Will dry cleaning remove food stains from a suit, or do I need to treat it somehow at home before I take it in?
Community Answers
282
3-30-12
Geoffrey says:
Depends on the stain, but for the most part you don’t want to use anything but water. Get a cloth wet and dab the stain with water immediately (don’t scrub — that’ll just grind the color in). You can soak it for a bit, just be careful not to drape the wool over anything while it’s wet. Wool looses most of its strength when wet, and you can distort it into the wrong shape if you aren’t careful.
Take the suit into a professional cleaner’s as soon as you can. Point the stain out and tell them what kind of stain it was — they’ll have different treatments for different substances. Make sure the cleaner understands that you’re bringing the suit in specifically for a stain, not just for a general dry cleaning.
Avoid “stain removers” and especially anything bleach-based. It can alter the color of the suit, and even if it doesn’t the chemicals will damage the fiber of the wool and make it brittle, which eventually leads to worn patches and holes.
Depends on the stain, but for the most part you don’t want to use anything but water. Get a cloth wet and dab the stain with water immediately (don’t scrub — that’ll just grind the color in). You can soak it for a bit, just be careful not to drape the wool over anything while it’s wet. Wool looses most of its strength when wet, and you can distort it into the wrong shape if you aren’t careful.
Take the suit into a professional cleaner’s as soon as you can. Point the stain out and tell them what kind of stain it was — they’ll have different treatments for different substances. Make sure the cleaner understands that you’re bringing the suit in specifically for a stain, not just for a general dry cleaning.
Avoid “stain removers” and especially anything bleach-based. It can alter the color of the suit, and even if it doesn’t the chemicals will damage the fiber of the wool and make it brittle, which eventually leads to worn patches and holes.
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