For every bride, their wedding gown is a sweet trip down memory lane. But when once worn in your marriage, it must be cleaned and kept in your wardrobe, especially if someone else is willing to wear it again in a walk through the aisle. With the matter of preservation, does dry cleaning shrink clothes is a question commonly seen with newlyweds.
When it comes to wedding dresses, party attire, or some expensive fabric made that can be torn in a washing machine round, we can see that the method of cleaning is the dry-cleaning process. Here water is replaced with a liquid that is specialized as a dry clean agent.
Perchloroethylene, also known as Tetrachloroethylene (PERC), is the most popular among these solvents in the industry. Synthetic petroleum, and green earth, also known as siloxane and liquid carbon dioxide, are some other agents used in dry cleaning. Some solvents may contain a little bit of water percentage, but there are completely non-watery products too.
The history of dry cleaning goes back to the latter part of the 1930s. The process was famous then as a lack of fuel during the second world war.
Does Dry Cleaning Shrink Clothes?
Dry cleaning uses a solvent to soak the dresses. Here, the uniqueness is that the used solvent goes through the fabric in a very gentle manner. This method is ideal for removing stains, oil, or grease patches from your clothing.
Most wedding dresses are made up of lace, satin, chiffon, organza etc. These fabric types cannot be washed in a washing machine with water without preserving their quality and true nature because they can be damaged easily.
Does dry cleaning shrink clothes comes with a positive answer that will let you breathe a sigh of relief. Dry cleaning does not shrink clothes, fade, tear or change the shape of your valuable fabrics.
This method ideally fits with the cleaning of natural fibre-made clothes too. Some dresses have a specially added sign as “dry clean only” on their labels to maintain the bought quality for a longer period.
The machine used in dry cleaning is similar to a washing machine operating in your household. But it would help if you never tried to dry clean address at home with a usual washing machine and detergents. When you hand over for the dry cleaning process, the return must not come along with any smell of solvent used because a properly done process excludes all the liquid used without letting those remain in the clothing.
If your belongings smell like the solvent used after a dry-cleaning round, then we could say that the process has not been done in the recommended manner. If it is so, then it is time to look for a better service provider for your dry cleaning needs.
What is the Process of Dry Cleaning?
- First of all, in a dry-cleaning service, your clothes are labelled to identify after the cleaning as the laundry is a mix of clothes of different people in neighbouring areas.
- Next comes the checking for left items in pockets, any attached items, missing items and damages that are already present in the cloth heaps.
- If they find any stains while searching, a previous dry-clean step is done on the patches.
- In the cleaning machine, clothes are washed with the liquids we mentioned above. After the first wash again, the cloths are rinsed with the liquid to make sure that all the stain is out of the fabric.
- Then the washed load is taken out and pressed before the handover. The service will return your dresses covered by a plastic cover. You should make sure to uncover it as it may cause humidity inside and ruin your belongings.
What are the Risks in Dry Cleaning?
There are some issues that occur if the service provider does not maintain the dry-cleaning machines properly. Let’s look into those now.
Less percent of water will sometimes need for the better performance of the cleaning solvents used in dry cleaning. But it is the cleaner’s duty and responsibility to use the required amount so as not to exceed the recommended percentage.
Here if excess water is added, the clothing items will face a shrinkage. There is a specially designed part called a water separator in dry cleaning machines. This avoids excess water levels during the cleaning. If this part is broken or malfunctioning, there is a probability of shrinking the clothes inside.
The chiller in a dry-cleaning machine prevents the overheating of the solvent. If this does not work properly, water is not appropriately recirculated, absorbing the heat. In such a case, the shrinking of clothes could be seen.
If you accidentally add a dress in which the fabric is not dry clean safe, then there is a likelihood of shrinking taking place in that particular item. Therefore, you must thoroughly check your belongings before handing those over to a dry-cleaning service. Fabrics like polyester, nylon, windproof and waterproof garments contain plastic, PVC, or polyurethane. Such dresses or fabrics are not suitable to undergo a dry cleaning.
Note: You can always add a request to your dry-cleaning service agent to handle with care if the fabric has special conditions. This kind of pre-instruction will give you a better service with no disappointment.
Can All Clothes Be Dry Cleaned?
We have discussed in this article that garments made up of (or with compositions) plastic, PVC or polyurethane is considered not to be dry cleaned. This is because it will cause changes in the quality and the structure of such fabrics, and shrinking could take place.
Can a Washing Machine Do Dry Cleaning?
Unfortunately, typical washing machines are not designed to perform dry-cleaning duties. Also, using water, you must avoid washing “dry clean only” clothes in a washing machine.
As a Whole
Dry cleaning is a way to maintain the quality of a dress for a considerable period. But some fabrics are not dry-cleaned friendly.
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