Dry Cleaning in the City

My class excursions involved visits to Dry Cleaners in Brooklyn and Manhattan.  One of the things that I found remarkable about moving to the city was access to the laundry.  Never having to put a quarter into a washing machine and dryer to me was (and is) the ultimate urban experience.  Dry cleaning, by extension of the laundry is equally appealing because of the easy access for a price.  I am notorious for taking Dry Cleaning and then leaving it for a month too long.  When I finally do show up, without a ticket, price is not an issue.  Not having to make eye contact and exiting as fast as possible is the main goal.  Because of this it was interesting to inquire and think about the prices for dry cleaning.  We assume for purposes of this written piece, that there are no extra charges for leaving dry cleaning for months!

                Of the three Dry Cleaners that I visited, two were in Brooklyn and one was in Manhattan; The Heights Cleaners on Montague Street, New Utrecht Laundromat and Murray Hill Dry Cleaner.  I live in Brooklyn and started with one close to my house, New Utrecht Laundromat.  Interestingly, all three seemed to actually do the dry cleaning on the premises, but two could have done the pressing on the premises.  What makes this relevant is that if there is a wholesale price, similar to a convenience or grocery store, it would be a large factor in setting the overall retail prices.  If all of the retail stores were serviced by the same dry cleaning wholesaler, that wholesaler would have more influence on any price differences then the individual retail outlets. 

                For all three locations I wanted to understand the price of pants to be dry cleaned for both men and women and the price of a pressed shirt for both.  Both pieces of clothing are similar in shape and assume the same type of material.  Unlike a variance that could and does occur in a women’s shirt dry cleaned, a pressed shirt assumes a collared, button down, long sleeve shirt.  There is an interesting discussion to be had about why women’s shirts that are not of a standard make are often priced higher.  For purposes of understanding an industry where part of the product is done by standard machines and the other part finished by hand, we must understand the costs of the goods to be more the more hand finishing is done.  By breaking it down this way, the conversation of the gender differences that might be found in retail pricing of dry cleaning women’s clothes versus men’s clothes would have to center around the machines that require more or less hand finishing.

                 Although, New York City requires that services be clearly marked, I had a hard time at the New Utrecht Laundromat understanding the difference in price for pants and for shirts.  They would not quote me exactly without looking at what I was dry cleaning.  I had not thought to bring samples!  I did think about the possibility of the store not needing to see my clothes to quote me if I was a male.  That is a possibility that I did not test out.  For my next store I can furnished with a pair of pants and a shirt.  After being told that I did not need to press my shirt, that it really needed to be dry cleaned.  I understood the price at the Heights Cleaners to be the same for male and female shirts and pants.  $6.50 for pants and $3.50 for pressed shirts.  I went straight from work to the Murray Hill Dry Cleaners and did not have the luxury of my samples.  They quoted a similar price for pants and shirts.  $7.00 for pants and $3.25 for shirts.

                When considering masculinity and capitalism in the context of dry cleaning, it is interesting to consider the point in which the larger framework is geared towards the masculine attitude.  Specifically, it is interesting to think about the machines used in both pressing and in dry cleaning that are geared towards the male uniform and push anything outside of that to be done by hand.