If you think the only way to avoid those expensive dry cleaning bills was to have your own dry cleaner assembly, you are mistaken. Depending on the needs of each garment, you may be able to take care of the problem with household items. Find multiple uses for your home staples while saving money. Who doesn’t want to do that?
Clean Delicate Fabrics
Sometimes it seems easier to send delicate fabrics like wool or silk to the cleaners rather than risk ruining them. Use mesh laundry bags to keep clothes from rubbing against each other. Wash them on the delicate cycle in warm, not hot, water with a special detergent made for fragile fabrics. You can add an additional layer of protection by turning the items inside out before putting them in the bags.
Treat Spots
If you have a cotton dress or dress shirt that has a spot on it, don’t waste a trip to the dry cleaner. Take a spray bottle with isopropyl alcohol and wet the stain, no rubbing necessary. It will not only disappear, but it also won’t leave a ring where the alcohol was.
Refresh Wrinkled Items
Wearing an item one time doesn’t necessarily mean it needs a full dry cleaning. If it is otherwise clean and fresh-smelling, get our your garment steamer. The wrinkles will fall right out. If you don’t own a steamer, use your iron on the steam setting with an ironing cloth. No one will ever know that you didn’t just pick it up from the neighborhood cleaners.
Prevent Stains Before They Start
Perspiration is the number one stain that most people have problems with on white shirts. It is a shame when you have a perfectly good shirt that just has yellow spots under the arms. The answer: spray your new white shirts with a solution that is 50% vinegar and 50% water before you wear them. The technique is supposed to keep your shirts from ever staining. Now you can say cheers with your red wine without worries.
Make Your Dryer a Dry Cleaner
Use specially made dryer bags to dry clean your clothes in your dryer. If you have something that is not washable but needs to be cleaned, you can try this at-home treatment from Dryel. The bags already have the cleaning agent inside, and it works with the heat of your dryer to freshen your clothes without the expensive price tag or the time to wait for them to be ready.