What is dry cleaning? Which fabrics should be dry cleaned? Learn the dry cleaning process

Dry cleaning is still a new concept for Vietnamese users, but it is popular in many countries. Let’s learn this washing method with lassho.edu.vn in the following article!

What is dry cleaning?

Dry cleaning is the process of using solvent chemicals other than water to clean clothing and textile fibers. Commonly used solvents are usually tetrachlorethylene (perchlorethylene), known in the industry as perc or PERC or as hydrocarbon organic salt-based solvents. It is used to clean delicate fabrics that conventional washing and drying machines cannot.

Why dry cleaning?

Some fabrics are sensitive to water

There are some fabrics that are very sensitive to water meaning that they cannot withstand normal washing conditions when using a washing machine. With these types of materials, it is necessary to dry clean or gently hand wash with special chemicals that do not contain caustic soda and detergents.

Some clothes that are dyed with water-based substances (a dye whose main solvent is water) will easily fade in water and stick to light-colored fabric surfaces. However, these dyes are quite stable when washed in dry cleaning solvents and help dry cleaning clothes less silver.

Regular washing causes the fabric to shrink easily

Some materials contain fibers made from fur or animal fibers such as wool, silk, etc., due to the structure of the fabric, so it is easy to shrink, shrink or stretch and wrinkle when washed in water.

Dry cleaning for better quality

Dry cleaning brings the fabric to perfection and helps preserve the original quality and appearance of the laundry. In fact, in order to create the style, hold and firmness of new clothes, a special “glue” is often applied. However, when washing with water, these “shrink” layers are often dissolved in water, losing the original style and gradually losing the shape of the clothes.

This rarely happens when dry cleaning, this washing method helps preserve the original clothes and especially keeps the color longer.

What types of clothes should be dry cleaned?

Dry cleaning makes clothes much cleaner than conventional washing. However, you should not dry cleaning much to avoid the impact of chemicals affecting health, but should only use this method in some cases where the fabric needs to be dry cleaned.

Some types of clothes you should use dry cleaning such as: leather jackets, felt clothes, feather clothes, …

Dry cleaning process at home

Step 1: Sort clothes and treat stains before washing

Almost all types of clothing can now be dry cleaned at home. However, you also need to sort them before washing to make sure you choose the best solvent. In particular, there are many types of clothes that must be dry cleaned such as expensive suede, fur, etc. The classification will help clean effectively and do not damage the fabric.

To increase efficiency when washing clothes, you need to pre-treat the stains that are clinging to the clothes. Use a damp cloth (soaked in warm water) to wipe off stains or hard-to-remove stains on the clothes first, then wash them.

Step 2: Carry out dry cleaning

After sorting, you put the clothes into a machine with dry cleaning function such as LG Styler S3RF Smart Clothes Care Cabinet or Samsung DF60R8600CG/SV Smart Clothes Care Cabinet. You should research carefully and consider choosing the right product before choosing to buy. After “buying” one of these, set up a dry cleaning process for the machine.

If you do not have the above machine products available, you can use a damp cloth (soaked in warm water) to wipe away the stains on the shirt, then use a soft brush soaked in soapy water to brush gently. Finally, soak a small towel in damp water to wipe it, then put the shirt to dry in a dry place, without harsh sunlight.

However, dry cleaning by hand is not as effective and time-saving as the machine method.

Step 3: Incubate the clothes

Dry-cleaned clothes at home will be incubated through automatic devices. To adjust the scent, you need to put in the tray of the washing machine a laundry scented paper or a bag of clothes with a smell that you like. Specialized machines will use hot steam through them and spray on your clothes.

You can also incubate clothes by placing scented papers in layers of clothing and ironing or drying as usual.

Step 4: Dry the item completely

The machine will condense steam by reducing the temperature and then use a fan to dry your clothes. This ensures that the clothes are as durable as possible.