Why Does This Piece Say “Dry Clean Only”?
You’ve fallen in love with the print, the embroidery, the silk or perhaps those little handcrafted details.
Now comes the less glamorous part: how do you keep it looking that way?
At ViryaByUrbi, some of our clothes carry a Dry Clean Only label. It isn’t because we want to make caring for your clothes complicated. It’s because certain fabrics and techniques simply deserve a gentler kind of care.
So, what exactly is dry cleaning?
Despite the name, your clothes don’t stay completely “dry.”
Dry cleaning is a professional cleaning process that uses specialized solvents rather than immersing garments in water and detergent. This can help protect delicate fabrics, colors, surface embellishments and garment structure that may react badly to conventional washing.
And that matters enormously when a garment has been made or finished by hand.
What kind of clothes should be dry cleaned?
At ViryaByUrbi, we particularly recommend professional dry cleaning for pieces featuring:
Hand block printing
Traditional block-printed fabrics can have subtle variations in color and print that are part of their beauty. Harsh detergents, soaking, vigorous washing and repeated exposure to water may cause colors to bleed or fade faster.
Silk
Beautiful, luxurious and wonderfully delicate. Water, heat, rubbing and unsuitable detergents can affect silk’s color, texture and luster. When we specify dry cleaning for a silk garment, we recommend following it.
Hand embroidery
Hours of workmanship can sit within a few inches of embroidery. Washing machines don’t know that! Threads can snag, loosen, shrink or distort, particularly when different materials have been used together.
Embellished garments
Beads, sequins, metallic work, decorative trims and other embellishments need special attention. Machine washing and tumbling can loosen them or damage both the decoration and the fabric underneath.
But do I need to dry clean it after every wear?
Usually, no.
If your garment isn’t stained or particularly soiled, give it some air instead. Hang it in a well-ventilated, shaded area before putting it back into your wardrobe. Spot cleaning may sometimes be appropriate too, depending on the fabric and embellishment.
Less unnecessary cleaning can mean less stress on the garment and a longer life for something you love.
A little care goes a long way
Slow fashion isn’t only about how something is made.
It’s also about how long we keep it.
When a garment has been block printed, embroidered, embellished or crafted from a delicate fabric, caring for it properly helps preserve the color, craftsmanship and character that made you choose it in the first place.
So when your ViryaByUrbi tag says Dry Clean Only, think of it less as an instruction and more as:
Handle with love. I was made to stay with you. ♡
Vacation Vibe. Fashion Tribe.