When did dry cleaning become common?

Laura

Laura

Alumni
This is something I've been wondering about for a long time. I found <a href="http://sewing.about.com/library/sewnews/library/aafabr14.htm" target=blank>this site</A> that talks about the history of dry cleaning, and it has been around a lot longer than I realized. According to the article, the first dry cleaner opened in Paris in 1840. It also says, "Dry cleaning was a hazardous profession until the 1926 introduction of Stoddard solvent, the first petroleum solvent produced specifically for dry cleaning."

So, my question is, when did garment tags begin mentioning to dry clean or not to dry clean the garment? (I figure that's a pretty good indication of when the average person began to use dry cleaning services.)

This is a question that pops up for me every now and then, and this time it was prompted by <A href="http://cgi.ebay.com/STUNNING-Persian-Lamb-Fur-Full-Length-Coat-OPERA_W0QQitemZ8324553007QQcategoryZ52409QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target=blank>this "1920s Persian Lamb Coat."</A>

Laura
 
I know that care labels became mandatory more or less around 1971 according to our "Quick Tips".

http://www.vintagefashionguild.org/qt_labels.html

But I cannot answer when it first would have appeared voluntarily....and from a cultural perspective when folks drycleaned en masse. It could have been reserved for the wealthy or only specialized garments for awhile. Like something for a once in a lifetime event. But i really don't know

Chris
 
I forgot to mention in my first post...

I remember a few years ago seeing a movie that was set in the 1950s, I think. I don't remember much of the plot, and I can't remember the actors' names :BAGUSE:. I think it had something to do with a barber in a small town and murder. Nevertheless, I do remember a traveling salesman-type in the movie trying to sell the barber on the idea of opening a dry cleaning shop in the small town. He said it would be the wave of the future, but the barber thought he was crazy. I don't know if that's accurate as far as a timeline (of dry cleaning becoming popular) or not...

Laura
 
I always wondered that when I saw dry clean only or do not dry clean...just when that started.

I think the coat looks 50's to me or even early 60's with that length???
 
the article discusses dry cleaning establishments. However, it was my understanding that home dry cleaning kits were widely available and is what people used say back in the 50s and 40s and maybe earlier. I can remember my parents talking about this when I was young back in the 60s. They thought it odd to pay someone to do it since it had always been something they had done at home with a kit. And I don't think it was a big deal.

carol
 
I remember "sending stuff to the cleaner's" as long as I can remember! And that would be back to the very late 50s, when my dad would have hats & suits cleaned (although it would have been fairly rare, but I do recall this). Many of my 60s-era dresses have the dry cleaning tags on them, but I've only had a very few 50s items that had that care label.
 
I agree, I don't think that coat is 1930s but rather early 1950s. I don't believe I have ever seen a dry clean or do not dry clean label in a garment before the 1950s. Fur coats were relined if the lining became too stinky and silk dresses were worn for special occasions only because they weren't washable. Wool was washed, as was early rayon (unlike the crappy rayon we have these days that doesn't wash well), however, I have had cotton dresses from the 1920s and 1930s that have VERY runable dyes so I can't imagine those were washed... I don't know...

There are instructions for cleaning garments in Victorian household management books, including spot cleaning with solvents, brushing clothes down, and airing garments out between wearings. Men's wool suits were washed, which is why they are usually made of a tighter spun wool and weave, so they would wash well, but you can often see rumply suits in Victorian photographs.
 
Thanks so much!

I asked Seth (my husband, the movie expert) about the movie I had in mind. It's <I>The Man Who Wasn't There</I>, directed by the Coen brothers. My memory of the plot was a little off: <A HREF="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243133/" target=blank>"A laconic, chain-smoking barber blackmails his wife's boss and lover for money to invest in dry cleaning, but his plan goes terribly wrong."</A>

I had no idea that home kits were available and were in use in the '40s and '50s. If you're already cleaning at home, it makes sense that you'd think sending your clothes out to be cleaned is a waste.

I've seen spot-cleaning instructions in late Victorian and Edwardian magazines & books. It's very helpful to know you haven't seen "dry clean" tags in garments before the 1950s.

Thanks!
Laura
 
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