Each piece of clothing you have in the closet has a specific care label that gives you information about how to clean it.

Despite that fact, most people prefer to just put everything into the washing machine at home if it can survive the process (as well as the drying machine). However, there’s a lot of clothing that would last longer if you followed the instructions on the labels and dry cleaned it instead of just “wet cleaning” it.

Knowing which cleaning method — wet cleaning or dry cleaning — is best for your clothing depends on a few elements, including the fabric of your clothes and the type of stain.

What Is Dry Anyway?

Dry cleaning is not literally a dry process, but instead of using water and detergents, environmentally friendly solvents are used to clean the clothing. There’s no water used in this cleaning process, that’s why it’s called ‘dry cleaning.

Wet cleaning is enough for most of the day-to-day garments we use, although you still need to know how to wash different types of clothing and can’t just throw everything the same way into the washing machine.

Although neither dry cleaning or washing are better than the other, they both have their advantages and disadvantages depending on the type of clothes.

How to choose wash or dry clean clothes

If you’ve done laundry in the past, then maybe these steps will help you be better at washing your clothes. But if it’s your first time doing  laundry, chose: Follow the instructions on the label to the letter, or answer “yes” to any of these questions so you can decide to take it to the dry cleaner or wash it at home in the machine:  

• Are there stains or spots on your garment that you don’t know how to handle?
• Is the garment made from triacetate, acetate, or rayon?
• There must be a unique finish on the garment?
• Is the garment tough to iron?
• Is the garment tailored or structured like a coat or suit jacket?
• If the clothing is lined, are both the outer and inner fabrics washable?
• Is the garment composed of fiber that you’re not familiar with and have never successfully home laundered?
• Is the garment embellished with or made of leather or suede?
• Does the material transfer dye when it gets wet?
• Is the garment expensive or unique to you? If you destroy it by washing at home, will you be upset?
• Is the garment several seasons old?

If you said “yeah”, “yes”, “yeap” to any of these questions, then take them to a professional dry cleaner.

The Pros and Cons of Washing and Dry Cleaning

Pros of Washing

• It uses water and eco-friendly detergents. Due to the lack of harsh solvent, colors may better retain their vibrancy.
• The feel of the material is softer with wet cleaning.

Cons of Washing

• With the density of the water, inadequate, improper training, or incorrect equipment will give you a higher chance that your clothing will warp or stretch. Blue jeans for example, will suffer a lot more deterioration in their color if washed, so it would be best to dry clean these.  
• Pretreatments and spot remover may be needed for stains, but some stains, such as oil, may not come out.

Pros of Dry Cleaning

• Grease and oil are not water-soluble, meaning that water will not be able to remove the stain. Dry cleaning solvents can remove it.
• Environmentally friendly dry cleaning solvents are especially good at removing stains, meaning that spot removers pretreatments are unnecessary.

Cons of Dry Cleaning

• Some beading can dissolve or discolor in the solvent.
• The undistilled chemicals used by low-cost dry cleaners can be harsh and turn your whites grey.

The decision is yours. Whether it’s dry cleaning or wet, you have to make sure that it’s appropriate for your clothing material. If you want to relax while waiting for your laundry to be finished, hire a professional house cleaning service to make your home clean and spotless.