Wet Cleaning of Woolens, Wools, Silks
Along with other items has been going on since about the 1930's. This I know as have in my collection a book on the subject from the "father" of the process. Only difference is back then they used brushes, soap suds and "whip" dryers or large pony washers.
The idea is to use as minimal water as possible (thus eliminating chances of color runs,shrinkage, etc), and movement (same), along with drying the item as fast as possible. Then as now things such as suits, dresses and other such garments are put on forms that will stretch and shape whilst drying. An old fashioned whip dryer was basically a device that blew strong currents of air upwards. Items were pinned/stretched/shaped and thus held while the air dried them quickly.
Today with modern computer controlled dryers that can sense moisture wools and silks can be bunged into such a machine and taken out when a set remaining moisture level is met. Other than that a good "wetcleaning" man would simply know by feel if the item was dry enough for shaping/finishing.
Remaining soap suds or neutral detergent residue was key back in the day to acting as fabric conditioner thus preventing shrinkage and giving the finish product a nice hand and or gloss. Various sizings were used as well such as flaxseed. Today of course the professional wetcleaner has a variety of rinse agents used in the final cycle to help stablise textiles and prevent any shrinkage/felting during the drying/finishing process.
One thing to remember about wetcleaning; the process must be short and items are never in pure water. Soaking a washable wool blankent for hours in huge amounts of water maybe fine, but a man's suit or woman's dress is another matter. Indeed IIRC many front loading washing machines, at least those offered for sale by the big EU brands have changed their "Wool" cycles over the years to use less water and cycle faster.
Consumer Reports tested wetcleaning several years ago and found if done properly the results were excellent for wool sweaters, silk items (most but not all) and other things that are labelled "dry clean only". Men's suits and other woolens could shrink and or have linings/interfacings that distorted. Much of the latter can be prevented in the design/manufacturer process so that the thing is made to withstand both wet and dry cleaning. The industry is trying to come up with a standard so soon if not already you will see a symbol indicating a garment can be "wetcleaned" either by a professional or at home.
Just so everyone knows even dry cleaning isn't totally dry. A small amount of water is always added to the "wash" cycle otherwise certain soils and or smells simply won't come out.
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