaners
Eventually, no matter how well you treat your clothes you will need to have the professionally cleaned. Long before you step into a store you should have done some homework. Get recommendations from your colleagues as to which dry cleaners do the best work for the lowest cost. Find out if a cleaner sends out coupons, and if they will accept competitors’ coupons by simply asking them.
Wait until you have several items to take at once. Many cleaners offer a discount if you clean more than 5 items at a time, or if you are a regular visitor.
Dry cleaning may be a necessity from time to time, but reducing the frequency and looking for cheaper alternatives can help reduce the expense to a manageable level.
