Everything You Need to Know About Dry Cleaners

Everyone knows how difficult it can be to find a good, reliable dry cleaner, despite the large number of cleaners in the Boston area. Not knowing a cleaner you can trust can be worrisome, given that you will consign your favorite garments to your local dry cleaning establishment on a regular basis. So how do you know if your cleaner is up to par? The best thing to do is to understand a bit about the dry cleaning process itself.

Dry -- what does that mean? Dan Eisen, Chief Garment Analyst at the Neighborhood Cleaners Association (NCA), a trade group for the dry cleaning industry, explains the dry cleaning process: clothing is washed in a special machine, "like a washing machine but more sophisticated" with perchloroethylene, or "perc," a liquid that has no water. The solution cleans clothing without affecting the material in the way that water might, such as shrinking or dye bleeding.

Dealing with Disaster
Most people have their own remedies for dealing with disaster in the form of red wine or lipstick marks. Professional cleaners tell us, however, that the worst thing someone trying to combat a stain can do is rub it with water or club soda. Rubbing a little seltzer on a spot may, in fact, make the problem worse because you are rubbing the stain in. Liquid often won't remove the stain, but it can ruin the dye in the garment. Better to leave that nasty spot alone and bring it to a professional.

Anthony Terrell, an official with the School of Dry Cleaning, which is run by the NCA, adds that once a stain sets, which, with the application of heat, sometimes takes only a few minutes, it can become almost impossible to remove. So it's best to take a stained garment to the cleaners as quickly as possible, rather than letting it sit in your closet for a week. Be sure to point out the stain to your cleaner and indicate what caused the spot, since different chemicals are used to remove different kinds of stains. We recommend that you never have a dirty article of clothing pressed since that may make the stain impossible to remove.

What Does it Cost?
Dry cleaning costs are not regulated. As a result, the cost of cleaning a suit in Boston can run anywhere from $5 to $20, depending on where a store is located and how much of the work is done there. (Many small shops are merely drop off and pick-up points for their customers; the work is done elsewhere -- with an appropriate mark-up.) Shirt laundering prices can also vary, but usually cost from $1 to $2 per shirt. The cost of having your laundry washed and folded averaged 70 cents a pound in one neighborhood we checked.

There are no hard and fast rules, but generally, small, side street operations tend to offer better bargains. Large stores often have higher rents and overhead, costs which will filter through to the customer.

Do women pay more for dry cleaning than men? This charge has been alleged in media exposes and even courtrooms throughout the country. Generally, it's true. Cleaners claim that women's clothes tend to have more detail, and pressing them is a more time consuming (read expensive ) process. Since prices are primarily based on material the more delicate a material, the higher the cost the charge for a satin blouse is going to be more than for a cotton shirt.

Dry Cleaning Tips
In the end, the only way to find a good, fairly priced dry cleaner is trial and error. Beware of cleaners who return clothes that are not as white (or brightly colored) as they were before being cleaned, or that smell rancid or sour. Both can be signs that the establishment is not filtering and distilling its cleaning chemicals on a regular basis. And before you leave the premises, count the number of items you get back. It's better to confront a problem immediately rather than a week later, when you reach for your favorite sweater and realize it's missing.

Sending Out Your Shirts
The main question here is should you or shouldn't you? Advantages to sending out your shirts rather than laundering them yourself include:

• Convenience - who wants to be up all night ironing shirts?
• Quality - the professionals do a much better job with an iron than the average person

Sending your shirts out can be a mixed blessing, according to Joanne Martorelli, shirt expert and Technologist at Brooks Brothers. The harsh detergents and high temperatures that commercial launderers use wear out your clothing much faster than home laundering. She notes that starch promotes the disintegration of shirt fibers and should be used sparingly, if at all. If you like a crisp shirt, light starch in every other washing should be sufficient. As to the question of hanger versus box, Martorelli believes it is simply a matter of personal preference.

Getting Satisfaction
If you encounter a problem, your first course of action is to discuss the problem with your cleaner. Most establishments will offer compensation for damage, especially if you are a regular customer. If you have a problem that your cleaner won't resolve, contact the Better Business Bureau at (617) 426-9000, the state office of the Consumer Protection Division at (617) 727-8400 or the Mayor's Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing at (617) 725-3320.

Story originally contributed by Jennifer Lapidus

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