Take the Plastic Off Your Dry Cleaning, and Other Habits That Make Clothes Last

The bag is for the walk home

That clear film wrapped around freshly cleaned clothes is a carrying case. It keeps the garment tidy and untouched between the counter and your closet. It isn't meant as storage, and Royal Cleaners says so in its care instructions: remove the plastic covering and air out your freshly cleaned items before storing them, then keep them in a cool, dry place.

It's an easy habit to skip. The clothes look fine in the bag, hanging on the rail, and the bag seems to be doing something useful. Mostly it isn't.

Why plastic makes a poor closet liner

Fabric needs to breathe. Wool, cotton, silk and linen all hold a little moisture from the air, and when the garment is sealed in film, that moisture has nowhere to go. Over a humid stretch it can settle into a musty smell, or into mildew in the folds and under the arms. White and cream fabrics left in plastic for a long time can take on a yellow cast.

There's a simpler reason too. Freshly cleaned clothes can carry a faint smell from the process, and it fades quickly in open air. Sealed in a bag, it stays. Hang the garment somewhere with moving air for a few hours before it goes into the closet. Not in direct sun, which fades dyes, but near an open window or just out in a room.

Habits that matter more than any product

• Air out new-from-the-cleaner garments for a few hours before they go into the closet.
• Use the right hanger. Wide, shaped hangers for jackets and coats keep the shoulders from collapsing. Thin wire hangers pull shoulder points into little peaks.
• Clip trousers and skirts on a clip hanger, or fold trousers over a padded bar along the crease.
• Fold knits. A sweater hung for months grows shoulder bumps and stretches. Folded in a drawer or on a shelf, it keeps its shape.
• Give clothes room. A packed closet crushes fabric, creates creases and cuts off airflow.
• Store things clean. Food, sweat and body oil left on a garment set over time, and they're what attract moths to wool.

Seasonal storage

If your winter coats and heavy sweaters go away for the summer, clean them first. It sounds backward to clean something you didn't think looked dirty, but the invisible residue is the problem. Moths are drawn to the sweat and food left on wool far more than to clean fabric. A coat that goes into storage clean comes out ready to wear in October.

For the weeks or months it sits, use a breathable cotton or canvas garment bag rather than the cleaner's film. Keep it in a cool, dry closet inside the house, not a garage, attic or basement, where temperature and humidity swing hard.

Suits and shirts

A two-piece suit is $17.95 on the Royal Cleaners price list, and a laundered shirt starts at $3.00. Neither is much compared with replacing them, and a few small habits stretch the time between visits. Hang the jacket on a wide, shaped hanger so the shoulders hold. Give a suit a day of rest between wears so the fabric can recover. Brush off lint and dust. And clean it when it needs it, not by the calendar.

Shirts are simpler. Button them on the hanger, leave a little space between them, and keep them out of the plastic. One New York customer, Korey L., says on the shop's testimonials page that “my shirts are always starched to perfection.” They hold that crispness best in a closet where air moves.

Send the hangers and wrappers back

Once the plastic is off, don't toss it. Royal Cleaners recycles plastic wrappers and hangers, so the film and the hangers can go back to the shop instead of into the bin. In practice: keep a bag in the closet, drop each wrapper and spare hanger in as you unwrap your order, and bring the bag next time you drop off a load. It takes no extra trip and nothing to remember beyond the bag itself.

If you've accumulated a drawer of mismatched hangers from several years of cleaning, this is a good time to empty it. A stack of hangers is the kind of thing that shows up in every household and never gets thrown away or used.

The short version

Take the plastic off when you get home. Let the clothes air for a few hours. Hang them on hangers that fit them, with a little breathing room, in a cool dry closet. Clean before storing, and hand the film and hangers back at the counter. The shop is at 814 San Pablo Avenue in Albany, open weekdays from 7 to 2 and Saturdays from 8:30 to 2:30, and the number is (510) 323-4167.