Comments on: Dry Clean Only? An Eco Expert Tells Us When It's Safe to Ignore Labels

By: Best Interviews and Quotes from Eco Entrepreneurs, Designers and Green Champions at EcoSalon | EcoSalon

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:51:34 +0000

[...] Dry Clean Only? An Eco Expert Tells Us When It’s Safe to Ignore Labels [...]

By: Eco Salon on Eco Dry Cleaning | yourgreendrycleaner.com

Eco Salon on Eco Dry Cleaning | yourgreendrycleaner.com — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 01:19:08 +0000

[...] Here’s the link http://www.ecosalon.com/dry-clean-only-rules/ [...]

By: Carla

Carla — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 21:52:31 +0000

I hand wash a lot of my sweaters, wool and cashmere items too. For me the key is not to stretch anything out, and dry flat even if it takes longer to dry. Everything else, jackets, coats, suits, delicate, vintage clothes etc goes to the cleaners. I dont always want to dress casually (including coats) so a lot of my clothes are “dry clean only”.

By: Donna Z.

Donna Z. — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:20:40 +0000

speaking to the elephant in the room, perhaps the most natural thing to do is simply avoid clothes that need to be dry cleaned? even my LL Bean winter coat is washable and every bit as warm as wool, and lighter, and thanks to my careful washing, stain free.

it does help to do a bit of machine drying to keep clothing soft (even green cleaners use equipment).

it would help to petition Maytag’s new owners to bring back the dryer that had sweater and hanging racks on its top, so that they could be safely and quickly air dried. since they never advertised its benefits, it didn’t sell and they stopped making it…

By: Simpler Living

Simpler Living — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:27:01 +0000

Thanks for the reply, Luanne. We have hard water here, too, and when I let cotton clothing line-dry, they definitely stiffen. I’ve been known to throw them in the dryer with a dryer sheet for a few minutes at the end to counter that. Not the most environmentally friendly thing to do, but it works.

Cheers,
Naomi

By: Amanda

Amanda — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:23:43 +0000

Or if you really want to be frugal, and you trust your instincts, you can dry clean your clothes at home naturally..just do the research.

By: Anna

Anna — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:01:20 +0000

I go out of my way to find “green” dry cleaners even though I have a dirty one right across from my house, but lately I’m doubtful that the one I’ve been going to is even green. There’s a poster in the window that says PERC-free, but is there a certification body who verifies that a dry cleaner is really green and not greenwashed? Natural (for the giveaway .

By: Caitlin

Caitlin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:42:01 +0000

Luanne, I don’t mean to laugh at your mum, but that’s friggin hilarious!

By: Luanne

Luanne — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:26:20 +0000

That sounds good, Caitlin. I have many friends who wash their own sweaters. Your mom taught you well. My mom wears everything once and then it goes to the cleaners. Her walk-in closet, the size of my living room, is lined with garments in plastic sheaths, including about 500 Faconable blouses which she wears once and then dry cleans. But then, again, she has never washed her own hair. She has been having it done at salons since she was about 15. It’s very wooly, like many sweaters.

By: Caitlin

Caitlin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:08:12 +0000

I always wash my sweaters myself. It’s how my mother taught me to do it and it’s never occurred to me to take it to a dry cleaner. I’m pretty sure the labels say ‘hand wash only’ rather than ‘dry clean only’ anyway.

You need to wash in luke warm water with a gentle detergent. Then lay it flat on a towel with the arms folded in. Fold in the corners of the towel and then roll it up – this lets you squeeze out water, without destroying the shape of the sweater. Repeat with a second towel. Then lay it out flat to dry.