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The premise of this myth is that dry cleaning jeans will make them stay raw, meaning you won’t get that washed look. But does it actually work? And does it clean your jeans? After all, that’s what you’d want to achieve, right?
Menno Van Meurs from Tenue de Nîmes is a supporter of this approach. “Dry cleaning can potentially clean the jeans without losing too much of its stiffness.”
The problem is that one dry cleaner might treat your jeans very differently than another. “I have seen jeans completely destroyed by a heavy chemical dry cleaning treatment and others come back beautiful,” he explains.
This highlights the core issue with dry cleaning; the way it’s done differs. But what is dry cleaning, really?
As Gordon of Blue in Green explains, dry cleaning jeans usually means they’ll go into a machine similar to a washing machine. But instead of water, a chemical cleaning solvent is used.
And unlike what the name suggests, dry cleaning isn’t a ‘dry’ process, because the clothes are soaked in the solvent!
Andrew Chen of 3sixteen argues that dry cleaning doesn’t really get your jeans that clean. “It may remove some of the smell for sure, but nothing is going to beat actual washing with water in terms of getting dirt and grime and oils out of your jeans,” which is what you want if longevity is the end goal.
If having a pair of jeans that looks like they’ve never been washed is the goal, you can definitely dry clean them, but at that point, why bother? Just keep soldiering on.
Merv Sethi from Okayama Denim summarises the point: “Dry clean your suit, jeans are workwear!”
MYTH STATUS: BUSTED
