People dry-clean things that don't need dry cleaning. This is a fact. It's also wasteful, expensive, and bad for fabric.
The reverse also happens — people throw fragile items into a regular wash because they look sturdy enough. Sometimes that's fine. Sometimes the cashmere sweater comes out fitting a corgi.
Here's the actual breakdown.
Wash & fold handles: cotton (t-shirts, button-downs, jeans, sweats, socks, underwear), most synthetic athletic wear, most blends, sheets, pillowcases, towels, gym clothes, kid clothes, casual everything. The standard wash & fold cycle uses warm water by default, regular detergent, machine dry. We can adjust on request — cold wash, hang dry, hypoallergenic detergent, no fabric softener — but the default works for ninety percent of what you wear.
The simple rule: if the tag says "machine wash" and you've washed it before without disaster, wash & fold handles it. We don't separate colors automatically (color separation is an add-on), so if you're sending a brand-new red shirt with whites, send it as a separate batch or pay for the separation. Otherwise, dump it in. Hand-folded back to your door.
Dry cleaning is for: suits (worsted wool, linen blends, anything tailored you'd wear to a wedding), structured blazers, silk dresses, silk blouses, cashmere and merino sweaters that say "dry clean only," real wool coats, leather, suede, anything labeled "dry clean only" by the manufacturer. The reason isn't snobbery — it's that water-based washing breaks down the structure of these fabrics or distorts the tailoring. A wool suit run through a regular wash will come out a tighter fit, then never recover.
We do dry cleaning. Pricing is per-item — current rates at sudsbuds.com/pricing. Pickup and delivery are free, same as wash & fold. The order minimum still applies; if you only have one suit to dry-clean, throw a load of wash & fold in to hit the minimum.
The gray zone — items that go either way:
Jeans. Most jeans are fine in regular wash & fold. Premium denim that's never been washed (raw denim) wants special handling — cold water, inside-out, line dry. Tell us when you send it. For everything else, wash & fold is the right call.
Cotton sweaters. Wash & fold, on cold, with no dryer (request hang-dry as an add-on). They come out shaped right.
Workout pants. Wash & fold. Add fragrance-free if you're sensitive.
Bras. Wash & fold, but flag delicates if there's underwire — we'll lingerie-bag them and skip the dryer.
Anything you wore once at a wedding and only sort-of want to deal with. Dry clean. You'll thank us when you need it again.
What we won't do:
Items in obviously bad shape. Cashmere with moth holes, jeans that are basically string, things stained with substances we can't identify. We'll text you for guidance before processing.
Items with bedbug exposure. This requires special handling on a separate machine. Tell us up front; don't surprise us.
Items you're not sure about. If you're not sure how to clean it, send it with a note. We'd rather ask than guess.
The honest summary: most of your laundry is wash & fold. The structured stuff is dry cleaning. Everything else lives in a small set of judgment calls that we're happy to walk you through.
If you're not sure, the math works in your favor to default to wash & fold and call us about anything that gives you pause. We're at sudsbuds.com or 646 654 6774. Either works.