Dry cleaning since ages has taken over laundry washing for luxurious fabrics, especially for rayon, silk, wool blends, etc. These fabrics are often hydrophilic or “water-loving” in nature and can deteriorate in quality due to the water bonds.
Therefore, dry cleaning safeguards these luxurious heritage fabrics when keeping them stainless.
Instead of water-based solvents, dry cleaners apply petroleum-based solutions (like perchloroethylene) to clean these clothes.
Scientifically speaking, these solvents don’t form bonds with the cloth fibers, hence restricting any shrinking or expansion due to water-based bonds.
The most fundamental question which occurs is how to determine which fabrics are “DRY CLEAN ONLY” fabrics?
Often, the label on the fabric speaks for itself. If not, in general, silk, acetate, velvet, wool, and taffeta items are dry clean only whereas cotton, linen, cashmere, polyester, acrylic, and nylon are usually water washable. Moreover, to avoid mishaps, you can check by a simple process.
Moisten a swab from the cloth with a mild detergent and dab it on a hidden side and check for any dye leakage (known as colorfast) or fabric damage, it gives you an idea.
The next point is to check the detailing on the cloth. There is also an ‘exclusive of decorative trim’ added on some tags for this purpose. Before you wash clothes with beading or sequins, ensure that they are sewn (check stitches) and try colorfast.
So, what happens if your laundry-wash a dry-clean-only fabric? Is it that harmful! Well, yes, unfortunately, it is. If it will stretch or shrink depends on the kind of material. Your favorite shirt or dress could significantly shrink.
Drapes are known to shrink to half their size when water-washed. At other times, it may enlarge (like sleeves hanging from your shoulders) Many times, even dyes bleed off and fades your garment. The lining or even the fabric of your garment may tear.
Fabric pilling is pretty regular; the balls of fabric growing everywhere can raze the appearance. So, it is safer to follow the labels wherein keeping in mind when to check.
The problem does not get solved here. Unfortunately, the garment-care labels are not very precise and accurate, and even if they are, some fabrics may still not be able to bear the washing machine’s work.
Whenever there is a doubt, take your clothes to a professional laundry service like Whites laundry in Dubai Marina and get advice.
Now, when you are sure which clothes need to be dry cleaned, finding a trustworthy dry-cleaning service is essential. It is unhealthy and unsafe to handover your clothes to any laundry service.
Here are a few assurances that only expert dry cleaners will offer.
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1. Increased Life of Your Garment
They are going to use examined and experimented solvents and at the temperatures adequate for your clothes to handle. They won’t at all risk hurling your garments with these solvents in the washing machine.
They will use conventional dry-cleaning drums, then tumble your clothes gently and considerately. Therefore, no harm, resulting in preserved softness and smoothness of fabric inside out.
2. Quality Preserve
Usage of delicate solvent like perc, instead of soapy detergent and hot water, limits any color or texture damage of your fabrics.
Many times, washing machine wash, shrinks, expands, or stiffens the material, and we cannot even figure out the reason. It is only because of a machine wash.
3. Stain Removal
Despite being gentle on clothes, the dry-cleaning solvents penetrate deeply in your clothes. Thus, solvating and separating any oils, smell, and stains.
As a result, your rich fabrics like linens to stay new for a longer duration, and you can enjoy yourself without any stress of stains.
Once you find your best dry cleaners, you then have to worry about storing your dry-cleaned laundry. As soon as you receive your clothes, remove the bags they come in; this protects them from developing infections, stains, or decolorization.
Ensure not to use wire or metal hangers for these. Do not remove the papers from your garments; these papers help to retain the shape.
Here’s some good news; dry cleaning does not mean much work as it may have sounded till now. Especially in a city like Dubai, where the increasing on-demand services are taking over the standard ones in all areas, laundry is not an exception.
Moreover, with the country’s growing population and the emigration rate, laundry services in Dubai have seen a boom in previous years and are continually experiencing so.
What this brings to you is, you don’t have to worry about your laundry. With immense options available for dry cleaning in Dubai, you will have a lot of choices to opt from and change to in case of dissatisfaction!
Always check before sending your clothes for laundry or inform your laundry service that you have not sorted the clothes, and they will have to do it for you.
