Anonymous asked: Can you give us some insight on how bad dry cleaning is? I feel like after a trip of sitting on cabs/subways in certain cities where they are not all that clean it is a must to dry clean. Let me know how often you dry clean? Am i being obessive? I basically dry clean after each trip, by trip I mean take a plane ride somewhere spend a few days in cabs and subways.
Solvents, heavy machinery, awkward ironing and high drying temperatures - good gear in the wrong hands can have you coming out looking like you’ve just spent the afternoon popping tags with your local white-boy-rapper.
Dry clean your heavy tailored gear as infrequently as possible - Once per season -or every few if you have a decent rotation. Just lightly press, steam between wearings.
If you drop your chicken wings on your trousers though, you might need to reconsider.
It gets worse if your gear is lower quality - of course. Fused gear (glued) will generally pucker from high temperatures, water and so on. Low quality Worsted’s will become shiny, polyester blends etc - all of which should be considered before your trip to your local dry cleaner.
What I generally do, between wears, I’ll brush, sometimes steam (or leave out to steam during a hot shower) and as an absolute last resort I’ll dry clean. Don’t just go to any dry cleaner though. A good one will know when your burberry trench is gaberdine or not - and what that means to dry cleaning (it breaks down the water resistance for example which they should know). or how to treat your cotton suits vs your cashmeres.
To answer your question though, Dry cleaning is not the answer for your investment items. What do I do? I drive to work.
