Dry Cleaning in Your Dryer 
by Deborah Michelle Sanders, J.D.  
Deborah.Sanders@worldnet.att.net 

You can dry-clean clothes at home for about 50 cents per 
garment by using Custom Cleaner Home Dry Cleaning kit 
(which is sold in a blue box in the laundry detergent aisle, 
priced for somewhere between $7 and $9). The initial kit 
includes a special heavy plastic bag with a reclosable seal 
and 3 special dry-cleaning sheets. You place a dry-cleaning 
sheet in the bag along with your 4 blouses or 2 large 
garments and seal the bag.  Then you tumble-dry the bag 
on low heat or the permanent-press setting.  

There is also a refill kit sold, with 5 dry-cleaning sheets 
but no plastic bag. The plastic bag lasts for 8 dry-cleaning 
cycles in my experience (the manufacturer claims it will 
last for 20). 

I have found results from using the Custom Cleaner kits 
very satisfactory with silk blouses and dresses. I would go 
to a professional dry-cleaner, however, if there were stains 
on such garments, even though the manufacturer of 
Custom Cleaner gives directions for stain removal.  This 
is because of an interview I had with David Uchic of the 
International Fabricare Institute. He says that the 
Custom Cleaner kit (and Proctor & Gamble's competing 
product, Dry Elle, which is not yet on the market) simply 
"freshens" garments between regular dry-cleanings. He 
says that the kits will remove the smell of smoke from 
garments, for example. But they will not remove dirt.  

Furthermore, it is important to remove dirt before 
pressing a garment. Mr. Uchic feels that it is unethical for 
Custom Cleaner to advertise that it "dry-cleans" garments 
because it sounds as though it is safe to iron the garment 
after its being "freshened" with the kit. 

In any event, Custom Cleaner is definitely not suitable for 
tailored garments such as jackets or sportscoats. And a 
raincoat or winter coat is simply too heavy to be used in 
the kit's plastic bag. 

Still, despite its limitations, it is wonderful to be able to 
save on dry-cleaning bills, even if all you can do with the 
kits is to "freshen" lightweight garments between regular 
dry-cleanings. 
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