Both Clean Bee Laundry locations are convenient drop off locations for dry cleaning. We’re not your typical dry cleaner.  No chemical smells or messy counters.  You’ll feel quite at home at Clean Bee Laundry.

Dry cleaning, despite what the average person may think, is actually a bit of a misnomer. There is nothing dry about dry cleaning. The clothes get just as wet as when you wash them. However, unlike traditional clothes washing, the cleaning solvent is not water-based. Thus, because water is not being used, it has been coined dry cleaning.

The dry cleaning process uses solvents to clean clothes and fabrics without any water. The most commonly used solvent is tetracholoroethylene. Clean Bee Laundry’s dry cleaning service is provided by a DLI Professional Cleaner with the special equipment required to dry clean materials and safely dispose of the waste product.

There are four stages to the dry cleaning process: accepting the clothing, inspection, washing, and drying. All four stages are required for every item that is dry cleaned.

Check the care label in your garments to ensure that they can be dry cleaned. If you have any doubt, check with us. We will inspect the material and will be able to advise you on the best cleaning method. Some materials, such as cotton shirts, do not require dry cleaning. However, many people bring these shirts to Clean Bee Laundry to be washed and pressed. Inspect the clothing for any stains, tears, loose buttons or threads. It is important to advise the us  of these items when you drop off your items. In the dry cleaning processes, loose threads can unravel the clothes and buttons can be lost. Most stains can be pretreated and removed, but only before the process begins.

In the washing stage of the dry cleaning process, the clothes are placed inside a chamber that rotates within a larger cylinder that holds the solvent. Solvent is added to the inner chamber until it is one-third full and the clothing is agitated. This lasts for approximately 20 minutes. After the wash cycle, there is a rise cycle, where fresh solvent is loaded into the machine. This is done to prevent the dirt from being reabsorbed by the garments. At the end of this cycle the extraction process begins, which removes almost all of the solvent used. In the drying cycle, the clothes are placed into a stream of air heated to 145°F (63°C). The air evaporates any traces of the solvent from the garments and a light scent is added to mask the chemical smell. If you are sensitive the light scent, please let us know.

Dry cleaning is necessary for fabrics that are delicate and may not do well in daily washing. This may be because the fabrics simply do not react well to water and soap. In some cases, it may be possible to either dry clean, or wash fabrics by hand. Most care tags will offer this option, if it is recommended.

We use DLI Professional Cleaners to process your garments. Our dry cleaning specialists have decades of experience. Your clothes will feel, smell and look so much better and they will even last longer when they have been professionally cleaned. We are committed to helping preserve the environment and its resources. We reuse drycleaning packaging, including hangers, whenever possible. We are conscious of and do all that we can to limit our energy consumption.