Home dry cleaning Kits: What They Can and Cannot Do
International Fabricare Institute, the premier trade association for garment care, utilized its research and testing expertise to gauge the effectiveness of home dry cleaning kits, and found that in general they do not provide complete removal of all types of stains. They also cannot remove ground-in soil. These products can freshen garments by removing odors and imparting a pleasant fragrance.
What can you expect?
In general, most of the products work well on freshening or removing odors such as smoke. Therefore, these products can be successfully used to freshen garments; for example, removing odors from sweaters after winter storage.
In terms of stain removal, IFI found that most of the products work well on water-based stains such as cola. Stains that are oil-based (ketchup, lipstick) presented more of a challenge for the home dry cleaning kits. In some cases, these products caused the stain to spread, which created a bigger stain. None of the products removed ground-in soils, which consumers typically see as "ring around the collar" or dirty cuffs.
Can home dry cleaning kits cause damage?
When using a home dry cleaning kit, consumers should beware of the following types of damage they could induce when using the stain removal solutions: rings, chafing, broken fibers on a loose weave, local shrinkage on crepe or water-sensitive fabrics.
IFI?s testing found that home dry cleaning kits failed to completely remove stains such as ketchup, lipstick, and cuff soil, resulting in a less-than-satisfactory appearance.

Home Dry Cleaning Kits vs. Professional Dry Cleaning
Performance Factors	HomeKit	Cleaners
Removes Odors	x	x
Removes Wrinkles	x	x
Removes Water-Based Stains (cola, wine, milk)	x	x
Removes Oil-Based Stains (shoe polish, butter)		x
Removes Difficut Stains (ball point ink, lipstick)		x
Cleans (removes dirt, body oils)		x
Restores creases, pleats		x
Imparts crisp, tailored appearance		x