This Man Was Right…


Law School	Frugality	Personal Finance	Productivity	Career

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I posted recently over at Wise Bread about my exorbitant dry cleaning weekly bill. If anyone can relate to spending too much money to clean clothes you don’t even really like to wear, it must be law students. Whether you’re schlepping back-and-forth to your externship with a judge, or wearing a suit to try to impress the partners at the firm you’re interviewing with, dry cleaning can put a serious cramp in your budget.

I’ve gone through many dry cleaners, and the retirement of my most recent dry cleaner (real old-fashioned Italian guy who was in the business since his father opened up shop in 1933) prompted me to take a serious look at the need for dry cleaning.

Most personal finance blogs do not go in-depth on how dry cleaning can hurt you financially, but I have found that I sometimes spend in excess of $500 a month on dry cleaning. With that in mind, I’ve developed a two-step plan to relieve my dry cleaning woes:

1. Dry Cleaning At-Home Kits

Dryel is the first product that popped into my head. I’ve seen their commercials, and it seems Dryel has the market cornered on at-home dry cleaning kits. These seem straightforward, and I have it on good advice that the Dryel product is much more environmentally-friendly then the stuff used by most dry cleaners. Also, even when you factor in the cost of running the dryer a couple extra cycles a week, this type of product should save me tons of money on dry cleaning sweaters, vests and polo shirts.

2. Professional Grade Steamer

Rowenta makes the best irons, so they must make the best commercial steamers as well. The prices might seem a little steep, but I think this product will pay for itself in less than a month. My friend has a steamer that he uses for suits and dress shirts, and he swears to me that he doesn’t even use an iron. I already have a pants press (recycled from my parent’s garbage) so the steamer, coupled with the Dryel kit should complete my trifecta of at-home dry cleaning products.

I’m interested to hear what you have to say. Who among us spends way too much on dry cleaning, and are you willing to give up the cleaner for a do-it-yourself solution? What are some other products/services that law students pay way too much for?

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Tags:

dry cleaning products, home dry cleaning kits, personal finance

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Tony Marrone | 23 Jan 08 | Cleaning, Clothing

19 Comments

AJ on 24.01.2008 at 01:20 (Reply)

Great post. May I ask that you re-visit this in a month or so and report back on how you’ve done with the steamer and dryel? And how much do pants presses run anyway?
Justin on 24.01.2008 at 07:12 (Reply)

I’ve always found that taking items directly out of the dryer and hanging up eliminates about 50% of the need to iron.
Ginger on 24.01.2008 at 08:29 (Reply)

You read my mind! LOL!!! I would say that we spend around $200 per month for dry cleaning and the increase came because I realized that the dryer was ripping up my clothes!!

Ive been doing research on frugal alternatives because with the budget I have in mind moving forward we will need to cut this expense.

Can you post a review of the steam iron and Dryel? We bought one a year or so ago but never used it. Im unable to get past how it would remove the daily arm pit funk without washing or dry cleaning… not sure how that works.
Amber on 24.01.2008 at 08:53 (Reply)

Ginger, I use Dryel on some of my clothes but I have to handwash them periodically because Dryel DOESN’T get out the arm pit/deodorant funk. Mostly what it seems to do is just steam the clothes with a good smell, so they seem fresh. I still use it on sweaters and on some other shirts that I don’t want to put in the washer all the time.

I most definitely wouldn’t use it on a nice suit, though. I’ve noticed that the Dryel sometimes makes my sweaters pill a little (not as much as washing them in the machine, though), and sometimes pieces of the sheet flake off and little white dots are embedded in my clothes.

I like it because it cuts down on handwashing, and because I probably would never take a $30 sweater from Old Navy to the dry cleaners, so it’s a way to keep those kinds of things looking nice for longer.

I am interested in how this steamer experiment plays out….
1. Ginger on 24.01.2008 at 09:02 (Reply)
  
  I was afraid of that! My husband is able to get his dress shirts done for about .99 per shirt and it works out to be cheaper if he pays for it when he drops it off. But I mainly dry clean sweaters and dress pants which rack up at $3-4 a pop.
  
  Im interested to find out how the dry cleaning PROCESS works. How DO they get out the funk? It seems as though we would be able to steam and iron the clothes but what about the funk?
~M on 24.01.2008 at 09:46 (Reply)

At my dry cleaners, my blouses cost several dollars more to wash and press (avoid actual dry cleaning when you can due to chemicals and it’s also bad for the clothes) than my fiancé’s dress shirts. Apparently men’s shirts can go through some machine but ladies’ shirts need to be done by hand.

As a 3L, I’d think that the most needless expense of law students is daily coffee-type drinks and eating out for lunch.
CJ on 24.01.2008 at 10:19 (Reply)

I definitely agree with the “eating out at lunch”/ coffee expense. Now, most of us frugal students wouldn’t consider spending $7 at the school cafeteria, but I’m shocked by how many people would! My method- keep food in my locker so if I can’t make it home I’ll have a back up plan. (I’m a 1L who lives on campus). I also see a lot of people spending money on a lot of NEW supplements that they might not even read. There really ought to be a better method for used supplements!
adam on 24.01.2008 at 10:41 (Reply)

A few things: ALWAYS dry clean your jacket and pants together. If you do one more that the other the colors will not match. Depending on how often you wear your suits, you don’t have to dry clean them - if you have enough suits you may only have to do it once a year. Men’s Warehouse (not my favorite store) will press any of their suits for free at any time (I’d be willing to wager that Joseph A. Bank - my favorite store - does this, as well, but you’d have to ask). Further, just because it says dry clean on the label doesn’t mean that it actually has to be dry cleaned. Additionally, you might want to ask your local dry cleaner how often they distill their cleaning solutions. Oh, and if you bring your shirts in rather than wash and iron them yourself, you’re on crack!
adam on 24.01.2008 at 10:44 (Reply)

They use products like acetate to take out the smell. As mentioned in my post, check with your dry cleaner to find out how often they distill their chemicals. You can find out more information by contacting the national association of dry cleaners (or whatever it is called).
Ashley on 24.01.2008 at 11:36 (Reply)

Great post! I’ve been reading for awhile, so I guess I’ll delurk.

I’m just beginning to learn costs associated with cleaning and altering a work wardrobe. I work full-time for a firm, and will begin an evening law school program this summer. I would be interested to learn what you consider the “basics” for a law school wardrobe. How many suits, pants, skirts, dress shirts, etc. would you recommend for those of us just starting out?
Betty on 24.01.2008 at 12:55 (Reply)

Lands End makes a really nice line of no-iron shirts that need only tiny touch-ups when you dry in the dryer and promptly hang. They’re more expensive than the regular shirts, but worth every penny! They don’t look like old fashioned “permanent press”, either.
Carol on 25.01.2008 at 12:08 (Reply)

Used to spend a small fortune on dry cleaning, got past it.
For the kind of money you’re spending each month, why not invest in one of those new dryers that steams your garments.
Katie on 26.01.2008 at 16:26 (Reply)

Wear an undershirt and use Febreeze.
Frugal Momma on 28.01.2008 at 08:45 (Reply)

I am so past the drying cleaning stage since I am now a stay at home mom but your post brings back me spending about $100 a month on dry cleaning each month.

As for a steamer check out the Tobi Steamer-it maybe a good option.
Emily on 28.01.2008 at 09:11 (Reply)

I’ve used Dryel in the past and agree that basically all it does is give the scent of cleanliness, not actual cleanliness. BUT BEWARE — I have ruined two sweaters with Dryel’s alleged “cleaner” that you can put on individual spots. Both were light, Banana Republic women’s sweaters. I was annoyed.

In a huge amount of cases I find that using the washer on Delicate or handwashing, then air-drying will work for sweaters, pants, etc. I don’t know much about suits.

If you’re concerned about wrinkles, try Downy Wrinkle Releaser. I swear it’s the best; it works on even ridiculous wrinkles. The trick is that you have to have sufficient time for it to dry (like 5-10 minutes).
paulette on 05.05.2008 at 08:36 (Reply)

That a good idea. I think its much better for one to have dry cleaning kits at home. Atleast you know that its cheaper compared to having it done by others.
General Public Warehousing on 16.06.2008 at 00:56 (Reply)

Good idea genrate business.
Mark - Productivity501 on 20.06.2008 at 07:17 (Reply)

If you are spending $500 per month I think you could probably negotiate a special rate based on volume. Just make sure you talk to someone who actually has the authority to make a deal. Better yet, ask several places to place a bid for your business. If you can partner up with a few other people who have heavy dry cleaning bills you could easily represent $20,000 yearly (or more). That should be enough to get the owners attention.
Law Magazine Blogger on 01.10.2008 at 04:46 (Reply)

I think its much better for one to have dry cleaning kits at home.