We call it "dry cleaning," but what exactly is the difference between washing with water and dry cleaning?

I'm sure that fashion-conscious readers of Isetan Men's Net are familiar with the "laundry symbols" and know that there are two types of cleaning: "wet cleaning" and "dry cleaning." While you can easily imagine that wet cleaning involves washing with water, can you tell us what is used for dry cleaning? To explain this, Mr. Tanimura from Hakuyosha pulled out two clear containers filled with a colorless, transparent liquid.

The "water" container contains tap water, while the "dry" container contains a solvent. When the same tissue paper is placed in each container and shaken well, the tissue paper in the water container breaks apart and tears into pieces, but the tissue paper in the solvent container remains unchanged in shape. Furthermore, the drying time is shorter, and the texture and dimensions remain almost unchanged. "Although it's called 'dry,' the correct term is 'washing with a solvent (liquid)'!"


"Washing with water inevitably causes shrinkage, distortion, and wrinkles, but dry cleaning is a technique that can clean clothes without such changes," says Tanimura. However, dry cleaning solutions require knowledge and skill to handle, so dry cleaning cannot be done at home.

"Water washing is effective against 'water-soluble stains' like sweat, but it's not good at removing oil. The reason why the collars of dress shirts turn yellow is that oils such as sebum secreted from the body are not properly removed by water washing, and they combine with oxygen in the air and oxidize. On the other hand, dry cleaning is good at removing oil," he explained.
Hakuyosha reportedly uses two to three types of solvents in a single factory, and technicians assess the material and type of stain on each item to determine which solvent to use for washing.

Q2. Do you do any daily care before sending your clothes to the dry cleaners?