Dry Cleaned or Washer?

[Barb Gordon]

A fun and random question, so work with me here folks. While at the gym today this little weird question popped its way into my mind: do superhero's get their costumes dry cleaned or do they just throw it in the washer? I honestly mulled this question over for an actual couple of minutes, from wondering what type of material might be safe in the washer to do they do it themselves or, like Batman, have a butler do it. So let the fun discussion begin, how do our hero's keep their attire so clean?

~Barb

[Condiment King]

Heh.

Superman: He's more open to the public but I still say Lois does his washing. Washer.

Batman: Alfred does it. Even if Alfred didn't, Bruce would use the washer. Washer.

Green Lantern: Definately dry clean. Kyle probably wants to go out and talk to others around the neighborhood anyway. Jade COULD, but I would say that Kyle would just save her the trouble.

The Flash: Dry clean. See GL.

Martian Manhunter: Washer. See Batman.

Wonder Woman: This is a toughee. I'd say dry clean based on seeing her out grocery shopping and such in JLA once. Its a toss up.

Aquaman: Washer. See Batman.

Spider-Man: Dry clean. See GL.


Wow, this was more fun that I thought. Great question.

[Cyber E.]

Well for most of the heroes I would say they just throw them in the washer. For heroes like the Fantastic Four whos idenitys are known to the public they can have it dry cleaned but I would think they go with the washer. Basically if they are loners and aren't known by the public they use the Washer.

Most odd question I have ever seen, that is for sure

[Jor-El]

I'm not entirely sure if the Flash and Green Lantern's outfits are physical fabric or not. The Flash's outfit nowadays is definitely composed entirely of the Speed Force, and Green Lantern's outfit may very well be made from his ring. I can't remember an occasion of Kyle ever taking off his clothes to put on his costume. It seems that he just wills it on.

[Dee]

I would say they'd all be able to wash in cold water and hang dry or dry flat.


Also... detergent would be a big issue. A liquid detergant would get stuff out without leaving a powdery residue from powdered detergents or those quick dissolve tabs.

for black and VERY DARK uniforms.... woolite dark. I SWEAR BY IT! My batman t shirt looks as good as the day I bought it, and it's seen many a trip to the mall, and seen many a pathetic soul on the dance-dance thing in the arcade.


Harley quinn and any form fitting spandex from anyone else would probabaly be dried flat to prevent hanger streched shoulders.

capes can be hung if done so to prevent wrinkles. Check tag to see if the fabric is safe for iron.

Alfred would know all the tricks.

Dry cleaning divulges identity...

Superman looks like he would handwash his tights in the sink. lol. Same with robin.

What does Batman wear? Tights or spandex in general.

leather in the case of Catwoman.. do NOT get anything on it! lol.

...and for hard to remove odors, Fabreeze has the "super-strength" required for every superhero out there to smell super fresh LOL.

[BlueAngelGal]

Whether they use their washer & dryer or they have one of those home dry-cleaning kits, they'd have to do it at home, or else the dry cleaners would know their secret identities.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

Tongue firmly in cheek:

In The Dark Knight Returns #1, Alfred pulls the costume out of a washing machine and says, "He'll just have to wear it wet," then. Of course, DKR is not canon, so perhaps this only applies to the Frank Miller Elseworlds costume.

Supposedly, clothing that's close to Superman's body doesn't tear or get dirty, so he'd only need to clean his cape, which I say is dry clean only. I guess Lois and Clark have a VERY discreet dry cleaner in Metropolis.

In a recent issue of Mark Waid's Fantastic Four, Sue tosses Johnny's leotard into a huge, scientific looking thing and then sets a dial to "Unstable Molecules" (the other settings being "Permanent Press", etc). I'm going to guess Reed Richards provided one of these things to the Avengers' Mansion, too.

Speaking of the Avengers, we've just seen that Jack of Hearts doesn't need laundry facilities in the last issue.

The Hulk has more need of a tailor than a laundry service, I think.

Iron Man is definitely dry-clean-only. Last time he tried sticking it into a washing machine, it came out all rusty and he had to throw it out. Same with Captain America's chainmail.

Zatanna and Black Canary are definitely dry-clean-only gals. You ever seen what happens to fishnets when they get thrown into the washing machine?

Superhero laundry is something Kurt Busiek should really address in Astro City or they should hit in a Deadline sequel.

-- Ed/Ace

[Dee]

you can also handwash fishnets. Saves on cost and theres not much to wash with fishnets.

[Reed Richards]

I think they all use that Dry-el stuff-- the dry cleaning stuff you can use in your dryer

[Dadiomov]

Is Dry-el Kal's cousin? Seriously, though, dry-el's a joke. It deodorizes, yeah, but you've gotta ask yourself if clothes can really get clean without some solvent. Real dry-cleaning isn't actually "dry," it just uses chemicals instead of water. And the dry-el spotting solution can really mess your clothes up. I'd like to think that the heroes have their clothes professionally dry-cleaned.

[Patrick Bateman]

Because I'm a guy, I voted for "Who cares?!". But I do know for a fact that Alfred washes Bruce's Bat-suits in a washing machine, as seen in DKR. "He'll just have to wear it wet."

[Reed Richards]

Originally posted by Dadiomov
Is Dry-el Kal's cousin? Seriously, though, dry-el's a joke. It deodorizes, yeah, but you've gotta ask yourself if clothes can really get clean without some solvent. Real dry-cleaning isn't actually "dry," it just uses chemicals instead of water. And the dry-el spotting solution can really mess your clothes up. I'd like to think that the heroes have their clothes professionally dry-cleaned.

indeed Dryel DOES blow-- i've only used it once and frankly it was out of desperation-- i got called into a saturday meeting but i had just sent all of my suits (except the one i was wearing on friday) to the Senate dry cleaning service-- so i ran to my local mart and found that dryel crap. indeed, it deodorizes, but i CERTAINLY didn't feel that "dry cleaned" feel on my shirt

[Watermelon]

Obviously they just throw 'em in the waher. I mean, what hero would go all the way to the washers and all the wya back home when he could just throw it in the washer, get into another one of his costumes, and fly away and destroy the tofu-monster?