I’d like to hear your opinion on home dry cleaning kits such as dryel.
How well do they work?
How much do you save?
Do they make your clothes smell funny?
Are they clean?
etc, etc
Thank you.
I used it. Nothing smelled funny, but you need to make sure you have the correct amount of “stuff” in the dryer so the cleaning fluid doesn’t saturate it. I think I tossed only two sweaters in and I should have had 4 or 5.
It seemed to be clean enough. If I remember correctly, you should only use it for knits. A suit, for example, probably should stay with traditional dry cleaning. You know…with pressing and all. But I think it’s fine for sweaters.
Dress shirts? thats my primary dry cleaning item.
Well, I personally wouldn’t use it on dress shirts. As far as I know, when you send them out to be done, they just wash and iron them. They don’t use the drycleaning process. The package will tell you what fabrics to use it on. You’ll notice an oily-chemicaly feel to the stuff you put in there.
Women’s silk blouses work fine–put 4 in the bag at a time, and remove at minute 29. The directions say 30 minutes, but you don’t want the dryer to come to a stop because the wrinkling starts.
I have 2 bags and run both at the same time - blouses in one, sweaters in the other to save dryer energy.
I’ve done lined wool dress pants alone, but wouldn’t risk a tailored jacket.
Anything with real staining goes to the cleaner-I haven’t had luck with the treatment liquid and blotting per the directions in the kit.
It’s a pretty neutral smell.
At 10 for a box of 4 refills, the unit cost is .60 plus energy, so it’s a savings for me.
I should say you get the oily feel if you don’t put enough items in the load.
It’s more of a freshener than a cleaner, per se. If I had men’s dress shirts, I’d take them to the cleaner’s - the dryer does not starch and press, you know. I’ve used it on pants, sweaters, and blouses and been quite happy, but eventually they do go back to the real dry cleaners’. Mostly I’ve used it for the convenience, because I can never remember to go to the cleaners’.
thanks for the responses. I guess i’ll just buy a starter kit and use it when I don’t have time for the cleaners.