Why Dry Clean when you have Powerizer

The fashion and textile industries continue to evolve, creating new and improved fabrics. Some of which have allowed us to enjoy purchasing more for less money. However, these less costly garments, made of less desirable materials, become less desirable to buy. These cheap meant for mass production ready to wear garments and home decorations lose their shape, color, bleed, or snag easily. Manufacturers are more eager to place a Dry Clean Only label on them, so your lead to believe this garment will keep its store-bought appearance after the first wash and must be better quality. Garment cleaning instructions are not mandated by law and aren't always reliable. Powerizer is the best option for laundering Dry Clean items regardless.  

Why We Recommend Skipping Dry Cleaning All Together 

• Added Expense - Dry cleaning becomes a regular expense that is not needed.
• Toxic Chemicals - The Solvents used to remove lipstick, paint, and grease during the dry clean process and are known to break down fibers. Dry cleaning chemicals are not suitable for the environment and require the property to be zoned differently because they potentially can leak chemicals into the surrounding water.  
• Convenience - The dry clean service may not be able to clean the garment in time for you to wear it. Requires driving to a drop off location unless you pay for a pick-up dry clean service, which usually is an added expense.
• Residue Buildup - Residues, starches from the chemicals remaining on the garments attract more dirt to your garments. Grass, Blood, Juices, and Grease all require water to break them down.  Dry cleaning does not use water can leave residues behind, and fabrics look dull or faded.  Its main goal is to reduce the chances of shrinkage.

Unfortunately, no different than slapping a new paint job on an old car, you are still dealing with an impulse online fashion failure. There is a 50/50 chance the garment you purchase is a less desirable fabric, and dry cleaning isn't going to make it any better. We all have made this mistake by placing an order for a garment that you should have ordered two sizes larger, and the fabric is so cheap you can see right through it. For everyday clothes, dry cleaning may not be the best thing for them. Washing them less is the better option.  

Now we would never recommend machine wash your wedding dress; however, we are saying for every day ready to wear garments and regularly used items in your home ditch the dry cleaning bill and PowerizeIt instead. It's easy to adjust the concentration mixture to clean delicate items safely, use less, or mix a concentrated powder to create a paste when needed to dissolve tough stains. When dissolved in a concentrated solution (one (1) scoop to 16 oz of water), it replaces the need for a pretreat or a stain removing product.   

Tips to consider before you ignore the "Dry Clean Only" label.

Be prepared before you start your DIY dry cleaning. You may need to check pockets, remove pins, or unbutton the add-on sections like a faux fur collar. It's always best to wash each item separately unless you have like items, i.e., three white dress shirts. Pressing garments may be a downfall to washing items at home but can become a skilled task you learn to appreciate. It's always best to own a good quality iron. Some may decide that starch is a necessity. That's up for debate.  

Step 1- Pretreat Stains

It's crucial to pretreat stains as soon as possible. This habit will cut down on the number of times your need to wash them. Even if you decide to launder or dry clean your button-down dress shirts, pretreat the neck collars, cuffs, armpits, which might have deodorant residues and food stains before tossing them into the hamper. The plant-based enzymes found in Powerizer dissolve proteins, starch, and fats, such as juice, blood grass, and grease.  Pretreating early gives the detergent time to work and can ultimately save you from having to replace your shirts sooner.

Step 2 - Hand-wash or Machine wash 

When deciding if it's better to hand wash or machine wash delicate items, start with cold or warm water. Next, lessen the dosage. Powerizer has a built-in hard water softener, oxygen bleach, stain remover, color booster all in one. We recommend washing clothes that would typically be dry cleaned using ¼ of the usual amount of detergent. An average load uses one scoop of detergent. When laundering dry clean items, lessen the dosage to 1/4 of a scoop, however, when washing by hand, typically, you would use one gallon of water or less use and reduce the dosage to 1/2 of a teaspoon. Watch your garment while allowing it to soak for 5 minutes at a time. Use a damp microfiber cloth to scrub gently and lingering residue and tough stains.

Step 3 Rinse Drain and rinse the garment in lukewarm water. Submerge the garment and swish around a few times to release any set in solution. Drain and repeat, if necessary. 

Step 4 – Air Dry 

Most fabrics labeled as "Dry Clean Only" are likely to shrink in the dryer, therefore lay them flat to air dry, especially if they have elasticity in them. For other non-stretch, fabrics hand them over a drying rack. Most convertible drying racks stand perfectly in the tub and flatten to store easily under a bed. Also, a traditional clothesline will always do the trick.

Once your items are thoroughly dry, smell fresh and look clean, steam or iron them for a crisp, pressed wrinkle-free finish.

Use the directions above to wash the following fibers.

Linens – Many linens don't necessarily need to be dry cleaned, a soak in the sink or tub will be efficient. Prepare a soak using lukewarm water and Powerizer Complete. Use a microfiber cloth to scrub and lift residues and stains from the fabric. Once linens are wet, the crisp structure may be lost. Remove linen garments from the washer immediately. Lay them flat to dry to cut down on the wrinkle content.

Silk & Rayon –Both of these fabrics are the most temperamental of all materials. They can bleed, shrink, and sometimes lose their shape. They should be hand-washed in cold water. Also, for garments that are brand new, we suggest mixing a dye cast soak to prevent color fading. This process helps to lessen the color loss in future washes.

TIP: How to Create a Dye Cast Off Soak  INSTRUCTIONS AND LINK TO BLOG

Jean – Jeans have become more and more costly and collectible. Jean collectors never washed them to capture wear lines from a wallet or natural folds in the crotch. It what makes them even more valuable. The deciding factor to dry clean or not depends on personal choice. If you do decide to launder them, we recommend washing each item separately and inside out. Wash multiple items together only if they are like colors. For darker and vibrant colors, wash in cold water. For white or light-colored wash in warm or hot unless you are worried about shrinkage. Fading tends to happen around the back logo/sizing label. Before washing a white pair of jeans with a dark tag, secure a microfiber cloth, microfiber underneath the leather tag so that the dark dye from the leather tag cannot bleed on to jean. The microfiber cloth creates a separation between the label and the jean to prevent dye runoff as a result of the size tag being wet. Keep the fabric in place until they are dry. If you're concerned, you can not provide a barrier between the pant jean fabric and the sewn-on label; consider hand washing the jeans and only submerging all areas of the jean in water except the leather tag.   

Leather & Suede – Make a delicate wash solution in a bowl or tub. You may need to pretreat stained areas with our pretreat solution.   Then dip a microfiber cloth into the solution and wring out as much of the solution as possible. Begin to wipe down a section at a time until you have applied the detergent everywhere. Next, dump out the soap, rinse the bowl, and fill the container with plain lukewarm water. Rinse the garment using the same process. Once you have gone over the entire garment, take a dry cloth and blot the garment to remove any access water and residue. If it dries and you notice a chalky film, go over the area again with plain water. Hang dry the fabric instead of laying the item flat so that dye runoff doesn't seep through to the lower layer.  

The versatile, simple, yet effective ingredients found in Powerizer is what allows consumers to embrace a safer choice, multi purpose detergent and cleaner for tackling entire house cleaning.  To learn more about how to use Powerizer in other cleaning applications, check out the website for weekly blogs.  Also, as you begin to replace cleaners in your home with Powerizer, you may find it helpful to sign up for Powerizer's Subscribe and Save Program, which saves you 15% off on all your orders.