Every girl who loves her clothes will know that laundry isn’t just another tedious household chore; it is in fact, a complicated science and delicate art all at the same time. Get it the combination (fabric, detergent, conditioner/softener, method of wash) wrong and you can kiss good bye to your beloved one of a kind piece.
Recognising the ‘dangers’ of a ‘mistake’, some of us just leave it to the professionals which spells the making of a weekly trip to the launderers; but that can prove quite costly so most of us would reserve that ‘special’ treatment for our divine pieces that require ‘dry cleaning’ only.
So what’s the big deal about dry cleaning and why do some clothes need them more than others? Well for starters, dry cleaning can extend the life of your clothing because it preserves fibre structure and colour fast. Secondly, certain materials (Wool, silk, rayon and acetate fabrics tops the list) are very sensitive and reactive to water. They may shrink, change colours or lose their shape if washed in water because water is attracted to the hydrophilic fibers in such fabric that causes it to expand as the water molecules form hydrogen bonds with individual molecules within each fiber. Washing such fabric in water will also disrupt the already weak attractions between adjacent fibers resulting in the fabric as a whole losing its strength and thereby shape and durability.
Now contrary to its commercial name, appreciate that dry cleaning is actually, not at all a “dry” process. Clothes are still machine washed/immersed in the dry cleaning process but into an organic solvent rather than water. The solvent mixture is designed to prevent harm to natural fibers such as the popularly delicate silk and wool and is extracted taking with it the soils after cleaning. Clothes are then dried and pressed as per normal.
The main difference that sets dry cleaning apart from wet cleaning is the use of water. Wet cleaning may be referring to a solvent-and-water process, or water-and-commercial detergent process, but either one as you notice carries water amongst its equation.
Continued in Part 2: The dry cleaning solvents and its effect on the parties involved.
