Can I dry clean a cotton sweater

The tag on almost all my cotten sweaters says “Machine wash cold. Dry flat”. Since I’m really too lazy to go buy those drying racks and sit around waiting, can I just have it dry cleaned and be done with it. I take my wool sweaters in anyways, so I figured I’d “kill two birds…” if I could.

Also, does dry cleaning get all the various “bugs” and nastiness out of you clothes or just freshen them? In other words, are they really clean?
Thanks!!!

Generally speaking, when a manufacturer puts cleaning instructions on a garment, they really mean it. They’ve tested their fabric in the lab and they know what’s good for it and what’s bad for it.

I’ve never heard of anyone dry-cleaning cotton. Ask the dry cleaner. Most laundries will also do “custom laundry”, so just pay them to hand wash it and dry it flat.

All dry-cleaning does is remove the oils, which usually carry the odors and dirt with them. Yes, professional dry-cleaning does more than just “freshen”.

But they’re not “clean” in the sense of being “sterilized”.