Dry cleaning vs wet cleaning: which does your garment need?

Dry cleaning is not dry. It is cleaning in a solvent instead of water. Wet cleaning is cleaning in water, but with controlled temperature, agitation and specialist detergents, plus finishing equipment that puts the garment's shape back.

Both are professional processes. The question is which one suits the fibre, the construction and the stain.

When dry cleaning wins

Structured tailoring — suits, blazers, coats with canvassing and padding — generally does better in solvent, because water can shrink interlinings at a different rate than the shell fabric.

Oil-based stains also release more readily in solvent. Grease, makeup and salad dressing are classic dry-clean cases.

When wet cleaning wins

Anything with a body-soil problem — sweat, deodorant, perfume build-up — comes out better in water. Solvent is poor at water-soluble soils, which is why a suit can come back from the cleaner looking fine and still smelling like last summer.

Wet cleaning is also gentler on the environment, and safer for many modern blends, knits and washable silks.

How to decide

Read the care label, then tell your cleaner what actually happened to the garment. A label tells us the fabric; you tell us the stain. Between the two we can pick the right process.

If you are not sure, bring it in. We would rather look at it than guess over the phone.