Dry cleaning or washing: which does your garment actually need?

Most people assume dry cleaning is the more thorough option and washing is the cheap one. That is not what separates them. They clean different kinds of dirt, and using the wrong one is what ruins clothes.

Washing uses water and detergent. Water is very good at lifting sweat, food and everyday grime, because those things dissolve in it. It is also what makes wool shrink and silk lose its shape, because natural fibres swell when wet and do not always return to where they started.

Dry cleaning uses a solvent instead of water. The solvent dissolves oil and grease without ever soaking the fibre, so the garment keeps its structure. That is why it suits suits, wool, silk, and anything with a lining or shoulder padding that is built to a shape.

A rough rule that holds most of the time:

Wash cotton, linen, polyester, everyday shirts, underwear, towels and bedding. These take water well and cost less to clean.

Dry clean wool, silk, tailored suits, blazers, structured dresses, heavy embroidery and anything labelled "dry clean only". Also anything with a stain you know is oil-based — engine oil, palm oil, make-up — because water will not shift it and a hot wash will set it permanently.

The mistakes we see most often are a wool blazer put through a hot wash and coming back two sizes smaller, and a silk scarf that goes from smooth to papery after one machine cycle. Neither is repairable.

When the label is missing or worn away, bring the piece in and ask. Checking takes a moment. Shrinking a jacket is permanent.