Ooops! You spilled something on your favorite piece of clothes! It could be anything from a drop of gravy from a sandwich to a drop of ink from the pen in your pocket. Can dry cleaning help get rid of stains?
But don’t give up yet on your item. Most of the stains can be removed while they have not set in yet. This is why prompt treatment is critical for a successful removal. Do not try to wash out the stain, although that could be your natural immediate instinct.
This leaves you with the option of dry cleaning. The best way to deal with a stain is to take your item to a professional dry cleaner soonest possible.
The question is, however, if dry clean really helps remove stains. To answer this question it is important to understand the process of dry cleaning. Dry cleaning helps clean fabrics and clothing using a chemical solvent (not water!). You can remove most stains, even the stubborn ones, with the help of these special solvent and with the appropriate equipment.
There are factors to be considered however, to understand whether dry clean can actually be helpful in your specific situation. Unfortunately, there are situations when even the best efforts can be useless. Why? The nature of the stain and the quality of the fabric can prevent the stains to be removed completely.
Some of these factors have to do with the nature of the stain. And this is where your help can be extremely important if you can inform your dry cleaner about some of the old and possibly invisible stains. Some of the stains from beverages or oils go under this category. Perspiration can also set persistent stains! Especially on wool and silk! That will be extremely difficult to remove.
If your clothes have invisible stains that you are aware of, inform your dry cleaner so that these stains can be treated prior to dry cleaning. Otherwise the heat of finishing or drying can set these stains in and make impossible to successfully remove them.
In certain cases, the nature of the fabric might make it very difficult to get rid of the stain, so even the best dry cleaning methods and equipment will not be able to help. They just can minimize the damage. Some stains that get oxidized and set in the fabric are just impossible to remove.
The quality of the dyes is another critical factor to consider. If the dye of the fabric is not colorfast enough removing the stain might cause removing the dye as well. This can cause even worse damage to your item than just the stain itself therefore making it impossible to dry clean. Before using the solvents onto your item a skilled cleaner will have it tested on some of its invisible parts, such as the inside seams.
When you take you clothes to a professional dry cleaner, point out the nature of the stain. Why? This will greatly increase the chances of successful removal. Do not leave stained clothes untreated for an extended period and most importantly, do not pile them together! These will cause the stain to set in making it near impossible to remove. Do not iron the stained clothes either! The heat may also cause the stains to set in.
Never attempt to remove the stain with a common household bleaching agent. This will further set the stain making dry cleaning useless. Only blot a stain with a clean absorbent tissue paper. And you can have it dry cleaned by a professional cleaner as soon as possible.
Dry cleaning can remove most of the stains except for a few cases described above. We at O’Dry have experts who know exactly how to treat each of the stains and bring back your clothes’ original looks. You don’t even need to bring your items to us, just order a pick up online using our mobile app.
Schedule a pick up now!
