It doesn’t mean that because certain clothes are tagged as “Dry Cleaning Only,” your responsibility to your personal effects starts and stops at delivering and picking them up at your neighborhood dry cleaner’s. Here are some tips to ensure that your clothes remain in tip-top shape.

To maintain your coat or dress’ shape both in your closet and on the conveyor belt, wrap it in heavy plastic cover and use lots of tissue paper for cushioning.

Pin a note on specific stains. Be sure that your note mentions how each stain is caused so that the cleaners could apply to it the necessary stain removal technique. This would not only endear you to the cleaners, but it would also help prevent disasters.

Ask if the dry cleaning establishment offers stitching and repair services, and if it does, how much extra it would cost. Of course, if you are going to spend money to have your clothes serviced, might as well try get them back without a torn hem or a missing button.

Just in case a major disaster happens, do not expect that you’ll get the replacement value of your clothes (or sue the mom and pop establishment for $50M). Cleaners usually pay only for the current market value of garments.

Not all disasters are the fault of the cleaners. The reality is that there are a lot garments that are poorly made or even mislabeled. Better to examine your clothes carefully before bringing them to the cleaners to avoid blowing your top off.