Taking the proper care of your clothes can be downright confusing at times. Even if you pay attention to the instructions on the tags, it isn’t difficult to still find yourself in situations where you find one of your favourite pieces of clothing ruined.
Luckily, Stony Dry Cleaners are here to help bring a little clarity to your dry cleaning conundrums. Here is a quick list of 5 Delicate Items You Should Always Bring to a Professional Cleaner if you want to ensure they stay properly cleaned and maintained without risking damage and unnecessary stress.
Suits and dresses
Hand washing your suits and dresses can be a very involved process and throwing them in your washer and dryer can cause troublesome wrinkles and stretch. Don’t risk losing your favourite clothing’s dapperness. Professional dry cleaners can ensure that your outfits are clean, crisp, and wrinkle-free for those occasions when you need to be looking your absolute best.
Anything that’s embellished
Because embellishments such as sequins, embroidery, rhinestones, beads, and metal studs are often hand-stitched to clothing or simply hanging by a thread, putting them through a wash cycle will likely end in disaster, causing them to come loose, come undone, or completely fall off. A professional dry cleaner can get these items cleaned and protect the decorative embellishments that make them so unique!
Clothing with pleats
There’s no doubt about it: without proper care, pleats can be very difficult to maintain. Tossing these items in the wash is a sure-fire way to lose those folds. Drop them off at the cleaners instead. They for sure know how to handle the proper cleaning without compromising the quality of the pleats.
Furs
Although wearing animal fur is a subject of fierce debate, any fur that has skin on the underside should not be washed at home since the skin will shrink and dry out when exposed to water. Additionally, vintage furs like mink coats or fox stoles are very delicate and can become dry and brittle, and therefore should be handled by a professional only.
Fragile or synthetic materials
Unlike with synthetics where the interior is a mix of lots of materials here it’s a bit different. Linen, cotton, and other more durable fabrics and materials can withstand the heat and punishment of the tumbling and tossing of the washer and dryer and come out the other side holding their shape, colour, and texture. Other materials like silk, velvet, wool, rayon, chiffon, or acetate are more fragile and need the delicate touch of a dry cleaner to get them cleaned without ruining them.
Be sure you take any of these items to a dry cleaner to make sure they get the best care. Many of these items can lose their lustre and textures, get stretched in a washing machine, or shrink significantly in a dryer, even if you are extra careful. If you are not sure whether something in your home closet needs to be taken to a dry cleaner, contact our friends to help you figure out how to get your items the cleaning and care they need.
