Dropping off your laundry at the dry cleaners and knowing that it’ll come back to you freshly pressed and clean is a luxury that we’re eternally grateful for!

But have you ever wondered if your dry cleaning service is grateful to have you as a customer?

Not to implicate that you’ve ever skimped on paying bills or forgotten basic etiquettes; but we all make mistakes when taking care of our clothes. And those mistakes make dry cleaning much more difficult than it needs to be.

Have you ever made these five cleaning mistakes? If yes, use the tips provided alongside to make sure you don’t ruin your clothes or make your dry cleaner’s job harder!

1. DIY Cleaning a Messy Stain

Lemon juice, hairspray, vinegar—none of these quick fixes clean messy stains effectively. Yet, many people persist in using them to scrub off the odd tea or makeup mark, only to worsen it.

Some customers even use bleach and other strong chemicals, which damage the fabric.

If it’s a special piece of clothing that requires extra attention, take it to a dry cleaner and let them know what the stain is. Don’t risk ruining your favorite, expensive clothes because you wanted to experiment with a cleaning hack.

2. Don’t Forget To Glance At Your Clothes After You’ve Worn Them

Ever come across random stains on your sharp suit that you don’t remember being there?

That’s what happens when you wear clothes to events and put them back in the closet without giving them a once over. Sprays and spills can go unnoticed, and, over time, can cause the color of fabric to change.

For any special dresses and suits, always check them before hanging them up; otherwise, you’ll have a permanent discolored stain on your hands.

3. Forgetting about Invisible Stains

Hairspray, perfumes, lotions, sunscreens, deodorants, and even metal on your jewelry can wear out fabric, cause snags and tears, and lead to serious stains. What’s more, they can eat away at the color of the fabric.

With any product that has chemicals, there’s a high likelihood of a stubborn stain around the area you wear it, like the collar or the shirt sleeve.

Also, get snags repaired before you get your clothes cleaned; otherwise, the tears will get damaged further.

4. You Keep Your Dry Cleaned Garments in their Bags, on Metal Wires

Yep, the garment bags you get your clothes back in might be good protection for the ride back home, but they’re not meant for long-term storage. Plastic traps moisture that packs in odors, mildew, and discoloration.

As for metal hangers, they ruin the garment even further because they create notches and marks under the shoulders, and ruin the structural integrity of heavier garments as well.

When getting your laundry back, fold your clothes or transfer them to sturdier hangers to save them from further damage.

5. Forgetting to Check the Pockets

The odd receipt or tissue paper aside, customers tend to forget a lot of “treasures” when they drop off their clothes at the dry cleaner’s.

From lipsticks and markers to fountain pens and money, your average dry cleaner finds a lot of things in your pockets that can be problematic, especially if they end up creating a bigger mess than what was there originally.

Find the Right Dry Cleaning Service in Washington D.C.

As a leading dry cleaning service with over 70 years in the business, Imperial Valet Sterling Cleaners wants our clients to know that despite these mistakes, we can get stains out one way or another.

But by following the above tips and ensuring that these mistakes don’t happen, it goes a long way in allowing us to retain the quality of your garments!

• Share This Post :