We often get asked the same question in the shop: “Can I wash my pillow at home?” or “The label says dry clean… but is that really right?”

Most duvets can be professionally cleaned. The key is choosing the method that freshens it properly without knocking the shape out of it or leaving you with that heavy, lumpy feel. In day-to-day terms, there are usually two routes: a professional wash (laundering) or dry cleaning. The right choice comes down to two things: what the duvet is filled with, and what the outer fabric is. If your duvet doesn’t have a care label, that’s still fine. It just means we need to work from

A behind-the-scenes look at how Farthings Dry Cleaners in Cambridge gently hand-cleaned a delicate 1957 vintage wedding dress, using patience, care and specialist garment knowledge.

On Sunday I went up to CleanEx in Ascott with Vicki, Roni and Pierre. If you’ve never heard of it, CleanEx is the UK show for laundry, dry cleaning and textile care. It’s where you see equipment running, talk to suppliers face-to-face, and pick up on the small changes happening behind the scenes. The ones that end up affecting how garments look and feel when they come back to you. It’s not a “big reveal” sort of day. It’s more like a good service MOT. You go, you look closely

Modern denim is rarely pure cotton. Most jeans today include a blend of fibres such as elastane, polyester or plant-based synthetics like Plantex to add stretch, strength and comfort. These fibres react very differently to water and heat. When you wash and dry jeans, each layer shrinks or relaxes at its own rate.