The more experience people have, the more they cling to their stereotypes in the face of new facts
Dry Cleaning vs. Wet Cleaning — No matter the setting, it’s never an easy topic.
From ”It works” versus ”It doesn’t” to horror stories like ”I ruined it when I put it in water,” or comments from the ”I keep experimenting” crowd, and even the ”80 to 20 is the limit” fatalists — this subject is a perfect recipe for heated debates among cleaners.
And indeed, one such debate broke out in a cleaners’ chat group.
As many readers already know, Korean Cleaners Monthly runs a KakaoTalk group chat under the same name. In late August, the magazine posted a short message about solvent odor problems in the summer, offering a few prevention tips. It added that for garments soaked with sweat and humidity, dry cleaning isn’t enough — they should be wet cleaned instead, even if one doesn’t own professional wet cleaning equipment. A home washing machine with a ”hand wash” cycle would do, it said.
Then, the conversation began (ones in bold type are KCM’s talk):
- “I’m still using perc at my shop, but since I hear we won’t be able to use it much longer… I’m very worried. We’re in a wealthy area, and some suits cost thousands of dollars, some coats tens of thousands, so I’m terrified of putting them in water.”
- “Can you actually wet clean suits, silk, or wool?”
- “Yes, you can. I do wet cleaning.”
- “I’m also using a perc machine. Wet cleaning isn’t that hard. Check the labels carefully — most can be done with hand wash. During drying, remove only about 20% of the moisture and hang to air dry. Anyway, even with a $100,000 machine, you can’t remove stains that just won’t come out. Haha.”
- “You mean you wet clean suits? Does that really work? I’m curious but nervous… Please explain in more detail.”
- “I once wetcleaned a Canada Goose coat with leather trim, and the leather bled color, so I had to compensate the customer. It’s really difficult.”
- “Wetcleanining is just water washing in the end. No need to take risks.”
- “If washing with water were so easy, why would people have been cleaning with solvent for over 100 years? It’s hard — but that’s exactly why wet cleaners keep pushing forward.”
- “I only do wet cleaning. Been doing it for 10 years using two Unimac machines, one LG home washer, and a small $150 top-loader. I don’t use any special soap. I’ve tried four kinds of wet cleaning detergents. My washing method is almost the same as Mr. Myungsik Sohn’s.”
- “When you get wool pants stained with urine or feces, or wool coats reeking of food smells, that’s when you really need wet cleaning. Those who do 100% wet cleaning probably use PSR, grease removers, and Awesome for oil stains — it’s part of their daily routine. But yes, it can feel a bit inconvenient doing things you didn’t have to do in dry cleaning. Haha.”
- “I had trouble once with fabric softener leaving stains on black garments during wet cleaning — is that problem gone now?”
- “Where can I watch Mr. Myungsik Sohn’s videos? I want to learn wet cleaning.”
- “I’ve used both iPura and a wet cleaning machine together — lots of advantages.”
- “If you tumble-dry garments while still wet, pilling can occur. That’s why I was skeptical when a wet cleaning machine was introduced recently that supposedly allows direct drying.”
- “Whenever wet cleaning comes up, old problems are always mentioned. Seeing is believing. Those in the New Jersey area should go and see it for themselves.”
- “I’ve handled an average of 800 to 1,000 garments a day for the past two years, 80% of them wet cleaned. I believe if someone ever finds a way to wash with water and have zero shrinkage — that’s Nobel Prize material.”
- “My opinion on wet vs. dry cleaning: both have pros and cons, so don’t bet everything on one. Have both systems and use whichever fits the job.”
- “Why don’t you come to my shop and see for yourself? I won’t charge you anything. Let’s make this a wet cleaning challenge!”
- “‘A challenge’? Sounds good — let’s do it!”
- “This isn’t about ‘who’s better.’ The point is, even beginners can do wet cleaning. The discussion keeps going off track. I just wanted to share what I saw in a new machine — not to sell it or to put down others.”
Even though the above are only excerpts, it’s clear that discussions about wet cleaning tend to get heated. At first, many comments were negative —” I ruined clothes with water,” “Wet cleaning is unnecessary risk,” “Why do it when you don’t have to?”
But as more people shared their experiences —” I’ve been doing it for years,” “I do it with home washers,” “You don’t need expensive machines or chemicals” — the tone changed.
Eventually, people were saying anyone can do it, and the conversation escalated to the point of challenging each other to a ”wet cleaning showdown,” forcing Korean Cleaners Monthly to step in and stop it.
The Current State of Wet Cleaning
In that discussion, Korean Cleaners Monthly emphasized one key point: “For wet cleaning to be widely adopted, it needs to be as easy as dry cleaning — just press a button.”
The magazine added that, at present, AquaMax is the only system capable of that level of automation. Some participants accused Korean Cleaners Monthly of advertising, saying, “Are you promoting a product?”
But, as the editor noted, if he had said “a new dry cleaning machine is great,” no one would have questioned it. Yet saying ”a wet cleaning system is good” immediately draws suspicion — perhaps because people still assume wet cleaning has limits, so anyone saying otherwise must have an agenda.
In the end, the small group chat of a few dozen cleaners revealed one undeniable truth: “The deep-rooted prejudice against wet cleaning, built up over decades, cannot be erased through simple discussions or information sharing.”
