I clerked at a dry cleaner in H.S. Getting shirts laundered and pressed seemed to work great. We sent them out to a laundry. So be aware that the turnaround may be longer than dry cleaning if that’s done on site.
Dry cleaning isn’t generally a superior way to remove stains. It’s more of a cleaning alternative for fabrics that are damaged or distorted by water. There might be an exception for treating specific types of non-water-soluble stains, I suppose.
We rarely if ever drycleaned men’s shirts, unless they were silk (it was the '80s :)). Repeated dry cleaning tends to yellow white fabrics. If the shirts deviate enough from the standard men’s dress shirt design, they may charge extra if their standard presses can’t be used and they need to hand press.
Even then it was $1+ per shirt, with something of a discount for multiple shirts in one batch.
Years ago, I remember consumer affairs stories on the local news in New York City about how dry cleaners charged more for women’s shirts than men’s. The argument from the cleaners was that women’s shirts typically had ruffles or other features that made them more expensive to clean, but the reporter tested this by sending a woman in with shirts identical to that worn by a man. I think that some legislation might have been passed to eliminate the discrepancy.
I cannot imagine going back to laundering my own dress shirts. I am out the house most days for 12 hours. A shirt costs me $1.35 to be washed, starched and pressed. Worst case scenario is I spend $6.75 a week to have clean, smart looking shirts. Most weeks that amount is $2,70.
To wash, iron, and hang 5 dress shirts would take me around 2 hours. My weekend time is worth one HELL of a lot more to me than $3.38 per hour.
Some stuff I cannot imagine contracting out - my grandfather will hunt me down and do bad things to me if I used a shoeshine place (though I secretly do it in hotels on expenses). But other stuff - shirts, and cleaning my bathroom/kitchen - well, the choice is easy as hell. My time is worth more to me than someone else charges to do it for me.
By all means get them cleaned and pressed. A week’s worth of shirts pressed and on hangers for you–heaven! My brother’s in a doorman building in NYC and they pick up and deliver to the building–double heaven!
I’m almost at that point. Usually a visitor from out-of-town coming gets me off my ass but not this last time so if my parents coming later this year doesn’t compel me, it’s time to call in reinforcements.
thank you for this thread! I’ve been meaning to start one a lot like it recently, but keep forgetting.
Another question, if you don’t mind the hijack:
Do they do things that have to be hand-washed? And if it says “line dry” on the tag, will it come back all stiff and icky like it does when I line dry things at home or will it be nice and soft?
I’m very glad to know that they’ll launder things if they can be laundered instead of laughing at me and banishing me from their shop and publishing ads on the sides of buses that say “Dorothy fails at functioning like an adult. Point and laugh at her and don’t give her a job!” if I bring them my stained striped sweater and the pajamas I got as hand-me-downs that I have no idea what they’re made of.
eta: oh! one… or two more questions.
There’s no chance they could clean my sneakers, is there? They’re looking pretty grimy and I’m not really sure how to clean them myself.
What about pillows? Like big giant ones that don’t have pillowcases. Could they get those clean?
If you don’t wear them often or have dozens of shirts (or more :D) they may not get through rotation for a while. This could mean they’re looking crushed and droopy by the time you go to put them on.
Because I don’t actually wear nice clothes, just have them, I pay an extra $.65 to get mine boxed. They store very nicely on the shelf above the closet rod, stay fresh and cleanly pressed, and leave that much more room for jackets and suits!
That’s when I don’t just buy them, cut the tags off and throw them on the pile on the floor. Addiction is a terrible thing.
Here’s another nice tip. Take one shirt and put it in another place. That way, you’ll have an extra shirt for that inevitable day when you spill something on a clean shirt.
When I had to wear dress shirts every day, I got them laundered. The price varied between a dollar and 1.50, but it was worth it. No way I’m spending Saturday morning with an iron for 2 hours.
Don’t they end up having creases from being folded and boxed? I’ve seen some guys with those creases in their shirts, and it always looked to me like they just put on a dress shirt that they bought at some department store, straight out of the cellophane packaging.
If something can be both dry cleaned and hand washed, they will dry clean it. AFAIK they will not hand wash for you. This works fine except for those pale fabrics that tend to get discolored from repeated dry cleaning or things that are washable fabric but handwashed due to very delicate construction, like some beading or lace.
I’m not sure what they do for things that can’t handle a dryer. Plus, I think drying from the dry-cleaning chemicals is different from drying water-washed clothes. But after they press it (and in many cases steam it), it will not be stiff like stuff line-dried at home.
I’ve been disappointed when silk shirts come back with the original soft shine gone as a result of the dry cleaning. Machine washing and then is a little better for retaining the original texture. Hand washing is…not really an option.