Dry Cleaner Discrimination
Do any of you guys who have dry clean only dresses with matching bottoms go to various cleaners only to have them tell you they will clean the dress but not the bottoms?
After going to several cleaners, one clerk seemed dumfounded that I would want to pay $1.75 to clean bottoms, but cleaned them. This has happened to me in several MAJOR cities such as Phoenix, Omaha, and Minneapolis.
These places will take bulk laundry which includes underwear, yet feel costume t-backs are unsanitary.
This is pure bullshit.>:(
Re: Dry Cleaner Discrimination
oh honey don't put yourself through that. Get some Dryell at the grocery store and dry clean your stuff yourself.
It's cheaper too !
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Never had that problem...although I am not sure I would exactly want the dry cleaning chemicals that close to my kitty. :O
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I put everything in my washer/dryer...I know..BAD strippper!!!!!!;D
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Hand wash only, bay-bee. It's my opinion that anything which can't be hand washed is probably not that comfortable to wear.
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i'm lazy and will pretty much wash everything in the washer/dryer. but if it is really delicate i'll wash by hand.
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I wash my bottoms in the sink with a little bit of laundry detergent, then hang it up in the window to dry. It's always perfectly fine the next day.
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Okay I have the weridest habit, when I get home, I kick my t-backs into the bathtub and wash them & whatever i wore while I'm showering and hang dry them.... this way I always have clean clothes....
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All my stuff's hand-wash only. But I throw it in the washer anyway.
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You might be suprised to find that "dry clean only" labels are placed in garments that they should not be in.
I once had a very expensive blouse that was marked dry clean only, so after wearing it I took it to the cleaners. When I picked it up the decoration was all gone. I at first thought the cleaner gave me the wrong item, but, nope it was my blouse alright, looking very plain and un-decorated. I took the blouse back to the store and got an exchange, and just cleaned it myself by hand, and the blouse looks fine even today.
I would just suggest that you skip taking your panties to the dry cleaners, and just have them take care of your gowns. As dancers we get all kinds of negativaty from the general public, anyway, so I do what I can to aviod these kind of confrontations.
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I handwash nearly everything with Pantene or some great smelling shampoo, detergent is just too soapy.
I don't dry clean anything because I don't like risking my stuff getting messed up, the Dryell bags didn't do anything for my clothes, so into the tub they go.
Beware of mxing colors! In the tub and out. And if you ARE going to put them in the wash, make sure it's with things of VERY like colors and not just similar I have had things bleed that didn't look like they could bleed! <-- peach colors.
Never EVER wash or even tub or sink wash red with anything lighter than it.. That sutff bleeds like crazy! I don't know how we don't have strakes from sweating in it!
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My fiancee usually handles the dry cleaning trips and most of the laundry. He's not ashamed. I use Dryell occasionally but it doesn't work well for reapeated uses. I have one gown and bottoms to match with sequins, and 2 other dresses and one robe all with bottoms to match, made of material that can't withstand washing. Washing dry clean only costumes in water is just like a man putting an all wool suit in the washer.
I figured some of you guys who work in high end clubs that require glitzy gowns have to get them cleaned randomly so that is why I asked.
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I do the bathub water wash too...a holdover from tough living in Guam...LOL
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I have some gowns with glitter and other embellishments on them, they ar efine to handwash.
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You gotta be careful about who you take it to, too- I've seen some of the most beautiful dresses get ruined by an incompetent cleaner.
My dad has been in the dry cleaning biz for over 25 years, so I trust him with even the most delicate of items. He knows what he's doing, and makes sure everyone that works at the cleaners knows what they're doing, too.
I remember when I was on the dance team, and we had overlays that had sequins on them. Rule #1 on the "costume care sheet" was "DO NOT HAVE YOUR UNIFORM DRY CLEANED!!!" I had it done every week, and mine was always nice and clean (unlike some other members who washed theirs maybe once or twice during football season- they were stinky, lemme tell ya!).
It's all about who you take it to, though. If you don't know a good cleaner, you're better off just washing it at home.
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Hey Chrissy....Thanks so much for sharing! Gonna try that now :)
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well i wear gowns with matching bottoms. i just hand wash or some even on delicate cycle. ( i know you travel so i wouldnt wasn in laundrymat). my gowns are simply sexy and not to glitzy. you CAN was sequins by hand with good results.
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I usually hand wash my washable outfits every day, and drip dry them. I'll try to do that with the dry clean bottoms one time and see how they look.
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I used to have a few long gowns with sequins on them, but in "corn country" (as another poster calls it) that's to "snobby-hoity-toity". When I did wear them though, I trieed the drycleaners, but it never worked.
I then started using (believe it or not...) Johnson&Johnson's baby wash and hand washing them. It's really mild so it won't mess up anything, and it's smells good too.
Sequins last longer if they aren't machine washed. They color of the sequins doesn't come off, and they don' fall off the material either.
But it does suck that they want to charge you extra for the underoo's. It's an outfit, lol. They don't charge a guy more for a suit that has a vest.
Not around here anyway, since I read this thread this morning, I called around to a few dry cleaners, and they would charge extra if they would do them at all. Unless of course you explain to them it's a PROM DRESS, and the thongs were made to match so there wouldn't be any material showing. What a hoot! IT's not cool for a woman to wear thongs with a dress at work, but it's perfectly ok for a teenage girl to do so for prom.
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I usually wash all my work outfits in my bathtub with some Woolite or some nice smelling shampoo. Gypsy is right about not washing your other clothes with red clothes-I wasn't thinking one day and that's what I did, stupid me! :D
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I really don't take anything to the Dry cleaner because I have had outfits ruined by incompetant cleaners. I hand wash everything, usually all the thongs for my outfits get a shower washing and I hand wash the rest of my outfit in my kitchen sink. The fastest way to take the life out of costumes is to wash them in harsh products so its better to use baby shampoo then hang dry.