How Home Dry Cleaning Works ?

The name is a bit misleading. The dry cleaning process isn't actually dry at all, it simply means that water isn't used in the process. At a commercial dry cleaners they use washing machines that are filled with a solvent to clean the garments, but no water. The reason it's necessary to do this is that some fabrics, like silk, rayon and wool blends, don't react well to the hot water in a domestic washing machine and can stretch and become misshapen. The strength of the solvent used also means it can often tackle stains that normal washing can't shift.

Home dry cleaning is a bit different from a domestic dry cleaners'. The normal solvent commercial cleaners use is strong and harmful and would be unsuitable to use in the home. So for home cleaning you buy kits that deal with the process in a slightly different way. The kits are aimed at cleaning individual garments, rather than coping with full loads, and so for larger items like suits, duvets and curtains you're still better off going to the high street dry cleaners. But if all you have is something like a silk blouse with food stain from last night's dinner then you can save yourself some time and expense by using a dry cleaning kit.

How Home Dry Cleaning Kits Work

The kits contain 3 components:

1. Stain remover and/or stain absorbing pads to remove spot stains.
2. Dryer activated Dry Cleaning Cloth
3. A Reusable dryer bag.

Pre Treating Spot Stains

If there are particular stains you want to remove, you first tackle them with the stain remover. This is a bottled solution, and it is the normal pre-treatment you would use on all your fabrics before putting them in the wash. You simply rub the solution on to the stain, working it in to the fabric, and let it do its work of lifting the stain. You then use the absorbent pads to mop away the solution, and the lifted grease and grime with it. This is actually where most of the cleaning gets done as the next stage will do little to lift dirt and grime from the fabric.

The "Dry" Part

Once you have pre-treated any stains, you come to the freshening part of the dry cleaning process that takes place in your tumble dryer. You place your garment(s) - how may will depend on the kit, it's normally up to four - in to the bag provided along with a dryer activated cleaning cloth, seal the bag and then put it in to your tumble dryer.

This where the freshening happens, and it's "dry" because it only involves the use of steam, perfume and an emulsifier.

The heat from the tumble dryer causes the water and perfume to evaporate out of the cleaning cloth. They form a fragrant steam that expands in the bag, which fills out under the pressure. Under this increased pressure the steam is forced in to the fibres of the fabric in the garments, and this is the "freshening part", the fragrance is simply infused in to the garments. The seal on the bag isn't completely airtight so some of the vapour escapes, although most of it stays within the bag. This prevents the pressure from getting too high and the bag popping like a balloon.

The steam also softens the fabric and removes wrinkles from the garments, just as your steam iron does. The emulsifier attracts the steam molecules to stop them being absorbed as water in to the fabric, which is why the fabric stays dry. Some dirt will also be absorbed by the steam.

Once the process is complete, you take your garments from the bag and hang them up.

Drawbacks of Home Dry Cleaning

There are two main disadvantages, compared to commercial dry cleaning.

First, you can't actually use the kits for all the fabrics a commercial dry cleaners can deal with. The delicate fabrics don't shrink in the tumble dryer because they are protected from the neat by the bag. The steam in the bag is just below the temperature needed to melt or shrink most synthetic fibres, but you still shouldn't use the kits for leather, velvet, suede or fur.

Second, other than the pre-treatment of spots and stains, no real cleaning takes place. Sweat and body oils that you can't see and are absorbed in to the fabric through normal wear, remain. You just aren't aware of them as the infusion of a perfume overpowers most other odours.

So the kits can be ideal for the removal of specific stains and a quick freshen up of delicate garments, but if you want a properly cleaned garment, you still need the services of commercial dry cleaner.

Brighton Cleaners are a Brighton based office cleaning company with a wealth of experience to share to help you keep your workspace a place clean and in top condistion. Click on the link to find out more: Brighton Cleaners

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