dry clean only...............

paula7924

how often are dry clean only clothes not REALLY dry clean only?

I've bought some Coast trousers off of ebay and i would like to give them a 30 degree 30 minute wash but i'm scared they'll be ruined. Most stuff from coast says d.c.o. so I wonder whether they put that on as a matter of course and i can ignore it

Can anyone give me some basic guidelines please

Amanita_2

What fabric are they?
Are they lined?
Any fancy trims etc?

paula7924

one pair is 58% wool, 39% viscose, 3% elastane, 100% acrylic lining
the other is 71% triacetate, 29% polyester, 100% acrylic lining
neither has any fancy trim or anything, or really feel any different to my M&S ones I wash.
I guess it's only the wool ones I'm worried about as they are on the snug side anyway and I can't afford them to shrink very much at all

laurad85

I bought a dress from Karen Millen and the dry cleaners wouldnt touch it, despite is saying dry clean only. They said hand was it in walk water and hang in the bathroom to dry, it worked great!

Valentina2

Hi,
I have washed several dry-clean only items of clothing and they have been fine. If your washing machine has a wool cycle, I´d use that and when you take the trousers out of the machine, re-shape them (i.e. make sure seams straight etc, perhaps stretch the material slightly if necessary) before hanging them out to dry.

Amanita_2

paula7924 wrote: »

one pair is 58% wool, 39% viscose, 3% elastane, 100% acrylic lining
the other is 71% triacetate, 29% polyester, 100% acrylic lining
neither has any fancy trim or anything, or really feel any different to my M&S ones I wash.
I guess it's only the wool ones I'm worried about as they are on the snug side anyway and I can't afford them to shrink very much at all

OK - follow below at your own risk! This is my opinion and what I would do!

I do wash a lot of d.c.o clothes very successfully but I have had one or two disasters - mainly with very obviously d.c.o items that were stained and the d.c didn't remove the stain. They get washed on the "nothing to lose" principle and I have had some pleasant surprises.

Part of the problem with washing clothes made of different fabrics and fibres is that you can find that one shrinks whilst the other doesn't which ruins the item.

Even fabrics that are technically washable can have special finishes applied to them which will wash out so should be dry cleaned. This may make the item crease more badly etc.

Personally I wouldn't risk washing the wool blend trousers - if you do want to risk it then hand wash gently the first time rather than machine wash. If they are OK then you can make a judgement call as to whether you want to risk a very gentle machine wash.

I would probably risk washing the triacetate pair.

claireac

I have machine washed a couple of dco items recently.

Firstly a cream coat that I have. I know it was a daft colour to buy, but I love it. However I've spent more money than it cost having it dc and they couldn't get it spotless. So I gave it a go on a wool wash, reshaped immediately and dried flat - perfect!!

The other item was........my wedding dress! In a duvet cover on a 30 wash and it's spotless and totally undamaged :T:T.

suki1964

I find that skirts etc that are lined are safest DCO as often the main material will shring and the lining wont.

A good money saving tip is if you have a steam generator iron, is to hang up and steam the item vertically and leave to air. I do this with a lot of jackets and skirts - refreshes them and then just dry clean when obviously marked

jenniewb

Generally if the fabric is made from wool or silk or similar, most machines now a days have wash cycles for that. But not all. Some machines have a hand-wash function, but not all. I do winder if most clothing which reads "hand wash only" can infact be washed in a machine under one of the above functions and stores put these labels on the clothes to cover themselves from dye run/cloth shrinkage problems.

The only things I'd take to a dry cleaner are thick woollen coats -I'd worry about how to dry them fast enough and they are fairly cheap to dry-clean (£5-£10), duvets (machine not big enough). Everything else I'd wash at a reduced speed, cold wash in a machine. I have yet to have had a problem besides dirt not coming off (or 30 degrees shrinking my cashmere scarves slightly)

General rule of thumb for mixed fabrics is to wash by the rules for the most delicate fabric in the mix, ie fine wool needs to be washed cold, silk can be at 30 cotton at 40 plus. So wash item cold.

lou49

Hi there. The following is from an article in the Sunday Times which was an extract from India Knight's book, called 'Thrift'. I kept it and stuck it on my fridge and bought the Lakeland kit (but haven't used it yet!)

"Here’s what I think: dry-cleaning is mostly a myth, and an exorbitant myth at that. Clothing manufacturers have to protect themselves against shrinkage, which is why they stick “dry clean” labels in everything, willy-nilly, but the truth of the matter is, you can wash nearly everything by hand. I was sceptical about this when I was first told, by a friend with a dazzling wardrobe and a serious thrifty streak, but it turns out to be true. Here’s the information: anything that has a label saying “dry clean” can be washed by hand. Anything that has a label saying “dry clean ONLY” can probably still be washed by hand, but approach with caution (see ktcampbell.com/domesticity/hand_wash.html).
The easy method and the one to use on anything you’re especially anxious about: go to the brilliant Lakeland (lakeland.co.uk), and spend £8.99 on their Hagerty Dry Cleaner Kit. This marvel will turn your tumble dryer into a dry-cleaning machine (which is really what a professional dry-cleaning machine is — a huge dryer plus some chemicals) and clean up to 16 items. Use without fear — it’s brilliant and it works, even on big things such as coats, for 56p a pop"

HTH!