I found a receipt from 2009 for dry-cleaning when I was cleaning my closet. The suit pants were $3.10, and the shirts were $1.75. Granted this was nine years ago, but my most recent visit to the same location, pants were $5.25, and shirts were $3.25. Another cleaner near my old office (where I had my cleaning done for almost 3 years) was $4.25 for pants and $2.25 for shirts, but alas they regularly broke buttons, and it is not worth going an extra 20 minutes (each way) to save $8 on weekly cleaning.
To make it worse, nobody advertises prices, so it is a guessing game until you get a slip. We were going to have my wife's Pea Coat cleaned, until we were told it would be $45 (for a $75 jacket).
Your 2009 prices are what I paid until a year ago then I switched dry cleaners
"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
Posts: 20438 | Location: The Free State of Arizona - Ditat Deus | Registered: March 24, 2011
I pay $2.50 per shirt. Not sure if that’s expensive, average or cheap BUT I learned (when one of my favorite shirts almost got destroyed by a crappy dry cleaner) that you should find a good dry-cleaner and stick to it; price be damned!
Side note: Some of the shirts I get dry cleaned cost me as low as $15 (Banana Republic clearance rack for the win!). I likely spent more getting the shirt cleaned in a year than it’s worth, but I’d rather have the shirt last longer than going through the hassle of shopping around for shirts; it’s sorta tricky to find a button-down that fits me well.
Posts: 150 | Location: Sunny St. Pete | Registered: March 02, 2013
OK, to go against all the “I never have anything dry cleaned!” crowd,
I have uniform pants that need to be dry cleaned. And occassionally a dress shirt. Pants seem to be about $3-4 a pair, shirts about half that. This is in the Dallas area, and I use a local place that I know, and not one of the giant drive-through beasts.
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Posts: 1786 | Location: Texas! | Registered: June 13, 2013
Just a word of caution. I recently looked at one of my cleaning bills and thought "Wow, those prices are high". So I changed cleaners to take advantage of lower pricing. First time through, the new cleaner lost two of my dress shirts. Now I'm back at the old cleaner, paying the higher price, and arguing with the second cleaner over why they're going to reimburse me for my lost shirts.
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I have been asking around all day and a friend just told me that his dry cleaner does a 5+5 for $35 deal as long as it is picked up within 7 days of drop off. Five wool/ suit pants and five starched shirts for $35 is not bad at all!
Wowsers. That has to add up. Are you guys going through 5 pairs of pants and 5 shirts a week? At those rates?
I wear a cotton uniform now most of the time. Wash them at home and iron them when needed. Rarely wear my poly-wools. I'll wear a suit or slacks/jacket a few times a month, but not even enough to remember what I'm paying to get them cleaned!
I looked at a tag on the drop-off drycleaning rack at our station on my way out tonight. It was something around $8 for two shirts and a pair of pants.
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Posts: 11484 | Location: NC | Registered: August 16, 2005
No, I wear suits about 2-3 times a week, and only have five shirts that are ever dry cleaned. My weekly dry cleaning needs are about 4-6 pieces, still about $20-25 a week.
$2.75 shirts, $5.75 slacks. Local owned place where services occur on site. In my experience taking the time to find one where stuff isn’t shipped around is key to not having things go missing.
My opinion and general consensus seems to be that dress slacks can go way more than single wear before cleaning.
You only have integrity once. - imprezaguy02
Posts: 12933 | Location: Madison, MS | Registered: December 10, 2007
Originally posted by Georgeair: $2.75 shirts, $5.75 slacks. Local owned place where services occur on site. In my experience taking the time to find one where stuff isn’t shipped around is key to not having things go missing.
My opinion and general consensus seems to be that dress slacks can go way more than single wear before cleaning.
Yes, I apply the twice, not thrice policy myself. In the south on a 90+ degree day that is sunny, sometimes I feel differently.
