Dry Clean Only

Why is it that so many women's clothing items have to be "dry clean only"? I am always disheartened when I see that small text on the tag after I return home from a productive shopping trip.

I, of course, will never take the item to a dry cleaner. Nor will I return it. It's possible that I might use one of the home-based systems like Dryel. More likely, however, I will wash the item in a warm/cold wash with my other clothes and there's a 95% chance it will turn out just fine.

Without even venturing into the environmental side of things, I can make a somewhat reasonable argument against dry cleaning. It costs time and it costs money - two things I want to save and spend with care.

Plus, dry cleaning is old-fashioned. When was the last time you saw a dry cleaning establishment full of 25-year-olds? That said, I would be shocked if a large portion of the dry cleaning business doesn't go under with the advent of the Millenial generation near at hand. Now, if only the clothes manufacturers would catch on.