People who wear “dry-clean only”: how do you afford it?
Posted by wired_lemons@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 50 comments
I bought a suit for a wedding. I specifically chose it so I could wear it separately as smart-casual day-to-day and get my monies worth (or so I thought at the time).
I’ve just discovered is the items are labelled “dry-clean only”. The last time I had anything dry-cleaned it was £15 per item; fine occasionally for a jacket that doesn’t get particularly dirty or sweaty, but am I supposed to shell out £15+ every time I wear the trousers?
The trousers are a viscose-linen mix and were an eye watering £180, so I’m not eager to just chuck them in the machine on a delicates wash as some housekeeping websites suggest...
Yes, I could have planned this better!
CharmingSwing1366@reddit
i’ve only had a few items that are dry cleaned but unless u get dirt/stains or items that are direct to skin and you get sweaty - a lot of well made clothes don’t need washing as often as you think i wear a lot of handmade wool sweaters that are hand wash only - so less to do with money and more to do with the effort but😭😂they really don’t need washing that often
PapaJrer@reddit
Wash your shirt, your underwear, your socks after each wear. Anything else can have multiple wears.
SubstantialShow8@reddit
Shirts are pretty biology and lifestyle dependent, lots of people can wear them a couple of times with just airing them in between
2MB26@reddit
Depends on the material too
anonaccount119@reddit
Oh hey, something I can answer!
Vintage clothes enjoyer here, wear cotton underclothes and air things after wearing. You can get 10-15 wears from a pair of trousers with wearing. Cheap vodka in a spritz bottle on inner armpits/crotch and air inside out.
Put things in lingerie bags to wash on delicates with a tiny amount of detergent.
zephyrmox@reddit
Most clothing really doesn't need washing as much as people think.
tiptoe_mouse@reddit
This! Apart from underwear and socks, everything else gets checked for marks and subjected to the sniff test. My youngest can get several days out of a T-shirt, for example. For all of us, jeans and trousers can last even longer.
snowdroptiger@reddit
My drycleaner charges £6 for a pair of suit trousers. My partner wears his suits to work Monday-Thursday, on Fridays he wears “smart casual” (so cords and a shirt or something like that) and his trousers go in to the dry cleaner to be collected next week. He has three suits and just rotates blue/grey/green.
PixelTeapot@reddit
Simple, don't buy dry clean only for everyday use.
Machine washable smart trousers for daily work use at the office.
I have smart casual summer/linen blazer jackets that get occasional use at the weekend and only washed when needed every 4-5 uses.
Suits depending on the event will get 1-4 uses between dry cleans.
Odd_Two_5554@reddit
I have a pair of (very old) prada trousers. I have washed them in a machine. No softener. Very little soap powder on a gentle cycle. However this is done once in a blue moon. You can always hang them outside on a sunny day to air and get uv cleaned. Just don't leave them oit too long or they might bleach
Danannarang@reddit
I've heard people in the theatre will spray alcohol (cheap vodka) on dry-clean only items to help extend their life between dry-cleaning. Would definitely want to try it first on an inconspicuous area, but could be worth a go?
MrHotfootJackson@reddit
Dunno why this has been downvoted. Cheap voddy in a spray bottle is always the go to for anything that's a pain to wash and/or stinks. Works like a charm.
ChanceHovercraft1754@reddit
A quality everyday suit would be expected to be dry cleaned once a week for trousers, jackets probably once a month.
it is not cheap, but for a lot of people in the kind of jobs where you'd actually where a dry clean only suit to work, that traditionally wasn't out of the question. These days maybe it's a bit more tight, but also it's more expensive because it's less common.
WhoIsJohnSalt@reddit
Having worked in corporate offices and the City for decades I promise you nobody is dry cleaning their suit trousers once per week.
ChanceHovercraft1754@reddit
Having worked in corporate offices for decades I can tell you that if someone is wearing a dry clean only suit and actually dry cleaning it they are doing it once a week.
That's just that works. It's not as common as it once was.
bio4m@reddit
You never dry clean after every wear.
For suits and trousers I may steam them after a couple wears (hand steamer) and maybe dry clean them if it feels warranted
Wool setting on your washing machine is also an option. I've gotten away with cold wool cycle washes for the most part (your milage may vary, I did ruin one set of trousers using the wrong setting)
Dry-Letterhead-2902@reddit
I dont wash it 🙏
GrownDandilion@reddit
Goes in the washing machine and hope for the best not hand any issues so far
BigDumbGreenMong@reddit
If you've got some outdoor space, hanging it out in the sunshine for a few hours is an easy way to freshen a suit up. The UV rays kill bacteria and other stuff that causes odors, and a bit of fresh air helps too.
bookowl@reddit
Most people who wear suits regularly (i.e. 4-5 days per week) will have multiple suits and buy 2 x trousers to each jacket, and then dry clean them on rotation. They will go to a local dry cleaners (to home or the office, or have them picked up from home) drop off dry cleaning and pay for a shirt wash and iron service. These dry cleaners are often competing against each other on price and people earn enough that they are willing to pay for the convenience.
FakeNordicAlien@reddit
Most people who wear dry clean only don’t only wear dry clean only, they keep them for special occasions and read the care labels before they buy them.
If you’re into fashion and clothing, you learn about fabric compositions and what you can get away with with each fabric. A viscose-linen blend can almost certainly be hand-washed, very likely be machine-washed on a cool delicates cycle, and most likely be tumble dried in a heat pump dryer. Actually, most clothes these days can go through a heat pump dryer, including things labelled dry clean only, and some vintage stuff - they’re very gentle on clothing. I ran a Y2K Monsoon silk gown covered in glass seed beads through mine and it was fine. Maybe shrank a quarter size, but it was too big anyway, which is why I took the chance. “Dry clean only” is often a CYA thing so you don’t try to return it on the off chance that it gets damaged in the wash.
Your other option is to keep them for special occasions and eat the dry cleaning cost. Most people who have expensive items keep them for special occasions. FWIW, I share your mindset - if I spend a lot on something I want to use it on a regular basis (though I do read the care labels before committing to buying!) and I also wear fancy things even to do the grocery shopping - but it’s not the norm when it comes to clothes.
CurvePuzzleheaded361@reddit
You dont wash it after every wear.
Timely_Egg_6827@reddit
Most dry clean will survive a wash. You can get dry cleaner clothes for the dryer. But honestly steam ironing them or hanging them when you have a hot shower will do most of the cleaning work esp if use febreeze on them (check for colour fastness).
brewer01902@reddit
I’ll be honest I rarely ever do my jackets (they only ever get worn from the car to the office then left on the back of the chair), but I used to leave the trousers for ages which was a bit rough. They were sweaty and stinky, but I couldn’t justify the dry cleaning cost. Then I just bunged them in the wash, and they came out fine.
Ok_Monitor_7897@reddit
r/laundry might be a good place to post for advice on this.
Little_eye_@reddit
It’d probably be better to just buy another pair of trousers you like and save the suit pair for when you want to wear the jacket. As the trousers get worn in, they may begin to look different and eventually not match the jacket, then you have a jacket you can’t use (unless you can swap out buttons and wear it as a casual blazer.) A lot of high end suit makers will sell you extra trousers just to avoid this problem.
blozzerg@reddit
Viscose/linen should be fine on a cool delicate cycle in the washing machine. Line dry.
Alternatively you can hand wash, lay them in the bath, bit of soap powder, cool water, then just rub the wash powder into the fabric carefully, you should agitate the material to get any dirt or oils out but not too aggressively. Then rinse well, carefully squeeze any excess water out (don’t wring tightly or anything) place between a towel and press to get as much water out as possible then lay flat to dry.
Handwashing clothing sounds like a ballache but if the item is generally clean and just needs freshening it can be done in under 10 mins.
compass-ev@reddit
I used to have the same problem, when I had to wear a suit to work. But there is some good news, and things you can do to get round problems...
So, first things first, repeated and frequent dry cleaning is actually quite hard on the fabric, so you probably don't want to be paying out that often anyway. The jacket (as you mentioned) doesn't need to be cleaned as much as the trousers, unless you spill something on it, or happen to have been in a sweaty environment for some reason. This is advice I got many years ago, from someone with far more knowledge than me:
- Hang them up overnight to air out, ideally somewhere with a bit of moving air rather than crammed in a wardrobe.
- A handheld clothes steamer (£30-50, Russell Hobbs or similar) refreshes a pair of trousers in two minutes and kills the bacteria that cause smells. This is probably the single best thing you can buy for the situation you're in.
- Spot-clean small marks with a damp cloth before they set.
- Brush them down. A proper clothes brush lifts surface dirt and pet hair
Whatever you do, don't put the £180 viscose-linen trousers in the washing machine even on delicates. Apparently, having done a quick check, viscose loses about 30% of its strength when wet and can shrink or distort badly, and tailored trousers depend on their shape, right?
Also worth knowing: £15 is at the pricier end. Independent dry cleaners should only charge around £7-10 for trousers, and supermarket concessions (Johnsons in Sainsbury's, Timpson in Tesco) are usually cheaper still.
Hope that helps?
CptCave1@reddit
Why do you need to clean trousers everytime you wear them?
Chopsticks_Charlie@reddit
Probably rolling around the mud mate
CorinaPhoto@reddit
They put that on the label as they don't want to risk you washing it and complaining. But most things can actually be washed, either on a gentle cycle or hand washed. I even have vintage wool coats that say dry clean only on the label, and I've put them in the wash and they've been fine.
Linen and viscose is a common blend (you'll find most linen look clothes in budget fast fashion shops are made of this blend and they of course wash fine) that is durable and washes well - you should be fine.
PristineKoala3035@reddit
Cleaning it after every use is crazy, that’s what underwear’s for
EyeAware3519@reddit
Worse a suit to work for 3 years. I just chucked the trousers in the washing machine on a low setting, dry cleaned the jacket every six months or so. Never had an issue.
Designer-Computer188@reddit
By having lots of different pieces of clothing to wear, means you don't have as much chance of repeat wears over a small period.
Lots of antiperspirant
Being wary of what sort of stuff you are doing, e.g don't be late for things so you have to run
Sxn747Strangers@reddit
Don’t clean them as much, is that a thing.
CaptainParkingspace@reddit
I don’t wash trousers/jeans every day, or every week tbh. Advice online seems to range from weekly to monthly.
GeggingIn@reddit
I hand wash, or pop in them in on gentle setting with non bio in the machine.
Just a renegade living life in the fast lane.
50tinyducks@reddit
I machine wash my dry clean clothes - do you have a delicate and or hand wash setting? Just do it on a low temp and low spin.
811545b2-4ff7-4041@reddit
Steaming it can do wonders
escapingfromelba@reddit
Nobody should be cleaning trousers after a single wear. The point of underwear is to provide a barrier.
Levi's got loads of publicity for telling people to wash rarely.
Horror-Kumquat@reddit
Clothes don't need cleaning as much as people think. A good airing, maybe some spot cleaning with a sponge if there's a mark, is sufficient most of the time. Maybe dry clean if it's noticeably dirty, but not often.
_isolati0n@reddit
Hand wash it in the sink with laundry detergent
thefootster@reddit
I have a suit jacket that is dry clean only, I don't wear it all that much, and when I do I try to be careful not to get it dirty.
asymmetricears@reddit
By wearing it very infrequently.
If I needed a regular suit, I'd buy a machine washable one. If I needed proper dry clean suits for day to day wear, then I'd probably be in a job that paid enough that it wasn't a huge problem.
lunaj1999@reddit
You can just chuck a linen and viscose mix in the wash on delicate, it’s not that delicate!
terryjuicelawson@reddit
I just wash them anyway.
alyaaz@reddit
You definitely shouldn't be dry cleaning every time. Only if it's stained or smelly. Most clothes don't need washing as much as you think
Willing-Primary-9126@reddit
They risk it in the washing machine on a gentle setting
Arnoave@reddit
They do it by having enough money that the bill doesn't hurt too much
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