It's been about two weeks since the last dry cleaning business shuttered. Your winter’s-end sweater pile is gathering dust in the corner of your bedroom. A few silk shirts have been rescued from the laundry tote and hung back in the cupboard...you think that maybe you can squeeze some more wears out of them. The faux fur comforter, on the other hand, could really really use a professional clean right now. All seems lost, but really, it isn't.
I’ve spent the last year or so on a bit of a mission to live cleaner. I started by keeping reusable water bottles and coffee mugs at the ready in my bag. I then switched to buying fewer clothes and buying many second-hand; began composting; and started walking wherever I could, weather permitting.
I’ve also cut down, considerably, my dependence on dry cleaning.
For a couple of reasons. One, a weekly dry-cleaning schedule was becoming an incredible sinkhole for my money. And then, there’s the impact of it on the environment. As I have learnt, most dry cleaning is not even actually dry; the clothes get wet, and just not with water, but with perchloroethylene, or perc, and other chemicals that undesirably get into our waterways (and stick to our clothes).
And then, there’s all that plastic our dry-cleaned clothes return in.
I decided something needed to change, so I began washing more efficiently and switched to a more natural detergent (there’s a spectrum), but I could not, as much as I looked, find a credible “eco-friendly” dry-cleaner near me. That’s when it hit me: Perhaps dry cleaning could never really be eco-friendly, unless done at home.
The truth is, I haven’t been able to completely divorce dry cleaning. There are still some clothes I don’t trust myself to wash, and some stains no amount of DIY hacking could remove (blame some riotous weddings!). But I will say this: chances are you can home-clean more of your wardrobe than you think.
Here are some of the things I’ve learned along the way, using much of what I already had at home and in the pantry. I've also added in some stellar tips from you, our community. Turns out you have been at it for far, far longer than I ever have, so thank you.
1. Spot clean that stain.
Often, I’d find myself sending clothes to the cleaners because of an annoying stain, but if you spot one and attack it immediately, chances are you won’t need to. While there are tips for specific stains, my general advice is to enlist your pantry! A paste of baking soda and water is a great way to pre-treat stains on clothes before you wash it off—especially with cotton and cotton mixes. With wool, try blotting the stain with club soda,using an absorbent cloth. You can also wet the stain with cold water, then dab rubbing alcohol, using a cotton ball, on the area.
2. Sweaters and mesh bags are a dream team
“The trick to washing things that you think are dry clean-only, like sweaters, is putting them in a mesh bag,” says laundry evangelist Patrick Richardson (yes, that’s a thing!) in this tutorial. Mesh bags are your savior, he explains, because they reduce abrasion. The other important thing is to wash them on an express cycle, so they’re not tumbling for as long. I hand-wash most of my sweaters with a very mild detergent, and then gently press the water out of it with my hands or against the sink (no wringing). I then roll my sweater in a dry towel to absorb excess water, a trick I learned here.
3. ...as are silks and mesh bags
Garments made of natural fibers like silk and linen can be washed by hand or in a cold express cycle (again, fold and slip them into a mesh bag: the less they dance about, the better). Before washing any deep colors, test for colorfastness by wetting a small, inconspicuous area of the item (I learned this lesson the hard way). If the color bleeds, it's probably best to take it to a dry cleaner.
4. The versatility of vinegar
You can also treat silk clothes by soaking them in a bucket full of diluted vinegar for 30 minutes to neutralize and eliminate odors (vinegar is also said to restore sheen, so yay!). Soak them in plain, cold water after, and let them air-dry.
5. Invest in a good quality steamer
Steaming your clothes saves energy and freshens clothes, extending time between dry cleaning. I put this off for a while, before finally jumping in, and buying one. As Jan Blare, a community member who washes all her wool sweaters at home, says: "A steamer will even remove small stains from wool." (A hairdryer, she adds, will also do the trick.)
6. Use up your cheap vodka
If something just doesn’t smell as fresh as it should, another reason why we tend to rush things to the cleaners, you can spray it with a bit of vodka—which has no scent when it dries—from a spray bottle. It’s a great trick for when you come back from a restaurant and your clothes are smelling of whatever it is that you just ate.
7. You can wash wool! Yes, you can!
In winter, coats can become a big dry-cleaning expense. This year I’m going to challenge that. I’m going to wash my puffer jackets and parkas on a delicate cycle, in cool to lukewarm water, and then air-dry them. Wool coats can be a bit more daunting, but I just found this step-by-step tutorial, and I plan to test it on a pea coat this weekend (wish me luck!).
8. Use your freezer
Okay, so this is a very specific tip. The other day a friend told me she sends her expensive jeans for dry cleaning. (She asked me not to judge her, so neither should you.) But I did have this trick for her: the jeans-in-the-freezer hack—a ballet dancer I know swears by it to snag extra wears for her sweaty leotards. The same trick can be used to “clean” jeans between uses. It’s simple science really: freezing temperatures kill bacteria that causes stale smells.
Finally, those plastic wrappers. Many months ago, I tried giving my cleaners a reusable garment bag for all my clothes to go into; but found out that all they did was take off the plastic wrapping before I picked them up, and then put them into my bag! In some cities, dry-cleaning bags can be recycled, via special collection centers, with other types of classified “film”, including bread bags. Just make sure you understand the guidelines set by your local recycling program.
If all else fails, there’s creative reuse. Carefully take the wrappers off your clothing (recycle any paper that’s attached), knot the hanger-end to seal the slit, and reuse these as trash bags for recyclables (thereby avoiding buying those as much). I’ve tried mine with glass recyclables, and they held up. And oh, don’t forget to return those hangers to your cleaners.
- "Puffer jackets with down can be washed with cold and thrown right in the dryer with a tennis ball. In fact, I have heard that the dryer can help fluff up the down after it gets wet. Just throw a tennis ball in the dryer with them."
-Kelli Anderson
- "I became an expert on body odor after becoming “Robe Mother” for an extremely large church choir that wore decades-old cassocks (the black under-part, think Westminster Abbey) made of ancient British wool, sweaty from many Sundays over the decades. I began washing them in cold water, on a gentle cycle. But before washing, I'd douse the problem areas of the smelliest ones with Tea Tree Oil, then wash (cold, gentle, line dry). The results were amazing and well worth a try on any beloved clothing with ancient body odor."
—J
- "I wash all our family’s down comforters: a small amount of mild shampoo, a double rinse, then into the dryer with wool dryer balls, usually on low heat."
—Melissa Bradley Diskin
- "To clean (expensive) silk scarves, I use baby shampoo in a 50-50 ratio with water to spot clean, then submerge it in the same water, swirl it around, rinse three times, roll in a towel, square off and let it dry. Then, all it needs is a quick press with iron—perfect! And its lovely rolled hems are still intact, unlike from the dry cleaner."
—2tattered
- "...May I add that you wash a spot first. The only scarves that I have found that may bleed are red ones...but I do believe salt stops that, or vinegar in the water..."
—Ellyn Amron Austin
- "Inspired by this article, I put my faux fur blanket in the machine—delicate wash, cold water. No water damage at all. I allowed it to hang dry, and it was perfect. I did put it back in the dryer, on the de-wrinkle setting, just to see if I could make it a bit softer. Came out perfectly! I think just a refresh cycle, on low or no heat, would work the same." —Susan Halliday
Are you trying to cut back on dry cleaning? Tell us how in the comments!
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72 Comments
If it is actually dirty, a one-off dryclean (at a place that uses low-impact methods) followed by home maintenance such as spot-cleaning and a steamer may be all it needs.
Lining may shrink, particularly in garments never intended to be washed. If you have the skills to replace the lining, this may be an acceptable option, although sometimes steaming the lining (put the coat inside out) may relax some linings to return to their original size. I have a skirt that did this, and one day I'll rip out the lining and start again...
Some wool fabric shrinks more than others - wool crepe loves shrinking, and will continue to shrink until it is close to boiled wool. Worsted wool - like a man's suit - in my experience doesn't shrink at all. Brushed wools can shrink a bit, depending on how they were treated before manufacture. If it isn't 100% natural fibre, it's also more likely to be OK.
Other tailoring bits and bobs may not be intended to be washed - some fused interfacing bubbles when washed, although sometimes you can pull it off, but don't count on that. Try and look inside the garment to see what is going on.
More informal coats and jackets are usually OK to hand wash, but NEVER put in a washing machine or tumble dryer! Wool absorbs up to 30% of its weight in water before feeling wet, so lay flat to dry so it doesn't sag and pull out of shape. Rolling up in a few towels and pressing out by hand as much water as possible helps this process.
If it is a really expensive coat, you cannot wash it, as it will probably have been shaped with an iron - tailors steam, stretch and shrink areas in addition to seams and darts to shape garments. Washing will destroy all that beautiful work. That needs to be spot cleaned and steamed lightly to refresh (garment steaming isn't the same as a tailor steaming using an iron).
Happy to answer any more questions.
I hand wash trousers and skirts made from worsted wool - but as I sew most of my own clothes, I have leftover fabric that I can test to see if there are any changes. Don't use hot water, as that may cause shrinkage and a change in the texture of the fabric. Do not wash wool crepe - because it WILL shrink, and it will shrink for the next few washes (this is both from experience, and because of the way the yarn is spun).
Jackets and coats may be able to be washed - again, a hard worsted wool will usually be OK if hand washed gently, but hot water may cause iron-on interfacing to bubble, which is irreversible (and horrible). Brushed wool such as flannel may shrink, although if it's a blend it may be OK. Again, agitation is how felt is made.
More expensive jackets and coats use woven horsehair canvas, which should not be washed, and the final shaping is often done using an iron - if you wash it, the jacket will lose that shape, and even a tailor may not be able to fix that.
A good wool suit should not need to be cleaned more than a couple of times a year - after each wear, it should be brushed and steamed using a garment steamer, and aired overnight before putting it away. Buy a proper steamer that sits on the floor - similar to the ones used in shops - you'll be surprised how many things improve after a steam. I use mine far more than I use an iron, and it's far easier on my clothes, particularly knits.
To test colorfastness, wet a white cloth or paper towel and set it on an inconspicuous portion of the garment (preferably with some of all the colors in the print, but if not, red is the most likely to bleed). Leave it for maybe 5-10 minutes. If there's color on the towel, dry clean it because it's totally going to bleed.
Salt or vinegar will work to set the dyes sometimes, but it might not work quickly enough, and that's also not the only reason prints bleed, so if the item is something you don't want to lose, dry clean. If it's not visibly dirty, the vodka trick will work to get smells out.
When I became a home sewer in my 30s, I learned that only garments made of more than one fiber, say a wool jacket with a silk, acetate, viscose or nylon lining and then a bit of goat hair interfacing should be dry cleaned. However, most silk is better off hand washed. After all, the Yellow Emperor never saw a dry cleaner but wore some of the world's first silk.
I've had three Irish cardigans in the years between 17 and 70. I've always washed mine. They stayed nice and white while the sweaters that were sent to the cleaners by other women turned yellow.
Ring around the collar, pit stains, cuff stains on cotton shirts all come out if boiled in a soup pot with 2 tbsp. Of powdered dishwasher soap. Sunlight is my fave. This will be the most disgusting and satisfying laundry thing you will ever do and will revive the grungiest shirt around. Throw it in a regular wash afterwards.
I *am* judging her, and we *should* judge her. Americans already use more energy per capita, and create more garbage per capita, than anyone in the world -- that includes our peers in developed nations with great standards of living. The idea that someone can't do without dry-cleaning in *addition* to all of the chemical damage we do is deeply distressing.
That anyone, in this day and age, would buy garments that need to be dry-cleaned is deeply distressing -- there's no shortage of wonderful, beautiful clothing that doesn't need dry-cleaning. And the idea that you (AU) haven't pushed yourself to go a year without buying clothes is also deeply distressing. (I bought two shirts in 2019 bc I've gained weight; before that, I last bought clothes in 2008. It's not a hardship.)
When are people going to GET it? We are in a climate crisis! The steps you (AU) took in the past year are great, but they're not enough. I can't understand why humans aren't getting this: Either make moderate but consistent changes now, or be faced with radical, govt-imposed changes in 10 years and beyond, and get ready for massive economic disruption, climate-refugee migration, and war.
Everyone: If your physician told you that continuing to eat sugar would exacerbate your diabetes and require the amputation of your legs, would you keep eating sugar? Please take this seriously! Bar soap, no plastic, 64F in the winter and 76F in the summer, stop shopping, stop making garbage other than Q-tips and food scraps. Remember that everything you buy requires climate-damaging energy for its production and transport, and that the cheap stuff you buy = slave labor somewhere.
Read Bill McKibben and George Monbiot. Please see the true and entire cost of everything you buy and do.
buying curtains for the windows doesn't help. That’s a reality quote, written by reality. Read that.
I didn't have a dryer for years and just fluffed things by shaking them. I never use fabric softener, either.
If your (US) neighborhood, town, condo association, HOA 🤮, especially for-profit HOA 🤢🤮, etc, claims you can't use a clothesline find out if you're in a Right to Dry state. If you are, the state law supersedes the rest and nobody can prevent you from using a clothesline.
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