What is Dry Cleaning?
Dry cleaning is very similar to regular home laundering, but a liquid solvent is used to clean your clothes instead of water. The solvent contains little or no water, hence the term "dry cleaning".
At Thrifty Dry Cleaners, we use several very large "washing machines". Your clothes do get wet, but the liquid solvent we use evaporates much more quickly than water.
Since solvent is used instead of water, it is not drained and disposed of as a washing machine does with soiled water. The solvent is recirculated through charcoal/paper filters throughout the entire cleaning cycle to remove impurities loosened during the cleaning process. Also with our newly purchased state of the art Cleaning Machines, Every load of clothing is cleaned in crystal clean freshly distilled cleaning solvent.
The drycleaning solvent we use is DF2000. We are the only drycleaner in Erie and the surrounding area to use this relatively new solvent. DF2000 is very similar to the solvent we have used at Thrifty Clean for over 50 years. The main difference is that it is odorless. Most other drycleaners in the area use a solvent called "PERK" which is scheduled to be banned in some states because it is believed to cause cancer. Also DF2000 is much less abrasive on your clothing, your beads, and your buttons. Other so called " Drycleaning methods" exist, but are virtually untested and experimental. In fact most tests on alternative solvents such as Carbon Dioxide Cleaning have shown the alternative solvents to be much less effective, more costly and more problematic. The properties of these alternative methods are often closer to water than to a true Dry Cleaning solvent, thus leading to excessive dye bleeding, shrinkage and wrinkling. In other words, trust your clothes to an experienced Dry Cleaner with a track record in your community. Don't experiment with your clothes.
Drycleaning has two distinct advantages over cleaning with water or "wet" cleaning:
Water swells the fibers. It is this swelling action which causes shrinkage and dye fading in many garments.
Drycleaning solvents are superior to water in the removal of oily or greasy residues which are the base component of many stains.
Of course, a dry cleaning machine is only as good as the person running it. At Thrifty Dry Cleaners, we inspect your clothes for spots and treat them before we put them into the dry cleaning machine. We also perform the important task of checking all the pockets before cleaning. We then separate the clothing according to colorfastness, delicacy, types of fabrics, hard/soft finishes.
Spots are one of the most important reasons that you can rely on us to keep your clothes looking their best. In order to successfully remove stains we have made the investment in:
proper equipment
effective and safe spot removal chemicals
training about fabrics
You can help us keep your clothes in top condition by identifying the location and nature of stains when you drop off your garments.
After your clothes have been properly cleaned, we "finish" (press) your garments using specialized finishing equipment. This produces crisp, smooth results difficult to duplicate at home with a hand iron. After your garments have been pressed, they are inspected one last time and bagged to await your arrival.
Thrifty Dry Cleaners has highly experienced specialists to serve you and tend to your dry cleaning needs.