Dry Clean Only

I love my clothes, even if they are second hand. I treat each blouse, skirt and pair of jeans as if they're little pieces of royalty. They are lovingly washed and line dried. I usually iron them on the wrong side to help preserve the color. Delicate pieces are hand washed or put in a pillow case in the washer on gentle cycle...you get the picture, right? One thing I don't like to do is have items dry cleaned. Why? Well, when I pay $4.00 for a skirt, I don't want to spend two times that much to have it cleaned. But that's what happened with this Tommy Bahama silk skirt! I wore it three times and would have worn it a fourth until I spilled raw egg down the front (it's a long story). Normally I would have tried to wash it by hand but I like it so much and was really scared I'd ruin it if I attempted to do it myself, so to the dry cleaner it went.
     Fortunately, the egg came out, but do you know what the cost was? $6, plus and additional $2.10 (the pleats were 10 cents each extra). I now have over $12 invested in this skirt...pretty steep for a thrifter like me.
     I usually avoid situations like this by foregoing items that need to be dry cleaned or simply ignoring the instructions on the tag and washing them anyway.

9 times out of 10 the results are fine. This month I'm conducting a grand experiment. I'm going to wash something that should definitely be dry cleaned. I'll share the results with you ...good or bad. Cross your fingers!

     What do you do when it comes to "dry clean only" items? Avoid them, ignore the instructions or a little of both?
Any recent laundry disasters?
How about tips for removing stains? (especially oil) or laundry hints in gerneral. Do tell.

By the way, it's to the sink with a little Woolite and cold water next time this skirt needs cleaning!

Until next post, happy dressing,
Sincerely,
Style Agent 909