Dry-Cleaning at Home

I realize it's been over a month since my last post...and 50's living has really gone by the wayside over this crazy, busy summer. But as my husband gets ready for "back to school," and our schedule returns to somewhat normal, I look forward to keeping up with the blog...and getting my house back in order, 50's style!

With the mountains of laundry we returned to after several weeks away, I can think of no better topic to post on than laundry itself. The everyday items are easy enough to handle, but the delicate items (read: dry clean only) pose more of a problem. Especially if, like me...you don't want to pay a dry cleaner gobs of money to do what you can (maybe) do at home. At least some of the time.

Good Housekeeping's Guide to Successful Homemaking states:

Dry-cleaning at home, because of the many dangers, should not be attempted on a large scale, but occasionally it may become necessary on a small scale (p. 254).

This piqued my interest because while I have no desire to turn my home into a full-scale martinizing operation (or blow my house up), it would be nice to have a way to deal with some of the dry-clean stuff myself.

Dry-cleaning is similar to washing fine things by hand in a washbasin. You squeeze the article to remove soil, rub neckline and cuffs with extra effort, rinse, press out the moisture, and allow to dry.

This seems like a lot of steps, and I don't currently own a washbasin, although I suppose my bathtub would do just fine. Or is that really gross? I'm having trouble deciding.

Regardless, a special cleaner made for the purpose of home dry-cleaning is reccomended. So I guess the question becomes: do I really want to put that chemical stuff in the same tub I use to bathe my son? Um, NO. So clearly, a trip to the basin store aka Target is in order.

Unlike water, cleaning fluid doesn't remove creases or pleats, so pressing dry-cleaned clothing is much simpler than ironing laundered clothing.

I'm glad there's one thing about the process that's simpler. I'm going to find that magic cleaning fluid, and get started. Off to find those "dry clean only" clothes and give it a shot. Maybe I'll start with just one. That way if I ruin it, it's only one clothes casuality. God knows we can't afford more than that!