Money Saving Tips: How To Avoid the Dry Cleaner

A stone's bounce from my house stands an antiquated brick building with a street-visible sign, on which is scripted: Claire's Cleaners.

I want to go to Claire's Cleaners.

I want to walk in where the staff greets me by name and fills my arms with tailored trousers pressed and tissued. I want to smell organic starch on the collars of my husband's shirts and commend their ability to finally remove the stain from the lapel of my dearest jacket without bathing it in toxic chemicals. My hopes for Claire's Cleaners rise lofty. Unfortunately, Claire's Cleaners is vacant, as it has been since I moved here five years prior.

I must submit to the $2.99 Dry Cleaning Store a mile from my house. What prideless creature names their establishment "$2.99 Dry Cleaning Store." (It used to be the "$1.99 Dry Cleaning Store", but you can see how their creative prowess has developed the brand.) Until I am able to procure and launch Claire's Cleaners myself, I stubbornly avoid the dry cleaner with their wire hangers and plastic drapings and keep my $2.99 whenever possible.

Maybe you'd like a few more $2.99's in your pocketbook as well. Well Frugal Friend of my Bosom, here's how:

one. FRESHENING: Home Dry Cleaning Kits
Obvious yet useful for touch ups. This method is perfect for the dress you donned to church and enjoyed company with for a few hours. Over time the bag version is thriftier than the alternative, since you can purchase refills rather than a whole new kit. While the kits are accompanied by a stain removing solution it isn't terribly effective unless the stain is light, fresh, or otherwise uncommitted to staying.

two. WRINKLE REMOVER: Steamy Showers
When your delicate garment is merely rumpled, send it to a steamy bathroom. Hang your ensemble nearby while you remove your own soils. Keep the door closed following your toilet and allow the steam to remove creases and diffuse the frail offenses of smoke or perfume. This method is much more delicate on fabrics than heated irons, just be sure you place the garment close enough to benefit from the condensation but not so close that it is soaked by the source.

three. SMELLY: Disinfectant Spray
After wearing a garment, spray it with a disinfectant spray before hanging it up to eliminate bacteria which causes odors to form on the fabric. Focus on any parts of the garment that were in direct contact with your skin.

four. SPOTTING: Baby Wipes
Baby wipes are tremendously good at removing spots from your garment before soils have time to draw up a permanent contract. Address spots as soon as they occur and examine your garments post-wear to remove any sneaky spots which moved in without notice.

five. SWEATIES: Vinegar
If a garment isn't terribly sweaty, you can sponge off the bio-grime and dry it in front of a fan. This will work with a variety of fabrics that you'd never put through the spin cycle, such as silk or rayon.

six. PREVENTION: Underarm Shields
A little vinegar won't save a silk donned in an Arizona August. But prevention will, save yourself from perspiration stains by placing underarm shields in dresses and suits. Mr & Mrs fine garments won't end up with tough-to-remove perspiration stains and they'll last years longer.

Please share more of your favorite Dry Cleaner Avoidance tips in the comments.