The quality of dry cleaning varies. It's best to always take your clothes to the same dry cleaner if you're happy with them. However, if you need to find a new dry cleaner, you should test the quality of their work beforehand so that your expensive garments are not ruined.
Test for dry cleaning
Put the new cleaning company to the test. Bring three items of clothing for cleaning:
1. a cotton shirt or T-shirt
2. a light-coloured linen blouse or linen trousers
3. a light-coloured silk piece
These three garments will give you enough information about the work of the dry cleaner. When you get your garments back, you must pay attention to the following for the test results:
Colour: Have the garments returned to their original colour or do they look dull? If the colour has become a little duller, the filters are not cleaned regularly. The colour change is particularly noticeable with light colours. If the cleaner uses too much moisture in the solvent, this will pull the colour out of the silk and cause it to fade.
Flattening: Are your clothes well ironed? Every item of clothing should look perfect. Good dry cleaners give clothes a particularly fresh and clean appearance when ironing. A cotton shirt is a good test for ironing quality. If you want to test the dry cleaner's ironing skills, give them a pleated skirt to work on.
Fabric: Does the fabric look and feel the same as before? The fabric should feel like new if the dry cleaner is of high quality. If they do a poor or average job, the fabric will feel like a rag. This is particularly noticeable with linen garments, as they require special care. The dry cleaner should also have used special products for silk so that it feels soft and supple.
Buttons: A quality cleaning company will replace any missing buttons, even if the button has been missing before, as it is part of their service. Buttons that have become slightly loose are usually tightened.
In addition to the clothes, you should also consider the time it takes for the cleaning company to finish the clothes.
