At DELIA'S Cleaners we work with tens of thousands of buttons of all shapes, sizes, colors, materials and styles. For the most part, cleaning garments with buttons is straightforward. It's always good to know, however, if they  can be dry cleaned, especially when it comes to a specialty button and those  used on formal wear. Here are a few facts you should know.

Facts  About Buttons

If your garments has buttons made from polystyrene they may dissolve in the cleaning solvent.

If they are  made from natural materials such as shell and bone are naturally brittle. This makes them prone to chipping and cracking during normal wear and cleaning. If your clothes have this type of button, let us know as it may require special care.

Colored buttons for the most part have been dyed, but unfortunately, not every  button will absorb every dye completely. This causes them to fade or lose their color when exposed to water or cleaning solutions. When this happens, the dye may seep into the fabric around the button causing permanent discoloration.

A button  that shines or sparkles typically uses small pieces of mirror or glass for effect. These pieces are glued in place. Even the gentlest of solvents and sometimes even water, can dissolve the glue causing the glass or mirrors to come loose, fall off or be washed away. If you purchase clothing with sparkly buttons -" or fabric adornments -" ask the salesperson whether it can be safely dry cleaned. If they don't know, it might be best to reconsider your purchase.

Regular wear and use weakens them  and may lead to cracking, chipping or other damage, especially on shirts and blouses that are worn frequently. In addition, threads can weaken and break causing buttons to fall off.

At DELIA'S we unbutton and inspect all garments before cleaning and make a note if buttons are loose or missing. After cleaning, we inspect them again. Any garment with a loose or missing button goes to the button station at our processing plant for repair. We keep a wide variety of buttons in stock so we can match yours as closely as possible. Our state-of-the-art button machine quickly attaches buttons with a strong stitch designed to last.

Nothing lasts forever. With DELIA'S Cleaners, you can relax knowing that we'll find any issues and fix them before returning your garments.