Dry clean only?

pebbles88

i had one experience with dry cleaning... a pair of velvet embossed trousers many moons ago, they went to the cleaners black...came back black with white embossing.... quick wash in the machine and they were smashing again!!, i just use a hand wash program or no spin program, its worth getting the wool/silk detergent as they do help. but nothing has ever come out ruined!

HTH xx

blackwidowz

Hii i have a suede jacket which needs cleaning.. yhey gave me a price more than the jacket cost. is there any other way to clean it
cheers

elf06

I got a silk top on ebay a while back and its lable says it can be washed:rotfl:

madame_cholet

I don't bother with dry cleaning either, and I've washed suede successfully in the machine too. I had a suede shirt that had got filthy and (as you say) it costs more to have an item dry cleaned than it cost in the first place! I washed it in the machine on a cool, quick wash and hung it on the line on a hanger to drip dry. My quick wash has quite a slow spin, so it was pretty wet when it came out. Also, make sure you don't wash anything else as the colour of my shirt ran horribly (it was dark green).
Once it dried, which took quite some time, the shirt was a bit crispy but a brisk shake soon sorted that.
I used to work with someone back in the 80's when leather skirts were all the rage, and she always washed hers in the machine too.

debtdesperado

It's generally not the fabric, it's the lining that might be the problem - if it is acetate, it usually shrinks when you wash it. There is also another type of lining which always shrinks as well but I can't remember the name. You could always just wash it and then get the lining replaced if necessary? I guess it depends how much you love your dress and are happy to gamble!

If the dress is pure silk, it should be fine to wash, but use cold water and don't dry it near heat.

I sometimes use sweat pads (google it) as i find that deodorant tends to be the thing which makes clothing smell stale, to get an extra wear or two out of dresses before they need dry cleaning, and then I just air them/perhaps febreze/steam them/iron them as necessary.

Savannah02K

I used to have a friend who worked at Edinburgh Woolen Mills in ye olde days and asked her what she did about dry cleaning the then kilt uniform. She said all the girls did the same, turn inside out, hang securely onto a clothes hanger and put that on the line, as you say, all stuff usually needs is a freshen up. Any small stains I spot treat with Vanish, dampen with a wet cloth and hang out per above.

BitterAndTwisted

Yep, and small stains on wool items can be treated with a little ammonia and then aired.

To be honest, if a silk item has only been worn once and the weather or where you wore it wasn't boiling hot it won't really need to be laundered after every single wear. A good airing and a press will usually suffice. I never, ever have silk items dry-cleaned I always just gently rinse them through by hand in cold water or in a pinch on a wool-cycle in unheated water in the washing-machine.

The only dry-clean item I have ever ruined by hand-washing was a dress in mixed-fibres and I knew I was taking a chance when I washed it.

RLH33

I never dry clean items that say so on the label, most things go in the machine with everything else. However I did buy a very expensive dress in Phase Eight for a wedding last year and as it is made of very fine floaty silk I thought I had better get it dry cleaned as I really didn't want to ruin it. Having no experience of dry cleaning I was shocked that it cost me £20!! Couldn't believe it would be that expensive - it will be very carefully handwashed next time!!

andrealm

I've handwashed or used a delicate cycle for silk and it's been fine. The only thing that's ever gone wrong for me was a blanket with mohair in it, it said dry clean only but I thought it would be OK on a delicate cycle. OH took it out of the machine and I asked if it had come out OK and he said yes,but when I saw it hanging up I thought he'd folded it over,it had shrunk to half its size!

[Deleted User]

I bought a skirt for graduation (tomorrow) have come to wash it, only to see that it is dry clean only!!! Could I put it on a delicate wash instead? Help!