Dry clean only?

purpleivy

I have to say, that one advantage of dry clean for black (particularly cotton/linen type )trousers that need attention regularly, is that they do maintain their colour better, black can fade very badly with regular washing. On the other hand, the money saved on Dryclean could pay for a new pair of trousers!

Peartree

Welsh_Money_Saver wrote: »

Hi

Thanks for the advice Peartree, they are lined with cream fabric, I was worried about the red running but now I'm worried about puckering.

That advice came from bitter experience!

I remember that years ago launderettes used to have big coin operated dry cleaning machines that you could use yourself. My Mum would take all our winter coats, curtains, old fashioned quilts and so on. I remember the smell when it all came home and was hung up to air in the garage.

We were wondering recently if there are any still around. Does anyone know? Not that you see many launderettes these days!

gravitytolls

One other idea, do you or anyone you know have a steamer with a small head attachment? I know charity shops use steamers to clean and refresh donated and stored items. I guess on stains a small amount of gentle soap could be rubbed on first?

jillymit

I’ve just received a dress purchased from eBay. Unfortunately it obviously hasn’t been dry cleaned by the previous owner.:mad:
I was wondering if I could wash it, does anyone have any advice how to do this, if it would be worth the risk, what do you think?
It does specify dry clean only it’s a kind of velvety finish, 85% viscose and 15% silk.
I really would like to avoid having to pay to have it dry cleaned as this makes my bargain not so much of a bargain IYSWIM.
Thank you.

MaximumImpact

My Wedding dress was dry clean only...I stuck it in the washing machine on a handwash and it was fine......that was italian silk and taffeta....maybe someone with experience will be along soon...(my advice was through someone who used to make wedding dresses and always washed the ones she made in a washing machine!!)

Crabman

Hi jillymit, I've moved this to the "Old Style" Board, you may find this thread useful

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

lazy_daisy

This sounds familiar to me. I recently bought a lovely black velvety cocktail dress from a charity shop that is 82% viscose and 18% silk. I washed it in cool water and rinsed it fairly quickly so it wasn't wet for too long then spun it in the washing machine and dried it on the line and it was fine! It barely even needed ironing. I'd give it a go as long as it wasn't very expensive or is your very, very favourite dress!
It sounds like it might be worth some negative e-bay feedback on this seller - selling dirty clothes -Yuk!!

redmel1621

Hi jillymit

I used to have to wear suits for work, back in the days when there where barely any machine washable ones. I always used to wash all my dry clean ones in the machine at home, on a delicate wool wash....they were fine.

You just need to decide if you want to risk it or not??

Mel x

Badger_Lady

I've got a weakness for beautiful clothes and I'm always buying "dry clean only" items... there are some I will risk and some I won't - usually depending on how much I paid for them!

I have a beautiful wool Kookai skirt suit that I paid £165 for and it's just for interviews / big meetings, so it always has to look sharp and professional - I would only ever dry clean that.

However, my linen dress suit, my Karen Milen shirt and my full-length silk skirt (from charity shops / eBay) will go on a cool wash in the machine.

Silk dresses from Monsoon (sales!) will often be hand-washed in cool water, and then left to hang over the bath with the window open for 24 hours - I don't like to risk machine-washing those, but can't see a hand rinse going down too badly

So I guess it's up to you to make a call! How valuable is the item, how gutted would you be if it went a bit wrong, and how likely is it to go wrong?

Patchwork_Quilt

I would agree with all the above. I often wash 'dry clean' dresses on the cold-only delicate wash of my machine, then dry on a clothes hanger on the curtain rail over the bedroom radiator.