Dry Cleaning

Washing clothes is one of those chores that we just have to grin and bear. Its ok. You chuck everything in the machine add a tablet or some powder, turn to 40 degrees, select non fast coloureds and then off it goes for 100 minutes or so and Roberts' your fathers brother.

http://boulevardcleaners.com/files/2010/06/dry-cleaning.jpg

But then there are those clothes that you can't wash yourself. The clothes that are labelled dry clean only. I don't own many if these clothes, just some suits, waistcoats and my silk ties. Just as well, the cost of dry cleaning is getting quite extortionate.

I'm not really sure why it is so expensive. Dry cleaning does not use water as a solvent. Instead it uses an organic solvent. In past times this used to be petroleum spirit. Nowadays a chemical solvent called perchloroethylene is used. The clothes are washed in this chemical and then the solvent is recovered from the clothes by some form of extractor to allow it to be used again.

This should make it cheap. The solvent is recycled.

But for some reason it is really expensive. I guess this is because of the equipment that is used and perhaps the potential hazard that the organic solvent presents. It has been classed as a potential carcinogen. So perhaps the cost is related to this.

I guess I should stop complaining and instead buy clothes that don't require dry cleaning.

Does anyone know what happens if you wash a dry clean only suit in a normal washing machine?

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