There are lots of dry cleaning supplies you’ll need to get to provide a thorough cleaning.

To successfully launch or operate a dry cleaning business, you’ll need all the equipment in place. Part of the requirement includes cleaning supplies.

You don’t need to be stressed about figuring out what dry cleaning supplies to include as we’ve done this work for you.

Here, we have written a comprehensive list of dry cleaning supplies to have for your business.

Essential Laundry And Dry Cleaning Materials

There are lots of supplies necessary for effective dry cleaning tasks. Supplies include equipment or tools as well as cleaning products or agents.

First, there are washers and dryers, then cleaning chemicals, presses, sorting bins, hangers, garment coverings & racks as well as tags.

  • Dry Cleaning Washers & Dryers

When purchasing a washing machine and dryer for your dry cleaning business, it is necessary to go for highly specialized equipment. These are designed for commercial purposes and are very durable.

The decision on the size of equipment should be influenced by available space as well as your needs.

For professional dry cleaning services, it’s best to go with front-loading machines. The holding capacity of both the washing machine and dryer is important.

  • Cleaning Chemicals

This refers to the cleaning agents used for dry cleaning. These are sophisticated cleaning solvents that can remove dirt from clothing without the need to load them into a washing machine or dryer.

There are 5 major cleaning chemicals used.

They include Glycol Ethers, Perchloroethylene, Liquid Silicone, Hydrocarbons as well as Liquid Carbon Dioxide. Let’s expand on each of these chemicals for better understanding;

Glycol Ethers

This is an eco-friendly dry cleaning chemical that is used by dry cleaners to pre-spot or selectively treats certain stains on garments. No matter the stain, this process will get rid of it in no time.

Glycol Ethers are either sprayed onto these stained areas of the garment or applied using a soft brush.

So far, there have been speculations by dry cleaners about this product eventually phasing out PERC as a dry cleaning agent.

Perchloroethylene

This cleaning agent is widely called PERC by professional dry cleaners. It is a highly volatile cleaning liquid that easily evaporates into the air. However, more important is the fact that it helps you get the job done in little time.

There have been recent concerns by scholars about the likelihood of this cleaning chemical causing cancer. This is despite being one of the most widely used dry cleaning agents. However, no conclusions have been reached about its safety.

Liquid Silicone

Liquid silicone is known as one of the mildest dry cleaning agents on clothes.

Other advantages include the absence of discoloration on clothing as well as being an eco-friendly dry cleaning supply. It goes by its full chemical name of Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (phew!! Quite a mouthful right?) or D5 for short.

Liquid Carbon Dioxide

This is one of the best dry cleaning agents yet. Although there have been claims to the contrary by some dry cleaners.

It is used in all types of fabric cleaning including stain removal. While this is effective for cleaning, not a lot of dry cleaners see the need to use it.

Hydrocarbons

As the name suggests, this is a petroleum-based cleaning agent used by dry cleaners. It is more aggressive than products like PERC, yet requires a longer dry cleaning cycle.

Is this combustible? Yes, it is. However, it presents a low fire or explosion risk.

  • Presses

Presses are essential equipment needed for dry cleaning. These come in different brands Nevertheless; their functions are pretty much the same.

A press is like a large-sized iron, only this time, you lay clothing into it and press down the head which steams and presses the article of clothing.

This piece of equipment is mostly used on uniforms and pants. Popular laundry press brands include Colox Presses Special, Brava Presses, Colox Presses, and Standard Presses.

  • Sorting Bins

Among the many supplies to have for your dry cleaning business are sorting bins.

This equipment helps keep clothing separate, thus making your operations more organized. You won’t have to lump whites with colored clothing or mix one customer’s clothes with another’s.

What more? Sorting bins help move clothes to and from washers and dryers. These are available at dry cleaning equipment stores, online stores as well as online.

  • Garment Coverings, Racks, and Hangers

After clothing has been successfully dry cleaned, it goes to a hanger.

Also, a garment covering is used to cover it to prevent dirt from settling on it. You’ll need lots of hangers because these will always go with the customer when they pick up their clothes.

Temporary storage will be needed as well. This is the rack where clothes are kept. You can have multiple racks to separate dirty or yet-to-be-cleaned clothes from clean clothing. This increases your level of organization.

  • Tags

Without tags, there will be chaos at best in your dry cleaning business. Customers must fill out their details on an information tag. This is then attached to the garment brought by the client until it is collected.

Care should be taken to ensure this isn’t mixed and lost in the pile of clothes and away from those it was attached to.

Dry cleaning tags will be among the supplies you’ll frequently need. There are others like the tagging gun, the tag on a roll, and tagging needle.

Tags, Forms, and Invoices

There are varieties of dry cleaning tags, forms, and invoices available for purchase. Some of these products include Safety Mark Tag Rolls, Thermal Rolls, SVT-113 3-Part Full Size Speedvoices, Laundry Tagvoices, Stock Laundry List, and NoWaste Dry Cleaning Tags.

Others are the #00-99 Solid Roll Lot Dry Cleaning Tags -10,000/Box, #0000-9999 Blank Roll Lot Dry Cleaning Tags -10,000/Box, Cleartype Square Dry Cleaning Piece Tags, the Cleartype Regular Dry Cleaning Piece Tags, and the Cleartype Stripe Strip Book Tags.

These are essential dry cleaning supplies you should include in your list of supplies. This list contains both pieces of equipment as well as cleaning products that are necessary for the success of any dry cleaning enterprise.

Your success as a dry cleaner begins with getting all of these necessities as they contribute to the overall cost of a dry cleaning job.

One Comment

  1. Luke Smith says:

    It’s great that you pointed out how you’ll need all the equipment in place in order to successfully launch or operate a dry cleaning business. I was checking out a laundry business guide earlier and I noticed the various equipment requirements. For example, there is apartment complex laundry equipment now.

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