Are you annoyed by the hassle involved bringing clothes to the dry cleaner? This post is a introductory tutorial to at-home dry cleaning. And, guess what? It’s easier than you think. Read to see whether DIY might be a solution for you too.

Contents
  1. At home dry cleaning makes clothes care easier
  2. How to dry clean at home
  3. Does Dryel at-home dry cleaning work?
  4. What are the costs of at-home dry cleaning
  5. At-home Dry Cleaning in a Nutshell

 

Disclosures: Ad. This post is sponsored by Dryel. They did not endorse the post. I wrote it entirely myself and it reflects my own 100% honest opinions. There are affiliate links in this post.

 

At-home dry cleaning makes clothes care easier

How often did you put a gorgeous skirt, dress, blazer – you name it – back on the rack when you saw the tag “dry cleaning only” when check for the care advice? If you are like me, it probably was every time you saw it. Or at least close to that. Why? I hated not to be able to clean pieces, but had to bring them to the dry cleaner. Two additional trips in my already busy schedule! 🙁

If you have the same problem, you be interested in how I fixed the problem. In other words, a care tag reading “dry cleaning” is no reason any more to not buy the piece. Last year, I learned about Dryel at home dry cleaning.

Dryel permits you to be your own dry-cleaner and it works! #iDryel Click To Tweet

 

How to dry clean at home

I used Dryel to rescue my dirty white blazer and my tweed skirt. And it was as easy as 1-2-3. Here are the how-to steps:

  1. Get the Dryel Starter Kit online or at your retailer.
    at home dry cleaning starter kit
    Dryel Starter Kit

     

  2. Pre-treat stains and dirty areas with the Dryel booster spray. In the example of my blazer, the lower sleeves, and the area around the neck. In the example of my skirt the spot.
  3. Put the item and one cleaning cloth into the reusable fabric protection bag and zip the bag. You can clean up to five garments at a time.
  4. Put the bag into your dryer. Set the dryer on medium heat and its timer to 30 minutes for deep clean or 15 minutes for refreshing. I did the deep clean in my examples.
  5. Once the time is up, take the bag from the dryer, take the item from the bag and place it on a hanger so potential wrinkles fall out.
  6. Take the dry cleaning cloth from the bag. I thought that it smelled so good that I hang it in my closet. <3
  7. Fold the bag and store it. You can reuse the protection bag up to 30 times! Note that the bag ensures a temperature-controlled environment of air around the garments.
  8. Wear your garment and repeat this list at step 1 when cleaning is needed again.

 

The following infographic summarizes the at-home dry cleaning steps.

infographic on how to dry clean your clothes at home

 

Pin the above infographic to your Pinterest board or go the old-fashioned way and print it and pin it on the wall of your laundry room.

 

Pro tip: Hang the used Dryel cloth into your closet for a fresh scent.

 

 

Does Dryel at-home dry cleaning work?

The next photos show the blazer prior and after the DIY procedure. Make your own judgement.

 

tweed skirt before cleaning with Dryel Eddie Bauer wool tweed skirt with spot prior to at home dry cleaning with Dryel
white blazer before dry cleaning Anne Klein white blazer before
skirt after at home dry cleaning with Dryel Skirt after at home dry cleaning with Dryel
jacket after DIY dry cleaning Anne Klein jacket after the treatment with Dryel

What are the costs of at-home dry cleaning?

The Dryel Starter Kit is about $9.99 and good for up to 20 pieces. The refill has the same price and is good for up to 40 pieces. Let’s assume that you clean five items at a time. In this case, your DIY clothes care costs are about a quarter (25 US cents) plus one fifth of the electricity used by the dryer per piece. Even with the expensive electricity  in Alaska it’s not much. Together these costs are much less than the typical $15 at the dry cleaner’s plus the gasoline costs going there twice. In my case, it would be driving 12 miles (19 km) – round trip. The bigger the car, the more expensive is the trip to the dry cleaner. 😉

Stylist tip: Dryel also has a dry cleaning pen that you can carry around in your purse.

 

Dryel starter kit, refill, and dry cleaning pen
Dryel starter kit, refill and clothes cleaning pen

 

 

Dryel At-Home Dry Cleaning in a Nutshell

When you also get frustrated when the dry-cleaning costs of your favorite blazer exceed the price you paid for the blazer? Then Dryel may be a solution for your problem. The Refill Kit permits you to be your own dry-cleaner and it works!

Do you have a lot of clothes that require dry-cleaning? Have you already tried at-home dry-cleaning with Dryel? If so, have you also made a good experience? I am curious whether you are as excited about at home dry-cleaning than I am. 🙂

If your friends are into DIY please tweet them You may be interested in this Dryel 101: How to be your own dry cleaner. #iDryel #DIY Click To Tweet

 

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Photos and infographic: N. Mölders

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