Confessional

What the dry-cleaner really thinks about you

I DO get irritated at all the jokes and other comments people make about drycleaners losing clothes.

I’ve been doing this job for four years and I’ve never lost anything — we barcode all the items that come in, so we know exactly whose they are.

But that doesn’t stop people saying: ‘This dress is very important — don’t lose it!’

At the moment, people are bringing in party-wear, which is normal at this time of year.

What always shocks me, though, is that they didn’t get their party dress or jacket dry-cleaned last year when it had red wine or worse spilt down it.

We also get a few wedding dresses and I can’t believe the damage after just one day’s wear. The hems are always crusted with mud. There are red wine and whisky stains, not to mention rips in the lace. One woman came in with a rhinestone- covered vintage wedding dress that she’d fallen in love with — it had rust stains which had been there since the Fifties and yet she expected it to come out perfect. We had one man who’d been applying for jobs for ages and brought his interview suit in for regular cleaning. We all cheered when he came in to tell us he’d found employment.

Once, a fortysomething lady burst into tears when she saw her mum’s red velvet cocktail dress returned to its former glory.

Those are the occasions when it’s lovely to be reminded just how much clothes can mean to people.