I recently purchased a dress with a care label that says, “French Clean Only” what does this mean?
A. A firm in Paris, France was credited with being the first to use an organic solvent in drycleaning garments. This process became known as “French Cleaning”. Some garment manufactures are using the term to suggest that the garment be hand cleaned in solvent. The term may also imply that the garment can only be spot cleaned because no immersion methods are acceptable. This instruction does not meet the FTC Care Label Rule, nor is it practical because it would not produce a clean garment. As a consumer you should be aware of the risks of cleaning such a garment. Often there is no safe way to care for these garments.
