Dry cleaners Dry cleaning results

Dry cleaning results

Our tests showed some dramatic changes in colour during dry cleaning

We took stained jackets to 12 branches of Johnsons, Morrisons, Timpson and independent dry cleaners in England, Scotland and Wales. We visited 12 branches of independent dry cleaners in Northern Ireland (there are no branches of the three large chains in Northern Ireland).

We used a laboratory to assess how well the garments had been cleaned and finished. We assessed the quality of the pressing, how much colour had been lost during the cleaning process and how much they had shrunk or stretched.

The table below shows the number of shops rated good or excellent for each of the important tests we carried out.

Using the table

We stained wool-mix women's jackets with red wine, double cream and vinaigrette and took them to be dry cleaned. When dry cleaners inspected the jackets and found the stains, we confirmed what they were. When they didn’t inspect the jackets before cleaning, we showed them the stains and told them what they were.

The price given in the table is the average cost of cleaning the jackets at 12 branches of the three chains and independents across the country. The scores for distortion, pressing, cream, red wine and vinaigrette show the number of shops, out of the 12 visited, that were good or excellent for each of these tests.

The stain removal overall score is made up of the number of shops, out of the 12 visited, that were good or excellent overall for removing double cream, red wine and vinaigrette. We use the lowest score for individual stain removal as the overall stain removal score, so to be rated as good or excellent overall for stain removal, a shop’s lowest individual stain removal score (for double cream, red wine and vinaigrette) would have to be good or excellent. 

Shops that were good or excellent for two out of the three stains, and satisfactory for the third, wouldn’t qualify as good or excellent overall.

Dry cleaning costs

We called dry cleaners in Cardiff, Glasgow, London, Manchester and Northern Ireland to find out how much it would cost to dry clean a tuxedo. 

The prices given in the table are the average costs of cleaning a tuxedo at 12 branches of each chain, and independents, in each area. In Northern Ireland the average cost of dry cleaning a tuxedo at independent dry cleaners was £9.88; there are no Johnsons, Timpson or Morrisons branches in Northern Ireland.