On the contrary, frequent cleaning prolongs the life of a garment. Not only do stains set with age, making the garment unwearable, but ground-in dirt and soil act as an abrasive, like sandpaper, causing rapid wear of fibers. Also, insects are attracted to soils such as food, beverages, feces, perspiration, and oils from hair on the clothes and will cause further damage. Research was conducted by the Department of Clothing and Textiles at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in cooperation with the School of Textiles at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. They used the Kawabata Evaluation System, which was developed in Japan. The research showed that the various drycleaning processes have no negative effect on the properties of wool in men’s suiting fabrics.
(excerpt from the Dry Cleaning & Laundry Institute’s Drycleaning Blog)