Custom Cleaners

One of only two cleaners in the Woodley area and they deliver to my building, but they consistently overcharge my card and always charge more for alterations than their estimate. Probably going to go back to Debonair even though they’re also pretty awful.

I have used this cleaners a couple more times purely for the convenience factor, since they pick up and deliver from my building. Every delivery has been late, and they have damaged some of my clothes. This time, once again, my clothes were supposed to be delivered on Tuesday, and were not delivered until Thursday night. This was after a phone call to the them in which I had to give my credit card confirmation again. On top of that, there’s a mysterious stain on my dress that wasn’t there when I brought it in. I should have learned the first time.

Very overpriced; held on to my dry cleaning without calling me (it was being delivered) claiming they didn’t have my phone # (which they did) and needed a credit card. Prices are ridiculously subjectively priced; a plain linen button down long shirt was charged as a «fancy» blouse for $ 6 for example. Customer service was extremely rude. Never again!

Took two suits and ten shirts to Custom Cleaners. Put on my white shirt the next day and the entire shirt had brown spots all over it. Go to look at all of my white dress shirts and they are all covered in brown spots. Looks like the shirts were left on the press too long and became burned. Go back to the store and talk with the «manager.» The «manager» is an old, asian lady who immediately disregarded anything I was saying to her. She told me that they do not ruin shirts and then waved her hands in the air with complete disgust. Thank you Custom Cleaners for ruining my expensive dress shirts and then refusing to even re-​clean them. It would have cost them $ 2 to keep a repeat customer, but I guess she really needed that $ 2.

«How can I get red wine out of silk?» I asked. The answer I got was pretty much, «You can’t.» But Custom Cleaners did, and I will be forever grateful!
I got this amazing teal silk gown with a train for a total steal, and I was excited to show it off at the Washington Humane Society’s Bark Ball. After a great night of too much wine and lots of puppies, I discovered that the train on the dress picked up not one but two GIANT red wine spills or mopped them up from spills on the carpet. By the time I noticed them, the red wine had already dried, and I thought there was no hope. I brought the dress to Custom Cleaners about 36 hours later with little hope, but asking for a miracle. Oh, and could you get these really small ketchup stains out, too (from a drunken stop at Amsterdam Falafel after the fancy Ball)?
When I picked up my dress, I was astonished. You would never know that it had two giant red wine stains or two (really) small ketchup stains just a week before. I think they did manage to pull the silk a little bit on the train in the stain removal process, but that really minor damage is nothing compared to the stains the dress once had. Custom Cleaners saved my only evening gown.
Yes, the place is pricier than other cleaners in town, but they’ve always been worth it to me. If you pay cash for anything over $ 20, you get a 10% discount. Now I know they can work miracles in addition to regular dry cleaning.

Several weeks ago I dropped of several silk shirts to be dry cleaned. This is (was) my neighborhood dry cleaner and I have brought many things here over the past couple years.
Unfortunately when the shirts were delivered to my apartment one shirt had a very large (~4 inch) rip in one armpit. The other armpit had apparently also been ripped but obvious repairs had been attempted. I brought the shirt back into Custom Cleaners to talk about how to resolve the issue the next day. The owner of Custom Cleaners (I don’t know her name) emphatically denied that Custom Cleaners had ripped it, and maintained that I dropped the shirt off to be dry cleaned with the rip already there. She had no explanation for the repair in the other armpit. We thus reached an impasse and I left.
I shortly thereafter filed a complaint with the DC Office of the Attorney General (which handles consumer rights in DC). The case manager at the Attorney General’s Office contacted Custom Cleaners. The manager at Custom Cleaners told him that I dropped off the shirt to repair two holes and when they couldn’t fix one of the holes they tried to contact me via phone but I was unresponsive, so they returned the shirt to me. This was completely false from start to finish, and the case manager agreed. He negotiated with Custom Cleaners on my behalf and got them to write me a check for $ 30 in compensation.
I understand bad stuff happens at dry cleaners all the time, and it was only a shirt. But, I was pretty offended by the denials of Custom Cleaners and initially felt very helpless. In a game of their word vs mine, they have all the cards and I am left with a ruined shirt and they get off scot-​free. Enter the DC Office of the Attorney General. It was my first time filing an official complaint as a consumer, and I was very happy with how they handled it. They were great advocates and it’s nice to know they’re there in the future.
And obviously, I will never be taking my clothes to Custom Cleaners ever again.

I’m also a previous Debonair customer and Custom Cleaners blows them out of the water. They are fast and efficient and always treat you like a loyal customer. I had several suits patched up at Debonair only to have their work fall apart again a few weeks later. Not the case at Custom Cleaners… and they do the works days faster and cheaper than Debonair.

I’ve never had such a terrible experience with a cleaners. I used my buildings drop off/​pick up service for the first time and the cleaners returned one dress not cleaned, while still charging me for the service (after several calls– ultimately crediting me for the charge). They also did not return another dress that I dropped off, while also charging me for the cleaning– the receipt stated «redo» across it. Custom cleaners continues to be «investigating» the missing dress. It has been over a month. I’ve graciously offered that, although the dress was worth between $ 150 – 200, that I would stop calling if they just credit my account for the remaining balance, a mere $ 60. I found this to be an appropriate compromise to resolve for the issue so that we can both walk away from this dispute. Amber has begun screening my phone calls, refuses to talk to me, and refuses to respond to the dispute with a resolution. In fact, she demanded that I provide a receipt for the purchase of the dress, I found the dress online, although I do not archive my clothing receipts, and planned to email it to her, but she refused to give me her email address. If that isn’t horrendous customer service, I don’t know what is. AVOID CUSTOM CLEANERS AT ALL COSTS.
If they credit my account for the remaining balance of my dry cleaning bill I will delete this post.

Custom Cleaners services my apartment building. The service is very convenient– I drop a bag of laundry at the front desk, and a couple of days later, I pick up our clothes, freshly laundered and pressed.
We’ve used this service a handful of times, with good results, and two (very poor) exceptions. My wife had a pair of black pants cleaned and pressed, and the pants came back with the waist two inches larger than before.
She called the store, and the person on the phone promised to make things right. My wife was advised that they would call her back shortly. That never happened. We’ve since called twice more, and each time, they promised the manager would get back to us, but no one has.
We decided that, despite all this, maybe this was an outlier, since other clothes we’ve had pressed had come back correctly. Shame on us. We sent a second pair of pants in, and this pair came back an inch shorter in the legs (ie, they shrank).
I strongly encourage you to avoid this business.

Hi Woodley Parkers,
Just wanted to pass along some information about a local merchant that I hope you’ll share with any other neighbors. I’m so mad, I’m taking time out of packing for my overseas trip and other rushing about to write this review: don’t go to Custom Cleaners at 2637 Connecticut Avenue NW, on the east side of the street near the corner of Calvert and Connecticut.
I went in this morning asking if they could clean three items — two dresses that were just sweaty from being outside in the DC summer, and one shirt that had a black stain on it — and if they could do same-​day service, since I’m leaving for Thailand tomorrow and need to take the items with me. They said it was no problem, they could clean it in that time and I should pick up after 6pm. They were overpriced — $ 40 for just those three items — but it seemed worth it on such short notice to get the items clean. Flash forward: I come in and one dress is clean (ok, great!) but the other still smells like sweat, and they haven’t even done the shirt. When I was miffed, they then told me that «everybody knows you need more time to clean the clothes» and «you should pay us for trying, not for getting it clean» and «it’s not our fault if they aren’t clean, it’s your fault». That is literally what they said. I asked for a refund for the two items that they didn’t clean and they refused to give it to me, saying that they told me when I dropped the items off that they would need more time. (Not true). Needless to say, I’m upset enough by this incompetence, belligerence, and injustice to write an email to my neighbors, post this review on Unilocal,and sit on hold with Bank of America to dispute the credit card charge.
In sum, don’t go here. If you have to, make sure you get their promises in writing so they can’t lie to you when you go to pick up your uncleaned clothes. And don’t ever pay in advance or hand them your credit card without first inspecting the clothes. Sigh, I was spoiled by my old cleaners in Mt. Pleasant (Lamont Cleaners on Lamont and Mt. Pleasant streets) — they were actually trustworthy and super competent! If they didn’t think they could clean it in one day, they would never promise as much and then underdeliver (AND make you pay for the underdelivery) — that’s how a business should be run.

The prices are okay for the area, and it’s nice to have a delivery option for Connecticut Plaza apartment residents — but I’ve nearly considered going elsewhere. My button-​down shirts routinely show up with two huge vertical creases down the front. Also, they may have ruined a suit that I turned in earlier in the year — when I called they said it was «mice.» (seriously!)
I use them constantly, so my review is still somewhat okay — but if you want awesome quality, I’d check elsewhere.

I was previously a customer of the cleaners across the street but was put off by their flaky help and the fact that I would get stuck there for a half hour while they navigated their own claim-​check system. They also lost an item of mine for about ten days before it finally resurfaced. I got tired of it all and went across the street. I have Custom do my cleaning and have yet to have an identifiable problem with their work. The clothes come back beautiful. They use enviro-​friendly fluids for cleaning. I’ve also had her do many alterations, too, always done as I wish things to be done. She has replaced elastic and worked on skirts and pants for me.
I do think some of the problems people encounter now with any dry cleaners has to do with fabrics and how clothes are made now. I frequently have to have elastic replaced — it does not stand up to repeated cleanings and may have to do with dry cleaning solution. I’m not sure. But my guess is that clothes are not meant to last a lifetime any more and the dry cleaners suffer the brunt of it. I’m not sure I’m going to blame a dry cleaner on fabric stretching or fading or elastic deteriorating. I also don’t think it is fair to blame cleaners for not being able to get stains out. Stains are. .. well, they are stains. (She’s told me many times not to try to work on them before giving her a chance to – by pre-​treating you can affect the cleaner’s ability to get the stain out.) I’ve tossed my share of clothes that were ruined in restaurants or my own home. I’ve been in this cleaner’s many times and have witnessed very high-​maintenance clientele wanting things altered and cleaned and ready by the next day or grumbling about things I would never complain about. I think a little reasonableness is in order – and lowered expectations. I had wine on a shirt and we tried several times to get it out. It did not come out. I don’t view that as the fault of Custom Cleaners.
They discount if you pay cash. I find them a bit pricey but my clothes are much more nicely done than at Zips, which was a nightmare. Filthy, filthy clothes.

The Wash and Fold service itself and turn-​around time was fine-​but we gave the lady two bags of laundry when she came to pick it up, not thinking to weigh it. When the bill came, it was $ 65!!! We called to ask why they didn’t let us know the weight of the laundry before proceeding, (since it involved such a large amount of money). They kept saying you knew it was $ 2/​lb. In any case, what I thought was 10 pounds of laundry was 30 pounds. Make sure you are aware of how much you give them!

I’ve been going to this cleaner for several years now and have been very happy with the service. I have also had alterations done, including some complicated ones on a rush basis. They have also accommodated rush cleaning requests for vacations, or occasions etc. All around a great cleaner with good customer service!

Yes a little pricy, but not out o the mean for NW DC, and they always do a great job. I’ve gone for tailoring and cleaning, and I’ve got no complaints. Highly recommended!

A little pricey, but they seem to do a good job. Although my dry cleaning experience is limited — I only get dry cleaning done about once a month — and only on a few items.
Staff is very friendly.

I went there once and came out completely dissatisfied. Note: they use safety pins to pin the skirts to hangers after dry cleaning.
Short story: They ruined a skirt I took it by somehow managed to melt the outer layer. When I brought it in to talk about it, the lady was extremely rude and lied to my face.
Long story: I brought in a skirt that is made of some synthetic material that could not be ironed. When I picked up the skirt, there were faint white stains all over it and it was very obviously pressed with an iron (the material gets streaky when ironed). When I asked about it, the lady denied the skirt was ironed and refused a refund.
Turns out the damage is done and nothing can be done about the material. If I had wanted to wear a shiny plastic skirt, I would’ve gotten on; I didn’t want their help turning a skirt I loved into something like that. NEVER again will I go there.

Good enough. Took a sweater with a hole & extra thread to have it repaired and they did it for 7 bucks. Not bad, and knock on wood, they’ve done a good job with the clothes I’ve brought in to have cleaned.
There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of other options around the neighborhood, and this is the best of the bunch from my experience. So, it’ll do…

After a year of being a satisfied Custom Cleaners customer, my love of Custom Cleaners is over. Long story short, they ruined a cardigan I brought there and when I took it back to discuss the matter, they were very rude.
Long story: I brought a cashmere cardigan there with rhinestone buttons to have dry cleaned after wearing it once. When I got it back, the buttons were scratched and no longer shiny. Not cool after splurging $ 90 for a cardigan. When I took it back to talk to them about it, they were pretty rude. I was surprised b/​c they have always been friendly in the past. Was truly disappointed in their reaction. They raised their voice and insisted it was not their fault without offering any explanation. When I asked if I could have a refund, the younger woman said «no» very fast and then printed out the receipt where she showed me on the back they do not take any responsibility for buttons. I left feeling sad, disappointed with a ruined cardigan and out $ 90.
My story has a happy ending b/​c when I brought it back to the store (Ann Taylor) they allowed me to return it for a full refund. However, they noted to me that this was the first time they had seen such an occurence and they have sold hundreds of these cardigans. They noted that it was likely something the cleaner did, and said that if heat was used it could have caused the problem.
In the end, I think they’re right. I think the cleaners ruined the buttons and am upset that they were so unwilling to even offer an apology of any kind. I’m no longer going to Custom for my clothes.

Thank goodness for Custom Cleaners! I had been going to the Debonair across the street and they were terrible. (Never judge a book by its cover kids.) The ladies at Custom Cleaners are great and do a wonderful job.
Knock on wood, all of my clothes have come back the same size, not burnt or smelling of birth defect inducing solvents. On the contrary, all of our clothes have come back fresh, well pressed, and all spots and stains gone.
I have also gotten jeans, pants, and Man-friend’s suits altered here. They did a fantastic job! We were under the gun to get his suits altered for his intership and they turned them around in 2 days!
So, if you live in Woodley Park Custom Cleaners is the way to go! Nice, quick, and non-​toxic!