Do Dry Cleaners Do Steam Ironing?
Are you a fan of ironing for its therapeutic qualities, or could you go the rest of your life without handling one of the household essentials? If the latter resonates with you, you are not alone, as 30% of people say they dislike ironing a lot.
A common set of questions often arises when deciding whether it’s better to wash or dry cleaning clothing around the finishing processes. You would be surprised by how many people think that dry-cleaned items come out of the industrial machines perfectly pressed without a crease.
Continue reading to find out how dry cleaners treat wrinkles and what tools are needed for the task at hand.
Why Do Dry Cleaned Items Need to Be Ironed?
Dry cleaning is a process that uses a liquid solvent to freshen up, remove dirt and eliminate stains without water. The solvents are used to target specific cleaning needs without needing water to activate them. Instead, items are placed inside a professional dry cleaning machine, which essentially agitates them to get the solutions working.
Just like home washing machines, dry cleaning machines use a spinning motion combined with different heat exposures. This is dictated by the types of materials being cleaned and the aspects being treated. Furthermore, dry cleaning also requires the same sorting process as normal washing machines do, ensuring all items in a load are safe to use the same heat and solvents.
Once the items have gone through the dry cleaning machine, they are often left wrinkled and crumpled. Just think how many creases your holiday packing normally has when you arrive. This is because the items are dry, folded, and moved around. Dry cleaning has the same results as clothing has been moved around and often tangled with others.
To get rid of the creases and lock in the dry cleaning goodness, a steam iron is one of the common tools reached for by dry cleaning experts.
Are Steam Irons Used by Dry Cleaners?
Yes, they are.
Despite modern solutions to clothing maintenance, the steam iron market is projected to grow by 2.96% between 2023 and 2028. Sometimes, the oldest solutions are the best ones, which is also the case for dry-cleaned items. In fact, the earliest steam irons date back to 1882 which gives you an idea of how effective they are in removing wrinkles from dry cleaned clothing if they are still a chosen option in 2023.
As mentioned, dry cleaning offers a sparkling finish for fabrics but can leave them crumpled and wrinkled. This is why steam irons, such as industrial ironing tables, handheld products, and ironing presses, are all used to this day.
However, the products are very different from those in your laundry cupboard at home. They have been professionally designed to offer more versatility regarding heat and steam exposure, as they are designed to be used on delicate clothing items. Expert dry cleaners also know how to use equipment while protecting delicate items, greatly reducing the chance of hard-to-clean items getting damaged during washing.
How Do Steam Irons Treat Wrinkles?
One of the reasons that dry-cleaned clothing can last for longer is that the combination of the treatment and finishing stages locks in long-lasting goodness. This supports both in-between washing conditions and the length of time that clothing lasts.
Steam ironing is a chosen method for removing creases from dry-cleaned items as it delicately treats wrinkles without damaging the fabric.
Steam works by accessing the clothing fibres to make them more relaxed and easier to manipulate. Once items are heated with the right temperature, they can be put back into their correct shape, which is sealed once the garment cools down. Although a certain amount of liquid is added to clothing, it is not enough to damage dry, clean items only as the moisture level is simply enough to loosen fibres, not break them.
Understanding how steam irons work also gives you a good idea of why flat irons are not a good idea for delicate fabrics, as they work to remove creases through direct, more intense heat. Steam offers a better way to treat the root cause of the crease and gives more chances of a longer-lasting finish.
Finally, it is also worth mentioning that steam is great for dry cleaning as it can also remove odours and break down small dirt particles between washing. This can be used across all clothing and household items such as curtains, rugs, bedding and even upholstered fabrics, which would otherwise be hard to treat.
What Other Ways Can Be Used to Remove Wrinkles From Dry Cleaned Items?
When considering what substitutes are available for dry cleaning, we also often get asked about other ways to remove wrinkles if a steam iron is not available.
Our top recommendations are as follows:
Use a press machine. We appreciate that households will not have pressing machines, but it is another common method used by dry cleaning experts for materials that are suitable. These use different heat exposures and a predefined plate to ensure the perfect finish can be given to a range of clothing items.
Use heat from around the home. If you find yourself with a wrinkled, dry clean only garment at home, don’t panic! Not everyone has a steamer, or the knowledge of how to use one safely for delicate fabrics, but there are a few home hacks that still work.
To treat wrinkles, why not hang your clothing in the bathroom when you are having a well deserved steamy soak at the end of a long day!
Select a suitable fabric relaxer or garment spray. If items only have a few creases and are unsuitable for heat exposure, try using a mist of water or a fabric finishing spray. This works in the same way that a steamer would be relaxing the fabric fibres to remove the unwanted creasing.
Can All Items Be Steamed Ironed Once They Have Been Dry Cleaned?
Even if you are dealing with the most delicate dry clean items, we can confirm all can be steamed to remove creases. That is another reason why steam ironing is a chosen method by many people.
However, this still needs to be done easily, so we don’t recommend that dry cleaning occurs at home.
Why Should I Choose Love2Laundry for Dry Cleaning?
Hopefully, you now understand that although steam irons are used when dry cleaning, they are only used by professionals who know how to remove creases and not damage clothing. The Love2Laundry team is highly experienced in leaving clothing and other fabrics as good as new, with the finishing process being a huge part of this.
Some other benefits of using our services are as follows:
- Our team knows how to remove tough stains and dirt from hard-to-treat items. We often get asked questions such as ‘Does dry cleaning remove armpit stains?’ and ‘Why do my clothes still smell after dry cleaning?’ as there is still a lot of misunderstanding about what the process can offer. You can rest assured that we know how to treat clothing professionally and leave it fresh and ready for you to use immediately.
- We offer a full collection and delivery service via our laundry app for dry cleaning. Choose a time that suits you, have full visibility of pricing, and never have to worry about laundry taking up your free time again.
- We offer a quick and efficient service as we know that clothing staying at the cleaners for too long can cause issues. Our full timings are available online, but we even offer next-day services if you are caught short without the items that you need.
- Our services are all sustainable, with efficient solutions such as electric cars and modern machines.
To find out more about our dry cleaning services, click here.
