Clothing in the modern day and age is sometimes referred to as “fast fashion,” at least from the standpoint of the younger generation. A demand for clothing that only costs a few dollars per item have created a cultural misunderstanding of dry cleaning, due to the fact that in many cases the clothing that is worn every day is so inexpensive and cheaply made that it can literally be thrown away instead of washed. Fast fashion items are generated in foreign countries using low cost labor and cheap materials, which will provide garments that traditionally do not fit well or last very long. While it has become fashionably acceptable to wear cheap and ill fitting clothing as every day clothes, formal wear still has the care and maintenance rules that it always has. A suit of formal clothing of any kind must be dry cleaned in order to remove stains and odors, and it should be dry cleaned at least every second or third wearing if you are going to keep the materials it is made with in good shape. Delicate clothing is made of fibers that do not stand up to water and machine washing the same way that street clothing does, and exposing formal clothing to water will quickly ruin the fabric. The threads of the fabric will quickly break down and no longer maintain the crisp look that a formal garment is supposed to have. If you attempt to press many of these garments at home using a standard iron, you can actually melt the fabrics and create a shine to the clothing that looks terrible. This is why the dry cleaning process is still important for the younger generation to understand, because if they own formal clothing of any kind they are going to need to get it dry cleaned.
Dry cleaning is the process of bathing the garment in a chemical bath that removes oils, debris and odors. If stains are set in, the dry cleaner can use a more intense process on the stained area in order to treat it. After the garment is removed from the chemicals, they are extruded from the fabrics using a special machine and then pressed using an industrial iron created specifically for delicate fabrics. This will assure that the wrinkles and stains are removed and the fabric remains as crisp and clean as new, extending the life span of the garment far longer than if you attempt to not dry clean in between wearings. The oils in your skin will begin to damage the fabrics almost immediately, and if allowed to build up will create stains that cannot be removed. The garments are then hung in plastic bags waiting to be picked up or delivered.
Your street clothes are not like your formal clothes. More expensive clothing needs special care that only dry cleaning provides to it in order to remain looking good. It costs too much to replace these articles of clothing with the same regularity that you replace your street clothes, so dry clean them regularly.
