DIY: Save money by doing your own dry cleaning

Dry cleaning is as much about convenience as it is appearance.

It’s easier to take a bag of clothes to the shop, drop it off and return to crisply pressed items without a stain in sight. You also return to a hefty bill, in many instances.

You can get similar — albeit, not identical in some cases — results by doing your dry cleaning at home. It may take a little more effort, but at a cost of about 50 cents per garment, you’ll save lots of money. Dry cleaning at home does have its drawbacks, though. For instance, it’s generally harder to remove large stains and grease-based stains.

However, if your non-washable clothing isn’t heavily stained and needs a routine dry cleaning, try a home dry cleaning kit, such as Dryel (which uses a bag) or Dry Cleaner’s Secret (no bag needed), which are about $10. Both products produce wrinkle-free clothes. Consumers have given Dryel the edge on stain removal.

When dry cleaning at home, you do want to use some caution. For instance, you may opt to dry clean a men’s shirt, but not the suit. You don’t want to put leather in a dryer, either. In general, your finer fabrics and more expensive items should still go to a professional dry cleaner.

Your best moves if you decide to dry clean at least some of your clothes at home will be to first look for coupons on the products (they aren’t hard to find), and then be certain to follow the instructions carefully. The process isn’t complicated at all, but you don’t want to ruin your clothes by being careless.

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