How dry cleaning works?

Laundry has been a household activity for years. Whether it was beating clothes on rocks besides a river, or it was pushing some buttons on a washing machine, laundry depends on water, assisted by soap or some alkali. But when it comes to choosing dry cleaning service for a hotel in Delhi or someplace else, the process is of course different than regular laundry. Dry cleaning is a process, as the name suggests, that is conducted without water. There is a cleaning fluid that is used, but the absence of water is what makes the process “dry”.

 

How it came to be
Like most inventions, this one too was something of an accidental discovery. Jean Baptiste Jolly, a French owner of dye-works noticed that his table cloth became much cleaner after a maid accidentally overturned a lamp of kerosene on it. Inspired by this incident, he started offering a new service that he called “dry cleaning”.

The process today
Once your clothes are picked up by the cleaners from your hotel room, there is a process that is followed by the employees at the dry cleaners, which is typical to most dry cleaning operations running these days. The clothes are taken through the following process:
 

1.Inspection and Tagging – Different joints could have different methods like attaching a paper tag, or writing on the collar, but the clothes are first of all tagged to make sure that they do not get mixed with other clothes. Then, the clothes are inspected for tears, missing buttons, etc. to ensure the cleaner is not blamed for them later.

2.Pre-treatment – This step involves looking for stains on the clothes so they can be treated separately before being sent for the cleaning. This ensures a thorough removal and cleaning of the clothes.

3.Dry cleaning – This is the main process, where the clothes are put in a machine and then cleaned with a solvent.

4.Post-spotting – After the dry cleaning has been done, the clothes are again inspected for any lingering stains that are then removed.

5.Finishing – This is the last step before the clothes are sent back, and this includes the pressing, folding, packaging and any other finishing touches that are required.

Knowledge is a tool and the more you know, the more you grow. Now you too know what goes on in a dry cleaning operation.