The world of drycleaning is rarely one that people know in great detail. In fact, many people still believe that the clothes do not get wet in this process. However, the clothes do get wet. Liquid solvents and chemicals are used for washing the clothes. The absence of water in the cleaning process is the reason why it is called dry.
Tagging of Clothes
The process starts when you give your clothes to the dry cleaner. The dry cleaner will first tag the garments. The tags are used for identification purpose and they are specifically chosen so that they are capable of withstanding the chemicals used in the cleaning process.
Sorting and Inspection of Clothes
The dry cleaner will arrange the clothes and sort them on the basis of various factors. These factors include fabric, colors and even the type of stain. For the tougher stains, the dry cleaner may have to send the clothes for a prewash before the actual cleaning process.
Dry-cleaning Clothes
After the sorting, the items will be put in a machine specifically developed for drycleaning. Generally, these machines look like bigger versions of the normal washing machines. A suitable chemical solvent is added to the machine instead of water. These solvents are usually chosen on the basis of their ecofriendly nature. Detergents are also added to the machine as they help in the removal of stains.
At first, the clothes are simply left to soak in the solvent and detergent. Later the machine starts spinning the clothes which cleanses them of stains. After the clothes are cleaned, the items are heated at high temperatures so that the chemical solvent can evaporate.
Quality Check
Once the items have dried completely, the cleaner will check each of them individually. The cleaners look for any damages that might have been sustained by the items such as loose buttons or if the stains are still present in the clothes. The dry cleaner will take the responsibility of repairing any damage that the cleaning process caused. The clothes will then be pressed and ironed to give a professional appearance. Usually an industrial press is used for the purpose. However, the cleaner will use an iron for pressing the clothes if they are too delicate to be used in the industrial one.
Sorting Clothes Based on Tags
The items will then be sorted on the basis of the tags that had been attached previously. In some cases, the dry cleaner will attach new tags to make identification easier. When you hand over the receipt, the cleaner will give you back your nicely dry cleaned items.
Wrap Up
This is the general process used by dry cleaners. However, certain agencies and cleaners do have their own processes and they may use additional steps as well. Some agencies do have a few special and unique techniques which may improve the quality of their work.
It is important to hire a Drycleaning agency that is professional and offers a high quality of work. After all, you risk damaging the clothes and other items if they are not dry cleaned properly.
