If you have ever done laundry, you’ve probably encountered at least one piece of clothing with the label “Dry Clean Only.” What should you do? Or, maybe you’re that type of person who has a number of wool sweaters for the cold winter season. How do you wash them?Having these articles of clothing dry cleaned is definitely the best and safest method, of course. But what if there’s no dry cleaning available? Or what if you need to wash right away for immediate use? Thankfully, with a little time and effort, you can wash most of your “dry clean” or “dry clean only” clothing at home with some alternative methods. Here’s how:
The Gold Standard
Again, dry cleaning is still the best way to clean these articles of clothing. What we have for you here is a set of “quick fix” measures. Also, do note that these tips should be followed with caution. If you love your clothes enough and don’t want to damage them, we suggest that you wait for your dry cleaner’s availability instead.
Special Kinds of Fabric
Pieces of clothing with fabrics like rayon, silk, and wool blends should all be dry cleaned. Why so? These materials may shrink, change colors or lose their shape if washed in water. Garments made of rayon specifically become rumpled and misshapen because water is attracted to its fibers.
Steaming
Steam can be a great way to clean clothes without using water. You can place your delicates in the dryer with a damp washcloth and run a normal cycle. Or, you can also hang your garments in the bathroom, turn on the hot shower, and wait for the steam do its thing. Or you can buy a garment steamer ahead of time and for future use which is also a great investment. The heat kills bacteria which helps remove nasty odors too.
Spraying
Okay this might sound odd but vodka can be quite useful here too. How? Vodka is an alcohol and alcohol can be used as a disinfectant to kill the bacteria causing the nasty odor. You can fill a spray bottle with vodka and spray it liberally on your garments. Of course,
Green Dry Cleaning
You can look into dry clean companies that use a greener approach. Dry cleaners usually use a substance called Perchloroethylene. This is actually a dangerous toxin that can be harmful to your health and has some pretty serious affects on the environment too. Some of the more “eco friendly” companies will use pressurized CO2 instead which is definitely a much better alternative.
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