6 Things Your Dry Cleaner Won't Tell You

We got the best cleaning experts to air all their dirty laundry. Find out secret ways to save, which clothes you can really just wash yourself, and why organic is the most misleading word in the business.

1) Women Are Charged Substantially More
The automated machinery that most dry cleaners use is made to fit men's clothing only. "Putting in a smaller woman's blouse with all of its ornamentation would make it look like it was run over by a steamroller," says Wayne Edelman, President of Meurice Garment Care in New York City. Also, women's clothing often requires additional work — such as removing all the buttons and embellishments by hand before the cleaning process, according to John Mahdessian, President of Madame Paulette, another renowned dry cleaner in New York City. So that’s why having your stuff cleaned tends to cost you more. But if you're bringing in a standard wool suit without pleats or fancy buttons, you shouldn't be charged more than your boyfriend would for his suit.
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2) Organic Dry Cleaning Isn't Really Green.
There are no government standards for green dry cleaning yet. "Organic is the biggest misnomer in terms of cleaning," says Edelman. Most cleaners who advertise "organic" services use hydrocarbon, an "organic" substance only because it comes from the earth. And hydrocarbon is still considered toxic (and only slightly less so than PERC, short for perchloroethylen, which is used by about 85% of dry cleaners). "The only true organic clean is using water," he says. "But unfortunately not all garments can be cleaned using a water-based process."
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3) Bring Clothes in the Off-Season for the Quickest Turnaround.
The busiest time of year for dry cleaners is April through June, so bring your summer and spring outfits in during January and February — traditionally the slowest months of business. Some dry cleaners may even offer a 20-30% discount to fill the gap for work that they're not getting in that time frame.
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4) Most Clothes Don't Need to Be Dry-Cleaned...
"We advise our clients to wash their cotton, solid color sweaters at home if they have time," says Edelman. He suggests using Johnson's baby shampoo or Woolite in cool water. Once you're done, roll them in a towel to remove excess water, and lay them out on a new towel to finish air drying. If you're unsure if you should wash a shirt yourself, Mahdessian says to wet a q-tip and dab it on an unseen area of your clothing, like under the armpit. If color comes off on the q-tip, bring it to the cleaners.
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5) How You Store Your Clothes Is As Important As How You Wash Them.
Don't keep your clothes in the plastic bags the dry cleaner puts them in. The polyethalene in the plastic begins to break down as soon as it's exposed to light, which causes discoloration on garments, says Edelman. Another way to avoid yellowing is to always clean clothes before putting them in storage: stains that might not be apparent will oxidize and become potentially permanent while hidden away.
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6) Treat Stains Right Away, Even if You're in a Pinch
"The longer a stain goes untreated, the more likely it becomes oxidized and sets into the fabric," says Mahdessian. If you stain your new LBD while out with your friends, put a stain remover on it as soon as you can and then hand wash. If you can't go to the cleaners or do laundry until next week, try pre-treating it with a stain remover (Edelmen recomments Shout Wipes), but don't apply laundry detergent directly on the stain. You can also buy Madame Paulette's professional stain removal kits to keep in your clutch in case of emergencies.