You have a wardrobe full of clothes to care for, which means you have to decide between washing and dry cleaning services. Before you choose, learn which clothing is intended to be dry cleaned and which should be washed.
Silk – dry clean
Properly cared for silk clothing has been known to last a lifetime. Your silk garments might have hand-washing instructions, but dry cleaning is even better. Dry cleaning uses special chemicals to ensure that silk and other materials maintain the proper colour and shine. While all silk garments benefit from dry cleaning, you should always dry clean bright, printed, lined, or dark silk garments. You can ruin these items if you hand wash them.
Embellished or Sequined Garments – dry clean
If you wash garments with sequins and other embellishments, they could come apart in the washing machine. Here at Kapiti Dry Cleaning and Laundry Services, we’re equipped to handle these items without damaging them so they’ll be ready to wear when you get them back home.
Pleated Clothing – dry clean
A washing machine can wreak havoc on pleated garments. Over time, the pleats will recede, and the garment won’t look sharp at all. Kapiti Dry Cleaning and Laundry Services can preserve the pleats while ensuring your clothing is fresh and free of stains.
Rayon – always dry clean
Rayon isn’t designed to be washed in a washing machine. In fact, your washing machine can’t clean it properly, so it will still be dirty when you take it out. Dry cleaning chemicals can remove stains and odours from rayon garments.
Suits – always dry clean
Washing a suit can change the fit and shape. What once looked great can be tight or ill-fitting after the end of a wash cycle. Dry cleaning clean suits without changing the shape. Your suit will have the same fit after you get it back from us.
Wool – dry cleaning preferred
You can technically wash wool, but if you do, it might change shape. That can lead to boxy jumpers that are too short. Dry Cleaning services will clean your wool items in a way that allows them to keep their shape. If you’re tired of wearing ill-fitting sweaters, definitely bring your garments to us.
Lined Clothes – dry clean
If you have clothing with lining, you need to dry-clean them. Washing lined clothes can alter the lining and cause the clothing to lose its shape. That won’t happen with Dry Cleaning.
Velvet – always dry clean
If you have velvet items, you likely love how luxurious they feel. However, they will feel less and less luxurious if you wash them. Your velvet items will keep the soft feeling you love when you have them dry cleaned. Also, you won’t have to worry about your clothing losing its shape when you take it to us.
Linen – it depends
You can machine wash most linen items. Wash and iron the linen, and then it will be ready for use. However, some linen items have dry clean only tags. You’ll want to use dry-cleaning services for such items.
Denim – wash or dry clean, depending on the type
When it comes to denim, it depends on the type. You can machine-wash standard jeans, although you should only use cold water and avoid the dryer. Instead, hang them up to dry after they finish washing. If you have high-end jeans, consider dry cleaning them, so they maintain their look and shape. Otherwise, you could end up having to buy new jeans in the near future.
Finally, if you have raw denim, avoid cleaning it for as long as possible. Treat stains, but don’t put the denim through the wash until it’s necessary. Then, soak the jeans in cold water, and air-dry them. This will prevent the jeans from shrinking and the dye from bleeding. Once they are clean, hold off until your next cold soak. The less you clean these jeans, the longer they will last.
Cashmere – dry clean or hand-wash
Of course, your dry cleaner can handle fine wools like Cashmere, especially if your cleaner uses a more gentle solvent like GreenEarth. However, you also have another option. This might come as a surprise, but you can hand wash cashmere. Don’t throw it in the washing machine, though, as that can destroy the material. Instead, you can try hand-washing all of your cashmere garments. You can get a cashmere shampoo such as this to clean it in cold water. Then, hang it up to dry instead of putting it in the dryer.
Cotton – washing machine
You can use a washing machine to clean your cotton clothing. Do not use hot water, though, since that can cause the clothing to shrink and the colours to fade. Instead, stick to cold or warm water when cleaning cotton.
Synthetics – washing machine
You likely have lots of garments made of synthetic materials. These materials can be machine washed, but you need to use a delicate or low cycle. Also, hang synthetic clothes to dry them instead of putting them in the dryer. If you follow these two washing tips, your garments made of synthetic materials will last much longer.