My Greatest Fear #38: Staining My Dress Pants the Day After I Get Them Back from the Dry Cleaners

This guy knows what I'm talking about.
This guy knows what I’m talking about.

Confession: I don’t go to the dry cleaners all that often. I wash my other clothes on a regular basis, but for some reason it rarely occurs to me that my dress pants–which I wear several times a week–can get dirty. But they do. And then they smell of farts.

Despite knowing that, usually the only way I’m triggered to actually go to the dry cleaners is if I spill something on my dress pants. That’s one of the reasons that I have a no-pants rule at my condo–the second I get home from work, the pants come off, therefore reducing the risk of spilling something on them.

So on the rare occasion that I go to the dry cleaners (which is already the source of greatest fear #23), the very last thing I want is to stain my newly cleaned dress pants. I’m constantly on the lookout for anything that might rub off or spill on my pants. You never know when you’re going to stumble upon one of those Tough Mudder marathons that Facebook keeps telling me to do (apparently Facebook doesn’t know that I’m a sprinter who considers anything over 100 yards to be long distance).

How often do you go to the dry cleaners? Do you have a similar fear when you wear your freshly cleaned clothes?

Read more of my perfectly reasonable greatest fears here.

7 thoughts on “My Greatest Fear #38: Staining My Dress Pants the Day After I Get Them Back from the Dry Cleaners”

  1. I’m constantly afraid of leaving stuff at the dry cleaners. I average going there probably about once or twice a month, but it’s not consistent and I’m often dropping off my boyfriend’s clothing and not just mine. I tend to wait for a pile of items and then drop them off. Then often when I pick them I might drop off a few more items that I discovered needed cleaning in the meantime or just forgot about etc. But then I lose track. For example, reading this email, I panicked for a second, wondering if I left something at the cleaners last time I picked something else up two weeks ago… I think I might have, but I’m really not sure and I always lose those slips they give you. In the past, I have actually gone and found something to get cleaned in order to have a reason to go to the cleaners and then they’ll tell me if I have items there waiting to be picked up. I’ll admit, I feel way too stupid to just go in there and ask if I left clothes, though the nice immigrant family that runs the place would never care.

    Reply
    • I like how writing your comment triggered your dry cleaner paranoia. It’s like when you leave the house and you think you’ve locked the door–you’re pretty sure, but you’re not positive–so you go back to check it, just to make sure. You never know if it’s going to be that one time that you forget, and you come back to find that you have squatters.

      Reply
  2. A helpful tip? Have an alligator clip on your passenger side visor where you clip those receipts. Then, you won’t forget!
    My favorite part of this post? “I have a no-pants rule at my condo”. I want to come visit 🙂

    Reply
  3. The no-pants rule is a generally good solution. But what happens if there’s an unexpected knock at your condo door? Do you promptly answer it pantsless? Or make the knocker wait an inordinate amount of time while you get modest?

    Reply
    • The cats and I usually growl at the door if there’s an unexpected knock. Usually that’s enough to get the visitor to go away.

      Reply
      • Hmmmm. Growling at the door is a generally good solution. But what happens when you suddenly realize someday that you’re that dude who lives alone, never wears pants, and growls at his door whenever somebody knocks? Are you ready to be *that* dude? Wouldn’t it be better to just answer the door pantsless? …then do some lunges?

        Reply

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