Dry Cleaning - dress came back with brown marks

kentgirl_2

My daughter bought a £105 dress from the Canterbury branch of Jack Wills last May. After wearing it twice I checked the dress for washing instructions and was amazed to find no washing/care label. I phoned Jack Wills and they confirmed that the dress should be dry cleaned.

I took the dress into my local post office which is an Agent for dry cleaning. There was not a single mark on the dress prior to being cleaned and it was in excellent condition. I collected it a week later and left it hanging up in her wardrobe still in the plastic cover.

This week she asked if she could sell it on Ebay. As I was about to list it I noticed brown marks on the dress and also pin marks. I returned it back to the post office and they returned it back to the cleaners.

When I collected it having been cleaned for a second time, I noticed that although the brown marks aren't as bad, they are still there. The cleaners claim sometimes there can be a reaction to dried perspiration. I have also noticed that near these marks the material (silk) has started to perish.

Yesterday I took the dress to another dry cleaners for their opinion. They said that the original cleaners should have warned that all cleaning is done at the risk of the customer. He also said that they shouldn't have gone ahead and cleaned the dress without a washing label being on the item and felt that both the original dry cleaners and Jack Wills were equally at fault.

As my daughter spent all her wages and Christmas tips from her paper round on this dress she is really upset that she cannot now try and sell it.

Has anyone got any sensible advise on this.

halibut2209

When did you pick up the dress after being cleaned, and when did you notice the marks?

kentgirl_2

As I have never had problems with dry cleaning before (not that I dry clean very often), I didn't check the dress until this week which is approximately 3 months after being cleaned. I just left it hanging up in it's plastic wrapper knowing it would stay clean until my daughter wanted to wear it next.

I think a legal expert will tell me that I should have checked it as soon as I collected it but would have hoped the cleaners would have also notified me of the problem.

vikingaero

I have this problem on a lot of my polo shirts and t-shirts and have been told that it's often the antiperspirant/deodorant reacting to the washing powder/liquid/capsules.

kentgirl_2

None of our non dry cleaning washing has reacted and I'm one of those who stays loyal to whichever make of soap powder is on offer at the time.

By the way, thank you to both of you for replying on a Sunday.