New Product Review ... and query

Feb 18 15:11 UTC 2000

Shortly after I fist heard about the new 'home drycleaning" product "Dry-el",
I had to try it.  I have a lot of "dry-clean only" clothes, and they have
traditionally been workn until they needed cleaning and then sat in my
drycleaning stack for up to a year waiting for me to get them cleaned.  This
seemed like the perfect solution, if it worked.

Well, it seems to.  The clothes come out smelling nice and the spot remover
works very well -- and best of all the sweaters with sequins look better than
they did after a real drycleaning.  (Why would anyone press a cashmere
sweater?)

The way it works is you put up to four items into a special heat resistant
bag and toss in what looks like an especially large baby-wipe.  Seal the bag
and run it through the dryer for 30 minutes.  If you immediately hand the
clothes up, by the time they're dry most of the wrinkles have fallen out. 
(The process leaves the clothes very slightly damp.)

I understand how it makes the clothes smell nice -- I think.  The perfumes
in the drycleaning thingy may just mask the body scent, maybe.  If that's
what's happening, it's working very well now, but may be less effective as
time goes on.  I understand how the spot remover works, sort of.  I watched
two cups of coffee drip out of my blue blazer into the absorbing mat they
provide for the spotting process (nothing like a *real* test for a new
product, eh?) but I'm not quite sure where the grunge -- the light all-over
soil that collects on a garment as you wear it -- is going.  It seems to be
quite gone when I take the clothes out of the bag, but there doesn't seem to
be any dirt on the bag or on the cloth.

Can anyone explain hw this process works?  Is there anything I need to know
about this stuff that will change my mind about it being wonderful?  I know
that the toxic stuff they use in "real" drycleaning is a nightmare --
breathing it is bad for you and I'm don't feel really safe wearing the clothes
until they've aired for a couple of days after drycleaning, but this stuff
seems safe ... it doesn't irritate my skin at all.