90pc UK dry cleaners fail stain test!

Ninety percent of dry cleaning shops in the UK have failed a stain test by a consumer watchdog.

London, Mar 20 : Ninety percent of dry cleaning shops in the UK have failed a stain test by a consumer watchdog.

Consumer body Which? sent clothes covered with three different kinds of stains - red wine, double cream and vinaigrette - were sent to mainstream dry cleaners as well as independent shops.

On their return, the identical 48 skirts were compared, and the watchdog declared that standards of dry cleaning were "unbelievably poor" in the UK.

Which? revealed that 31 dry cleaners had failed to clean the stains, nine removed the marks but shrank or stretched the skirts and four had failed to iron the clothes properly.

"These stains come from the three main groups - vegetable, protein and fatty - and are among the most common marks found on clothes," the Telegraph quoted the report by Which? as saying.

"Treating them is part of the exam syllabus for dry cleaners and our experts said they were 'easily removable'. The results were unbelievably poor."

Neil Fowler, the editor of Which?, said: ''It's not cheap to get clothes dry cleaned, yet we got shoddy results from the vast majority of the cleaners we tested."

ANI