I try to avoid dry-clean-only clothing because I’m bad about remembering to drop it off and pick it up, but it’s hard to avoid entirely. What happens if you wash clothes labeled dry-clean-only? I’m specifically thinking of a merino wool sweater and some polyester/rayon pants, but I’d like to hear about any materials.
The wool might shrink and would probably change in texture, too. I don’t think there’s much you can do to harm poyester and rayon. I’ve washed man-made fabrics that claimed dry-clean only with no problem. The only concern would be if they had some kind of delicate trim on them.
Some dry-clean only stuff is okay to be hand-washed in cold water & mild detergent (woolite is good, as is non-detergent camping soap if you can find it) and dried by laying it flat on a towel – no wringing or hanging or direct heat. If you put it in the washer it would get all stretched out of shape from the agitation and the heat from the dryer would probably damage the fabric – polyesters melt quite easily and wool shrinks from heat. I’ve had excellent sucess hand washing “dry clean only” rayons that have a cotton-like weave in this manner.
However I wouldn’t hand wash silk – the fibers break so easily that even the gentlest of hand-washings could mar it permanently.
They have that “Dryel” stuff at the store, for the cleansing of dry clean only garmets at home, I know some people swear by it, but I haven’t tried it.
Sometimes the fabric itself is able to withstand washing, but you run into a problem with things like trim and interfacing, the stuff used to give body and structure to certain areas of a garment (inside of collars, around necklines, pockets, waistbands, etc).
The fabric may come out just fine, but the interfacing can pucker or shrink. YMMV.
There’s no rule. I’ve always heard that wool sweaters have to be dry-cleaned, or they’re liable to felt - that is, change dramatically in texture. Other fabrics? Well, it depends. A lot of people either very gently hand-wash polyester or rayon; personally, I’m far too lazy to get things drycleaned, and I’ve hand-washed things like that from time to time with no trouble. Setting your washer on its gentle cycle and then drying items flat is also a reasonable answer. But it’s hard to say whether a particular piece of clothing will survive it or not; I’m reluctant to suggest you be as lazy as I am about it, because it’s hard to say what a particular item of clothing will do. That said, I’d probably try handwashing the pants.
A couple of interesting links:
HowStuffWorks tells all about those home drycleaning kits. (Basically it’s just spot cleaning followed by perfumed steam).
A site that describes why wool shrinks.
Since the second mechanism given for wool shrinkage at that site (felting) is caused by mechanical agitation and is permanent, it’s probably not a good idea to run wool stuff through the washer.