Here's What Really Happens At The Dry Cleaner

The summer-to-fall wardrobe changeover is upon us, inspiring closet purges of epic proportions. But as we tote last year's coats to the dry cleaners for a little refresher, the question remains: What exactly happens after we drop off our clothes?

So, we dug up this classic video from the experts at How Stuff Works to explain what exactly happens after you drop your clothes off at the mysterious place known as the dry cleaner (in this particular case, one that uses more environmentally conscious processes). The lowdown: Your clothes do indeed get wet, but with solvents instead of water. (Just be glad that we're not still living in a time when gasoline was considered a viable choice for dry cleaning.)

This article has been updated to note that silicone-based solvents are typically used in environmentally conscious dry cleaning operations.