The notion of airing out your dry cleaned garments & household textiles is absurd
By: Stu Bloom
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You might be smelling dry cleaning solvent or fluid. But it's more likely that you're smelling the accumulated filth in your dry cleaner's solvent or fluid.
Venturing into the realm of the absurd
You’ve heard the “advice” countless times before: air out your dry cleaned garments and household textiles before bringing them into your home.
Here are two examples…
Example #1
It is always a good idea to air out dry cleaned garments in your garage or a spare room so the left over gases can escape. Take them out of the dry cleaning bag and let them air out for 24 hours, before hanging in the closet.
Example #2
If you do get your clothes dry cleaned, keep in mind that they can release perc into your home. While the levels are highest in the room in which the clothes are stored, perc will spread throughout your home for as long as a week. So, you might want to hang your clothes in the garage or outside before bringing them in.
What utter nonsense!
So what’s the solution?
Is the solution to air out your dry cleaned garments and household textiles for at least 24 hours?
Or is the solution to find a skilled dry cleaner who can produce a dry cleaned garment or household textile that’s 100% odor free in the first place?
By way of analogy, let’s say that a particular food always affects your digestive system negatively.
It seems logical that the solution to the problem is to avoid that particular food so that you don’t have to resort to a range of over-the-counter medications to counteract it’s negative impact.
[ctt template=”3″ link=”3vmcC” via=”no” ]The idea that you should air out your dry cleaned garments & household textiles for 24+ hours before using is flat out insane @ravefabricare[/ctt]Eliminate the problem in the first place
For all those who believe in “airing out” garments and household textiles, here’s some food for thought: If you eliminated the problem before it happened, you wouldn’t have to fix the problem after the fact.
Let me explain.
Garments and household textiles should always be cleaned in dry cleaning fluid solvent or fluid that’s both continuously purified and continuously filtered.
Every single drop.
This way your garments and household textiles are cleaned in dry cleaning solvent or fluid that’s absolutely crystal clear. As clear as bottled mountain spring water.
Continuous purification is much like boiling your tap water at home to obtain pure water; continuous filtration is much like filtering your tap water to remove any additional impurities.
Fact is, crystal clear, freshly purified and filtered dry cleaning solvent or fluid is your only guarantee against grayish and dingy whites, creams and pastels; dull and faded colors; and that all-to-familiar “dry cleaning solvent smell.”
It’s the difference between a black and white TV with mono sound and a high definition screen with surround sound.
Unfortunately, very few ordinary cleaners
- continuously purify every single drop of their dry cleaning solvent or fluid before and after each load
and
- continuously filter every single drop of their dry cleaning solvent or fluid during each load.
As a result
- soluble impurities such as bacteria, residual dyes, body oils, oily creams and lotions and food fats accumulate in the dry cleaning solvent or fluid
and
- insoluble impurities such as sand, dander (skin flakes) and hair, float around in the dry cleaning solvent or fluid.
These soluble impurities are then absorbed by the fibers of your garments and household textiles during the dry cleaning “wash” cycle.
In particular, natural fibers, such as silk, wool, linen and cotton, absorb these impurities like a sponge absorbs liquid.
Cringe at your leisure
As previously mentioned, your garments and household textiles should always be cleaned in dry cleaning fluid solvent or fluid that’s both continuously purified and continuously filtered.
Every single drop.
If your cleaner fails to continuously purifying and continuously filtering his dry cleaning solvent or fluid, your garments and household textiles are, in effect, functioning as your cleaner’s “cleaning filter.”
In other words, your garments and household textiles are being cleaned in “dirty dry cleaning solvent or fluid.”
It’s just like washing your clothes at home and reusing the same dirty water over and over again.
So, what you’re smelling is probably not dry cleaning solvent or fluid.
Instead, you’re smelling the accumulated contaminants in your garments and household textiles — contaminants absorbed from your cleaner’s “dirty dry cleaning solvent or fluid.”
The answer
The answer to the air out versus don’t air out dilemma is to find a skilled dry cleaner who can produce a dry cleaned garment or household textile that’s 100% odor free.
This way you never have to worry about the absurd notion that you have to air out your dry cleaned garments and household textiles in the garage or on the patio for at least 24 hours before taking everything indoors.
Photo credit: unsplash.com/Charles L.
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Filed Under:
Dry Cleaning,Household Textiles
Author
Stu Bloom
Stu Bloom is Founder and President of RAVE FabriCARE. RAVE FabriCARE, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, cares for fine garments, household textiles and accessories and serves clients throughout the USA and Canada. Stu is the author of various ebooks on these subjects, all of which are available from www.ravefabricare.com/freestuff. He is an evangelist for true quality cleaning and is a contributor to and editor of True Quality Cleaning, RAVE FabriCARE’s blog. You can find Stu on Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.
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Additional Resources:
https://ravefabricare.com/services/dry-cleaning/
https://ravefabricare.com/21-reasons-not-choose-true-quality-cleaner-extended/
https://ravefabricare.com/10-deadly-sins-ordinary-bang-hang-dry-cleaners/
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