Dry Cleaning at Home: Saving Cash with Dryel

Posted by: Kristen // January 26 2010

An unfortunate side-effect of working in a corporate environment is a serious dry cleaning bill. I avoided this for several years at a company that had a dress policy of “Every Day is Casual Friday,” but as I moved up into positions that required more formal attire, I had to face it. While I experimented with Dryel before, I saw the new kit a few weeks ago and thought I would give it another try.

The first time I used Dryel (about nine years ago), the results were mixed. The plastic bag you used to put your garments into the dryer was a plastic contraption that grew increasingly brittle. And the stain pre-treatment consisted of a cleansing pad and a messy squirt bottle, neither of which instilled much confidence. The process felt like a lot of work. On top of that, the clothes came out “refreshed” but not feeling truly clean. I bagged Dryel (pun intended) and began to buy more washable items and use the dry cleaner in moderation.

Now Dryel has come out with an improved delivery system. Would the new kit cut down my dry cleaning bill?

The new Dryel is much easier to use. For one thing, the stain remover now comes in a pen with a brush at the end that helps you work the liquid into the stain. The Dryel sheet is now more vented, but the scent is still the same. Finally, the bag now feels and moves like fabric and is closed with a zipper instead of Velcro. I was able to read the instructions and get started within minutes. Once you rub stain remover into any stains, simply put up to four garments in (about half the size of the bag), add the pre-moistened cleaning cloth and zip it up. It goes into the dryer for 30 minutes on medium heat, creating steam actions to refresh garments and ease out wrinkles. As soon as the cycle finishes, grab the clothing out and hang it up to complete the wrinkle release.

To test the effectiveness with a variety of clothing, I put in a pair of pants, a pair of lined suit pants, a “wrinkle-free” men’s dress shirt, and a delicate hand wash sweater.

The results? I was very happy with the sweater, which came out wrinkle-free and without the stain I had worked on with the Dryel pen. The “no-iron” men’s shirt was clean enough, but could still use a little ironing. The regular, unlined pants came out great, and after hanging the wrinkles fell out. The lined pants didn’t seem as clean (probably due to their thickness), but wrinkle-wise they were fine. The lining seemed to be a little looser after the cycle, but it was easier enough to get it to fall correctly on the hanger.

I don’t think Dryel will ever completely replace my regular dry cleaning regimen. I’m not very good with an iron, and there’s still just something about the professional process that makes certain things feel cleaner. That being said, I think using Dryel to extend garments is ideal. And for sweaters and other items that don’t need pressing, you don’t need much more than this anyway. If you take decent care of your clothes and don’t ball them up immediately when you take them off, Dryel can save you big bucks without a ton of extra ironing.

You can clean 10 garments with Dryel for the price of one garment going to the dry cleaner, making this a Sly way to cut down on cleaning costs. While my beloved dry cleaner won’t lose my business completely, she’ll definitely be seeing me less frequently.

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