Is It Better to Wash or Dry Clean?
Even if you’re a laundry pro, there are some symbols on clothing labels that most of us don’t understand so we wash our clothes how we think is best. Having your own washing machine has its benefits, for sure, but is it better to wash or dry clean our laundry?
Let’s start with the basics.
What Is Dry Cleaning?
Dry cleaning is a bit of a misnomer as the items being dry cleaned do actually get wet, but it’s meant to refer to cleaning clothes without the use of water. Dry cleaning instead uses liquid solvents, like perchloroethylene, to dissolve the dirt on clothing and evaporate before it sets into the fabric, rather than soaking it in water and chemicals like a washing machine.
That’s why we tend to think of only taking expensive or delicate clothing items to the dry cleaners, as the process is more delicate with the material, however, almost all clothing can benefit from being dry cleaned.
Benefits of Dry Cleaning
Getting your clothing dry-cleaned isn’t just beneficial because someone else is doing it for you, no. Dry cleaning has plenty of benefits, from removing tough stains gently, to effectively cleaning large items.
Gentle with Material
Whereas washing clothes in water and washing detergent loosens the fabric and causes faster wear and tear and even holes to appear, the chemicals used in dry cleaning remove the dirt and microbes from the material without affecting its structure. So, dry cleaning can effectively remove tough stains like oil, wine and chemicals from the fabric, rather than pushing the offending microbes around in soapy water like a washing machine.
By cleaning your clothes gently, dry cleaning is not just great at handling delicate materials, but it also helps keep your clothes looking fresher, for longer.
That may seem counterintuitive as we’ve all largely been led to believe that frequent washing of clothes, especially denim, will soften the fabric so much that it will wear away. While this may be true of regular washing in a washing machine or hot water, dry cleaning removes the dirt from your clothes that would otherwise damage the clothing fibres, which helps give your wardrobe more life.
Removes Stains and Odours
Most of us at some point in our lives have dribbled wine down the front of a crisp white shirt, dripped olive oil down a silk blouse or simply found a suspiciously bolognese-shaped blob on a top we’ve just taken clean out of the drawer, and they seem impossible to get rid of. But by taking them to a dry cleaner, you’ve got a much higher chance of removing the stain than by washing them yourself.
Strong smells can sometimes be better removed by washing machines, in which case your dry cleaner will advise you on the best way to get your garments smelling fresh, but others can be easily removed through dry cleaning.
Old wives’ tales like vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice may well remove a strong smell or stain, but it will likely only mask it with its own scent, and will highly damage the material in the process.
Regardless of whether the clothing is expensive or delicate or neither, your clothes deserve to be looked after so you can wear them for longer.
Cleans Large Items
It’s not just our clothes that require regular washing to keep them clean and our skin healthy, but we should also be washing our bedding too. Pillows, duvets, sheets and mattress protectors can all benefit from being cleaned, but it’s not easy in a washing machine, nor is it simple to air-dry or tumble-dry them.
Dry cleaners usually have larger machines to fit the items in or specialist equipment, so washing and drying your curtains, sofa covers and thick rugs is a much easier task and will undoubtedly have a better finish.
Materials You Should Dry Clean
The label in your clothing will tell you how it’s best to wash that item, but whether you’ve cut the label out to stop itching, got the item second-hand or made it yourself, there aren’t always clear-cut instructions on how to wash different fabrics.
However, as a general rule, the following materials should always be dry-cleaned:
- Wool
- Cashmere
- Velvet
- Acetate
- Triacetate
- Rayon
- Suede
- Leather
- Silk
- Lace
- Taffeta
Some of these items can be hand washed in cold water, however some, such as wool and rayon, can shrink or lose their shape in water. What’s more, dyeing clothing black is a difficult and expensive process as lots of chemicals are needed to get a deep black colour in the fabric, so as well as being careful with your colourful clothing, you need to carefully wash heavily dyed fabrics, especially black fabrics, so they don’t fade so easily or bleed colours in the wash.
If you’re not sure what’s best for an item, you can always ask an expert dry cleaner and they will be able to advise on the best way to launder that item.
Washing Vs Dry Cleaning
So dry cleaning has a number of fantastic benefits for our clothing and other fabrics, but how does it compare to washing clothes ourselves in a washing machine?
Washing is the most cost-effective option and a convenient alternative to dry cleaning in that the machine is in your home, however, in modern society, we don’t all have the time to complete our household chores as well as our jobs and look after children or pets.
Washing clothing well requires the time to group clothing items in their corresponding colours and materials so they can each be washed according to their specific care needs, but this means washing lots of small bundles of clothes which takes up a great deal of time. The alternative would be to put everything in together on a cool wash, but this risks damaging materials, colours bleeding and shortening the life of your favourite clothes.
The only benefit to washing clothes in a washing machine, besides being able to do it ourselves, is that strong odours are best removed by washing clothes in water. Dry cleaning is effective at removing the microbes that cause discolouration and stains, but it’s less effective at removing the microbes that cause a material to hold on to a strong smell.
Not only would a professional dry cleaning service – not a laundrette – be able to wash your clothes in multiple ways to remove smells, stains and suit specific care instructions to keep your clothes in good shape for longer, but they can also wash larger items that you can’t fit into washing machines.
Sheets, rugs, curtains and duvets all require cleaning from time to time, but fitting a double duvet in a washing machine is no easy feat – it might even break the drum in the machine. That’s why you should hand specialist items over to professional dry cleaners who know the best methods for cleaning each item and fabric so they can get your items spotless in no time.
Are There Down Sides to Dry Cleaning?
There are many people in the UK with sensitive skin, and while most can stop using fabric conditioners or switch their washing powder if it causes irritation, it’s not always known that dry cleaning can also irritate the skin of a very small portion of people.
Some fabrics themselves are filled with harsh chemicals, and washing detergents can be equally harmful to our skin, so it’s important to tell a dry cleaner about any skin conditions you may have in advance so they can advise you on the chemicals they use to avoid causing any flare-ups or irritation.
UK’s Best Dry Cleaners
Love2Laundry is rated the best laundry and dry cleaning service in the UK according to our customers, thanks to our innovative methods of doing your laundry. Download the app, book your slot, have your laundry taken away for you and delivered back to your door in 24 hours. It really is as simple as that!
