I mean, don't get me wrong, I definitely own stuff that should be dry-cleaned (including--ugg--my wedding dress). If pressed, I will even do the Dryel thing. Although, as far as I can tell, Dryel basically just lifts the stink off of the item in order to temporarily lift your spirits. It's like the Febreeze of the dry-cleaning world. (As an aside, I knew a guy in college whose entire cleanliness regimen was balanced precariously on the single pillar of Febreeze. I think for certain genders at certain points in life, Febreeze seems like the Perfect Solution to your lack of quarters. Mothers of sons, let this be a lesson to you).
The way I see it, there are 2 major barriers to dry-cleaning for me (and guess what they both boil down to):
- Dealing with the dry-cleaning store-I get the nervous tummy around things when I don't know how they work, OK? (see also: ordering at Starbucks). And if there's anything more embarassing than admitting that you don't know how the whole drop-off/pick-up dance works, then...it will probably happen to me at some point too. I don't know how to do any of this crap. How do you people learn this stuff? From your high-maintenance parents? Well, my parents are a carpenter and a cleaning lady, so I plead blue collar.
- Wardrobe rotation-I don't have what you might call an extensive wardrobe. In fact, I hestitate to call it a "wardrobe" at all. It's more like "a handful of basically disposable separates from fashion HQs such as Target and Old Navy." (As another aside, this reminds me of this guy I was on the Math Team with who literally had 5 t-shirts that he rotated M-F. We made up a little song about him to the tune of "The Love Boat": Scott Last-Name! Soon we'll be making another run!). ANYWAY, since I can pretty much guarantee that I would leave some, if not all, of my dry-cleaning items to rot at the store for an indeterminate period of time, I would quickly run through the lineup.
You'll note that "cost" is not one of my barriers. Unfortunately, I'm not cheap or even frugal, and I'll almost always choose convenience over price. It's a good thing dry-cleaning is also inconvenient! Laziness prevails again, this time as a money-saving strategy! FIST PUMP!
24 comments:
I used to hit the dry cleaners when I worked at a job that required "nice clothing". Now I either run the other way when I pick something up that says Dry Clean only on the label or I just wash said clothing item and hope for the best. I do this wholly because I do not care any more.
I used to think it was fun (and I felt kind of like a real live grown up...)to get my stuff back from the dry cleaners all pressed and fresh looking but like Dryel... I just wondered what they did to it that I could not do and, and... well what the hell were those chemicals doing to my brain, anyway!?
I do own some Woolite from about five years ago that I used to try to use on "sensitive items" that said Dry Clean only - I wonder if it is still in liquid form?
WTOW-The really pathetic thing is that I HAVE THAT KIND OF JOB. And yet I cannot be swayed from the "wash and hope for the best" school.
I am a reformed Dry Clean fanatic. I had a strict "banker" dress code at my shiny CPA firm in Manhattan, and I religiously rotated the dry cleaning. I think I paid $150 a month or so on it.
Then my new apt had an extra bar in the shower, so I started washing them on delicate and hanging them to dry. Saved $$, but I had to iron!! DUN DUN DUN!!
Now I just wash and dry everything. Working at a small suburban 4 person firm helps, i think.
I just wrote a comment and tried to post it, AND IT DELETED ITSELF!!!!! I am almost too lazy to write it again. :) But this time I will copy it before I click the "Publish" button.
I had to go to a dry cleaner last year because we weren't allowed to return our child's marching band jacket without having it cleaned first. It was easy, you hand over the clothes, they give you a slip, and the next day you give them the slip and they give you back the clothes. But... I don't do dry cleaning either. It would require me to gather the items, get myself and however many kids are around at the time into the car, and drive somewhere... twice. I try really hard to remember to check the tag before I buy something. If it says "Dry Clean Only" on it, the store loses a sale.
Actually, if the tag has the word "iron" on it anywhere, the store loses a sale. If I accidentally buy something that needs ironing, it pretty much just gets the "out of the dryer right away and smooth with hands" treatment. I have been known to iron the front of a shirt and wear a jacket to hide the un-ironed back and sleeves. But usually it just ends up in a to-be-ironed basket, full of things that have been worn once and will never be worn again.
And you thought YOU were lazy! :)
JMC-Guess what? I don't iron either! SURPRISE, SURPRISE!
Also, thanks for persevering on the comment. I think we both know what I would have done :-)
I exist under the belief that maybe I can get away with the delicate cycle on some dry clean things, only to scream in frustration and pretend surprise when the skirt comes out with the lining two inches longer that the skirt. Of course I then hang it up in hopes that somehow shrunken wool over rayon will come into fashion. I do employ Dryell (the dryclean in your dryer bags) which would probably work okay...if I remembered to take the bag out of the dryer before the clothing became too wrinkly for even the iron (hahahaha...I said iron, as if I know how to use one) to fix.
I have never been to a dry cleaners either. And for the most part, I wash my dry clean only stuff in the washer.
Suck on that, dry cleaning industry!
Also, I hate ironing. Downy Wrinkle Releaser is my savior.
Until recently, I thought there was only setting on my iron: "HOT".
I hate the dry cleaner as well, but my OCD forces me to iron EVERYTHING! Actually, that is what I did when I got back last night! I am convinced that the only reason that they put that on the tag is to save themselves, in case you wash and shrink or something, they can say it should have been dry cleaned as clearly stated on the tag. I wash and hang dry if it says "dry clean" and all my clothes are just fine. Some people actually take stuff to the dry cleaners to be laundered!!! Imagine your panties being laundered, giggle!
We don't dry clean either. And rarely iron. But what really is too much for me is mailing packages. I just cannot get to the post office. Cannot. So I usually order stuff online and have it shipped.
Marie-Don't even get me started on mailing packages. I have packages in my car RIGHT NOW that will probably be rendered obsolete by the time I get my shit together.
I'm nervous about New Procedures, too. I always try to get a friend who knows what she's doing to go with me the first time.
Dry cleaner. What?
Get this - my MIL irons everything right down to her husband's tighty-whities. WTH?!
I happen to love my dry cleaner and actually enjoy going to pick up my clothes. It's run by the sweetest family and they know our names in a town no one else does. (that sounds rather pathetic).
In a completely unrelated note: all your talk of math and mathletes makes me wonder if you've ever seen Freaks and Geeks? This was a show that lasted one precious season and I absolutely adored it and everyone needs to see it ASAP. Seriously.
Flibberty-Freaks & Geeks has been on my Amazon Wishlist forever, but I still haven't seen it. I think it's because I KNOW I will love it, and then will be sad/bitter when there are no more future episodes. It's a protection for my fragile heart.
I don't dry clean or iron, either. I have some wool sweaters that require a tumble with dryel every now and then, but that's it. I'm totally wash and wear. So is my husband... as a matter of fact, I learned this from him. I was WAAAAAY more high-maintenance before he came along and showed me the beauty of laziness.
Before kids, I loved the dry cleaners... take in something wrinkly and dirty and bring home something clean and pressed, on a hanger, no less. Especially great for the hubby's dress shirts... usually only $1 a shirt when you take in something else (like a jacket). Now, I don't know if it's cost or convenience or pure laziness, but I just take care of most things at home and hubs irons his own shirts (and mine if I throw them in the pile!)
But... the dry cleaner isn't hard. It's not like you have to go in and choose for a giant menu of options. You just say, "I have a suit, a jacket and a blouse" and they'll say "that will be ready Wednesday after 3:00". It's usually just one or two days, max., that you would have to wait.
Oh, what a revelation this is to hear that you can actually just throw dry-clean stuff in the washer! As soon as I get home I will retrieve the three dry-clean items I own from the bottom of the closet, where they have been balled up in a "waiting to go to the dry-cleaner" wad since, um, the last millenium, and try it out! Whoo-hoo!
Also, re nervous-tummy preventing the addition of New Activities to life: folks, I do not have pierced ears because of this. At age 16 I resolved that I was now over my Moral Problems with body piercing (don't ask), and was going to go the way of 99.9% of the rest of the female universe and be able to wear sexy dangly earrings. I even went into a boutique advertising ear piercing--and was unable to ask. Twenty years later, I STILL CAN'T BRING MYSELF TO ASK.
Most Pathetic Human Ever Contest: I win.
melospiza-OK, now I have the nervous tummy about ruining your clothes as a result of my own incompetence. This really should be my new tagline, but "do as I really should do, not as I ACTUALLY DO" OK?
Also: that ear piercing story. I love it so. I can guarantee that if my mom hadn't pierced my ears at age 3 I STILL wouldn't have them pierced.
Do you have a drive through cleaners? We don't, but somewhere deep in my inner fantasy, one exists. In fact, with a toddler, I have started fantasizing about drive through grocery stores, liquor stores, post offices....why doesn't this exist where I live? WHY?
I love having stuff dry cleaned. I love picking it up all perfect-looking and pressed and hanging under plastic. And, I also DO NOT IRON. Ever. So, that is why I love the cleaners.
Tess.....dry cleaning is the ULTIMATE for a lazy person. What the hell do you mean you are too lazy to take things to the dry cleaners?
If I wash it myself (I mean if Nick washes it, as he does the laundry) then I have to iron it (actually meaning that I have to wait till Nick gets around to ironing it because I'm useless at ironing).
So, I take pretty much ALL things to the cleaners besides whites, crap clothes, and jeans. Other than that....to the cleaners! (ummm, actually Nick takes it to the cleaners for me as well...and picks it up).
Do you see a recurring theme here?
Plus, its cheap. I can't complain about having 5 dress shirts washed and pressed for £6. Beats the hell outta me doing it myself. Which obviously I would never do....as I am truly the LAZY ONE!
Again, with the archive stalking slash re-establishment of us being soulmates: mailing packages and going to the dry cleaner on time are my kryptonite.
I'm not sure if you deal with this issue subsequently, but many dry cleaners TOTALLY PICK UP AND DELIVER ("done and DONE.")
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