How often should I dry clean my clothes?
Garments that are stained or affected by perfume, deodorant, perspiration or salt stains should be dry cleaned as soon as possible. Stains allowed to sit on fabric for longer periods of time are more difficult to remove. During normal wear clothing is exposed to air pollution and dust which weakens the fibres. Light coloured garments, silks and linens should be cleaned after each wear as they tend to be more vulnerable to soil. Always have your clothing dry cleaned before storage at the end of each season.
Q Does frequent dry cleaning shorten the life of a garment?
A On the contrary, frequent cleaning prolongs the life of a garment. Not only do stains set with age, making the garment unwearable, but ground-in dirt and soil act as an abrasive, like sandpaper, causing rapid wear of fibres. Also, insects are attracted to soils such as food, beverages, perspiration, and oils from hair on the clothes and will cause further damage.
Research was conducted by the Department of Clothing and Textiles at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in cooperation with the School of Textiles at North Carolina State System, which was developed in Japan. The research showed that the various dry cleaning processes have no negative effect on the properties of wool in men’s suiting fabrics.