Special treatment….Traditional dry cleaning or Eco-friendly care

Special treatment….Traditional dry cleaning or Eco-friendly care

By Gail Service

Do your treat your dress shirts as well as you treat yourself?

When you are feeling grimey, grungy and out of sorts nothings better than a hot shower, but that laundry hamper in the corner− filled with your best shirts for work, won’t wash themselves, there is no quick hop in the shower for them. So what will you do?

Ask any man in America how he takes care of his dress shirts and he will give you an answer that is logical and convenient. Professional dry cleaning is the most likely response to this query. Drop off your shirts, get a ticket, come back in two to five days and some harried hard working person will hand you a bundle of hangers with your freshly laundered shirts.

Now you’ve paid roughly $1.95 per shirt and you are on your way home.

But here is something you probably didn’t you know, that the dry cleaning chemicals used to clean your shirts can destroy the fabric, breaking down the fibers and cause your white dress shirts to look dingy, gray and a bit flabby. Also for some people wearing newly dry cleaned clothing can cause a negative skin reaction caused by sensitivity to the chemicals used.

Instead of the going to the cleaners’ method, how about an Eco-friendly solution; consider using the washing machine, saving the planet, your health and some money while caring for your shirts.

Eco-friendly laundry products and techniques can assist in keeping your budget intact and save your health.

When choosing to use a washing machine be sure to set the machine on the gentle cycle with luke- warm water to preserve the fabric. Some eco- safe detergents to consider are, Ecos by Earth Friendly Products Free & Clear at $6 for 50 oz; it’s a nice, garden-fresh, mild detergent that's tough on stains. It washes a full load with just one ounce and has a built-in soy-based fabric softener and cellulose-based optical brightener.

Another product is, Arm & Hammer Essentials at $3.99 for 50 oz., great for sensitive skin and leaves clothes feeling soft, and works very well on hard to clean sweat stains.

There are Eco-friendly dry cleaners, though they are not prevalent and found in more liberal and progressive neighborhoods such as Greenwich Village in NY.

These cleaners use one of two methods wet-cleaning and CO2.

Wet cleaning uses water and specialized detergents that are milder than home use products. Carbon dioxide (CO2) cleaning uses non-toxic, liquid CO2 as the cleaning solvent, along with detergent.

Whatever you should decide, just be sure to give tender loving care to your dress shirts so they will last another work day. In the economy as it is, where loyalty is hard to find, your well cared for dress shirt well be on your side and help present your very best self to a new boss or and not so old one.