I just got a really nice Artillery Officers tunic. I not a uniform collector but I have a matching visor so I just had to buy it. Can you or even should you have a uniform dry cleaned? We have a little local mom and pop cleaner that has no problem with it being TR. Smells old and kind of dusty.

I have had good and bad luck with dry cleaners. I might take it to your mom & pop cleaners and talk to them about any concerns. Concerns might be about any loose insignia, buttons, etc. or bullion insignia and color fade or tarnish. Talk to them before you leave it but cleaning does certainly help some items.

Some dry cleaning chemicals are on the harsh side.
Ask if they have softer formulas they can use. You can always run it through twice if it turns out ok, but avoid a bad outcome.

Some high phosphate cleaning compounds will make the material glow under black light. Request low or no phosphate cleaners if possible.

Hello I wouldn't dry clean any item of value as stated agents used are harsh. it is also possible to damage both stitching and fabric that is almost 80 years old. I would use a damp cloth and soft brush and hang the items outside to air them out Once damaged through dry cleanng they are usually beyond repair. I had a cloth item litterally deteriorate 40 years ago and I was devastated cheers and best, Ryan

Thanks Everyone for your advise. I will talk to the owners of the dry cleaners but maybe I should leave it as is. I don't clean daggers and such so maybe I should let it air out when the weather gets better. The last thing I want is to harm it.

I took the tunic to the cleaners and let them take a look at it, they said it could be dry cleaned but they had a couple of concerns . The bullion eagle which they thought they may need to tack a piece a cloth over to be safe and the big concern was the buttons. As they appeared to be painted or coated in some way they were afraid the process may harm them. To be safe they would need to remove them and replace them after the cleaning. We both agreed that it was better to leave as is and they were able to remove most of the dust with a vacuum type tool. If it had moth damage it might be a different deal as the dry cleaning would kill moth eggs and such. Anyway thanks again for the response from everyone.

IF you have a friend with a Walk in Freezer in his business you could leave it in there a few days,,, It WILL kill any moths, larva, eggs hiding in it!!

A friend had a Political Leaders tunic done years ago and the tabs came back looking like Brillo pads.

Perhaps contact a museum that has item of older cloth and ask what they do.

I don't see anything wrong with cleaning. From reading here, I suspect that the reason again such is that it makes the item glow under UV light ?

yeah dry cleaners isn't the way to go. I'm with Ryan and others on this one.....

- * IF its dirty a soft brushing,,a vacuum with a fine mesh screen over nozzle ,etc.. Sweat stains etc. are fine to leave as is. whether a paperpusher or combat man you sweated. after all these things are 80+ years old now... Blood, well nothing really going to get a 80 yr old blood stain out without some kind of damage..

Moths,lavra etc. the freezer will work. Its got to be a few days and then the normal cleaning..

I once had a camo jacket that reeked of kerosene. I hung it outside, did a light 'Febrezing' and still reeked... One day I freaked out and put it in a garment bag and emptied a box of baking soda all over it and let it sit a week. Then shook it out, let it hang outside,,,,and it still reeked!
It was a foreign volunteer camo jacket and liked it but you could smell the Fuc**r right thru the garment bag in the closet!...

Finally just ended up selling it at the MAX.. I heard the guy saying to his friend when walking away ,,one of the reasons he bought it was it smelled of kerosene!!