I’d also like to add the following four points to emphasize why not dry cleaning your clothes often enough could actually cause a shorter life:
- Many spills are invisible at first and then oxidize over time, often leaving a yellowish stain. Stains also tend to set with age, and if left untreated for a long period of time, become part of the fabric. Not cleaning your clothes often enough actually increases the risk that a stain cannot be removed – a 20% increase after one week and a 47% increase after three weeks. One could argue that permanent stains make garments unwearable, ultimately causing them to be retired from our wardrobes more quickly.
- If every day products, like deodorants, toothpaste, make up, and lotions, end up on garments and are left for a long time, they can cause discoloration or color loss on the fabric. Promptly and properly cleaning garments after wearing removes those potentially harmful products.
- Ground-in dirt and soil are abrasive – almost like sandpaper – and cause fibers to wear down more rapidly.
- Insects are attracted to dirty clothes. Clothes that are worn, even for a short period of time, pick up perspiration, skin cells, body oils, and spills. These things attract moths, silver fish, and other pests that can cause permanent damage to your garments. The only way to remove the temptation from those pests is to clean your garments as soon as possible after wearing, and dry cleaning is an effective method when it comes to removing greasy food stains, makeup, dirt, and perspiration.