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Woman explains what dry cleaning actually is and people are legitimately shocked

“They really take the buttons off of every shirt?”

Melissa Pateras TikTok screenshots

Melissa Pateras explains how dry cleaning works.

Have you ever wondered what happens at the dry cleaners? Or are you like me, who just assumed the people at the dry cleaners were wizards and never questioned their magic? Turns out, dry cleaners aren't magic and there's actually a pretty interesting explanation of how they came to be and what they do.

Melissa Pateras is known on Tiktok for her laundry knowledge. Seriously, her ability to fold laundry is hypnotizing. This time, she created a video explaining what actually takes place at the dry cleaner and the internet is aghast.

Before Pateras explained what happens in the mysterious world behind the counter of a dry cleaner, she asked a few of her friends what they thought dry cleaning was. Their answers were...interesting to say the least.

One friend surmised, "You put it in a box, right...and then you let some wind, really fast wind, blow around on your clothes and it wipes off all the dirt." The friend, whose username is @unlearn16, continued with her working hypothesis, saying that the clothes are then blasted with infrared heat to sterilize the garments. While that is certainly an interesting theory, that's not what happens.

Another friend guessed, "Dry cleaning is when they take all of your dirty clothes into this big dryer with a clean sheet that sticks all of the dirt to it from your dirty clothes." This friend was also incorrect, and Pateras finally explained why after her friends dug deep into their brains for their best guesses.

Turns out dry cleaning was invented by accident when Jean-Baptiste Jolly spilled a kerosene lamp on his tablecloth, which dried cleaner than it was previously, according to Pateras.

The laundry guru explained that while it was dangerous, the practice of cleaning things with kerosene continued until a less flammable method was discovered. But even the safer method is still fairly harsh, which is why dry cleaners take buttons off of clothing before running them through, she says.

This prompted one commenter to ask, "They really take the buttons off of every shirt?" to which Pateras replied that it only occurs if the buttons won't withstand the chemicals.

If you've ever been curious about what happens at the dry cleaner, watch the video below. She takes you through each step.

@melissadilkespateras
What is dry cleaning #laundry #laundrytok #drycleaning #funfacts @Tracy Taylor @Unlearn16 @Ana Pac @Ashley Mathieu @Li

This article originally appeared on 5.10.23

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Education

Woman explains how dish soap works using Barbie and Ken, once again fascinating the internet

Who knew dish soap could be so interesting?

Melissa Pateras|TikTok

Woman explains how dish soap works by using Barbie dolls.

Dish soap is one of those things that you have to buy even if you have a dishwasher. Sometimes pots need to soak or you only need to wash out a bowl and spoon for a late-night snack. Either way, there's no real getting around buying dish soap, and there's nothing more frustrating than using soap that has the consistency of water, or worse, leaves your dishes greasy.

Nothing makes me want to throw dishes in the trash faster than grabbing a "clean" dish from the dish rack and feeling that familiar slimy film slip across your fingertips. That's it. Paper plates for all eternity. But why does that happen and what does dish soap actually do? Once again, Melissa Pateras, the queen of "laundry-tok," has an answer and it's fascinating.

In this particular video, she brought along two friends to help her explain what the deal is with dish soap—a disembodied Ken and Barbie doll glued to two different bottles of dish soap.

Ken is Palmolive and Barbie's head and extremities are attached to the bottle of Dawn. Pateras uses the dolls to explain that the difference between dish soaps is usually the surfactants. (I think it's a safe guess that most people aren't thinking about surfactants when shopping.)

"Think about Dawn as Barbie and Ken as Palmolive. Now think about surfactants as outfits. Barbie has a huge wardrobe of outfits and accessories, whereas Ken only has a few, mostly just the same in different colors," Pateras says while holding the two bottles. "Now, if Ken is all you have to play with, he's fine, but he's never anybody's first choice."

@melissadilkespateras
What soap would you choose #dishes #dawn #compare #barbie

She explains that while Ken can do things, Barbie has had over 80 careers and has adapted over the years, while Ken has essentially stayed the same. Obviously, we're still discussing dish soap, but the visual and descriptive explanation helps bring the point around before she does a test with both soaps to demonstrate how the surfactants work.

"I understand surfactant so much better now. Thank you," one commenter wrote.

"I loved this!!!! And I learned something," another person said.

One thought she should be compensated by Dawn for her demonstration, writing, "Melissa I stg if Dawn doesn't pay you for this..."

Through her demonstrations, there's a clear better choice, and it's Dawn. Now whether the dish soap giant will send Pateras a check for her entertaining and informative video is yet to be determined, but maybe she'll get a few free bottles of the good stuff.

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