Great 'slash the cost of dry-cleaning' Hunt

Judith_Proctor

If it says dry clean only, then I don't buy it. The only exceptions to this rule are clothes that I buy from charity shops. I always try them in the washing machine, because if I only paid a few pounds in the first place, it doesn't matter if they go wrong in the machine.

Seakay

SunnyBrighton wrote:

Thanks for the info about revive .. I hadn't even heard of it! Several years ago, there were a couple of brands of dry cleaning sheets for the tumbler - they were absolutely brilliant and I didn't use the dry cleaners for about 18 months. You used a corner of the dampish sheet to rub out any stains, then popped it all into the tumbler in a special velcro-ed plastic bag. Absolutely brilliant. If this is similar, I'm a happy bunny!!

Found these reviews from 2000

http://www.ciao.co.uk/Persil_Revive__5095721

kay41_2

I rarely buy clothes that say dry clean only because the cost really annoys me. I use the 4 garments for £12 at Morrisons, but usually struggle to find 4 garments that need cleaning. My daughter was a bridesmaid last year and I took her dress in to be cleaned and Morrisons advised me to handwash it (it has a red wine stain on it -honestly - she's only 5!) and it came up beautifully after being covered in grass stains as well and mud at another party. Her cardi which has a feathery collar and was dry clean only too I got cleaned at Johnson's and it came up really well. Anything made out of delicate fabric, or very expensive, or with padding like a suit I would dry clean, otherwise just handwash it carefully with delicate handwash.

dlb

I machine wash all of my dry clean items on lowest temp wash then air dry, never had a problem yet.
Infact i just sold a dry clean only coat on ebay that i had machine washed and buyer emailed me to say what great condition it was in for the price.
Just shows you, does it really need dry cleaning???

lil_me

I remember the last suit we bought for DP (was very expensive) the guy who was the manager of the shop said get the jacket dry cleaned but don't bother with the trousers, just wash at low temp (stated dry clean only)

highguyuk

lil_me wrote:

I remember the last suit we bought for DP (was very expensive) the guy who was the manager of the shop said get the jacket dry cleaned but don't bother with the trousers, just wash at low temp (stated dry clean only)

Now, this is true most of the time. Suits need to be dry cleaned because of the jacket, not the trousers.

However. If you continually wash the trousers and dry clean the jacket, eventually a noticeable colour different will occur between the two because of the two different way of cleaning. Over time, it will look like two separates as opposed to a suit.

Therefore, you should clean both together in the same way so that they fade in the same way.

HTH.

highguyuk

lil_me wrote:

The cheapest firm locally for me advertise on a little poster in the local Post Office, small firm who collect, they do my friends who has managed to get a discount for being a regular customer (not usually possible with a larger firm)

It is possible.

Dry Cleaners want the machines to be full. It costs them the same X amount for chemicals etc for a half empty machine or a full machine.

If you take a large amount of items on a regular basis, I would be VERY surprised if they didn't accept some haggling.

This is why companies have Dry Cleaning Discount Voucher Schemes. Sketchleys received less per item than a regular customer, but volume of clothing was kept up. It's better to have an extra £1 in the till ...

highguyuk

LizD wrote:

If you want a wedding dress cleaned, don't tell them it is one and you may get away with just paying the price for a normal evening dress, especially if it's not a white one.

Completely agree.

We priced the dry cleaning of our wedding dresses based on the value of the dress. Therefore, if you were to say your wedding dress was cheaper than it actually was, you may also receive a reduction.

However, the negative side to this is if something goes wrong. Things do happen from time to time, and if you need to claim, you will have to claim for a lower amount.

anskills

highguyuk wrote:

I used to work for Sketchleys Dry Cleaners - before they were taken over and mass shut down of stores happened.

If anyone wants to ask anything specific regarding Dry Cleaning, feel free to post in this thread and I will try and answer any questions you have!

hi, whats the best way to clean silk ties? i have a few that are not expensive, but i do like them. i was considering rolling them up in a towel, tying it up closed, then putting them in the washing machine at the lowest temp delicates programme then on the gentlest spin. should this be ok?

i was going to hand wash them but it might be a bit too much effort for the relative inexpense of the ties. if i did decide to hand wash them, what should i use?

thanks in advance!

carinska

i wouldn't put your wedding dress into a non-specialist dry cleaner if it has beading - they can melt! but if it's plain I'm sure it would be ok.