Designer dry cleaners Toronto: 7 cleaners, prices and terms
Seven cleaners that take couture, leather and gowns, and the damage terms to read before you hand one over.
Dove Cleaners in Yorkville starts a suit at $115.95, four times the $28.99 Door2Door charges. In 2007 a Washington court ruled against Roy Pearson, a judge who had sued his dry cleaner for $54 million over one pair of trousers, Wikipedia records. Gibson's Cleaners keeps its terms plainer: it caps what it pays for a ruined piece at ten times the bill.
Quick facts
- Cleaners: 7, each read on its own site on 2 October 2026
- A suit: from $28.99 at Door2Door, $38.80 at Gibson's and $115.95 at Dove
- A wedding gown: from $199 at Door2Door, and from $500 plus HST at Gibson's
- Silk: a silk blouse from $19.25 at Gibson's, and from $51.54 at Dove
- Damage: Gibson's pays at most 10 times the cleaning charge, reported inside 14 days
- Bellair Street: Dove at number 26, The Cashmere Shop at 24
For a designer piece
Gibson's Cleaners. It began in 1929 dyeing textiles on Davenport Road, Second World War uniforms among them, and now runs a Blue Ribbon Couture service. Each piece is photographed at intake, cleaned dry, wet or by hand according to its fabric, and priced by quote.
The finished piece comes back on an Italian hanger in protective tissue. It can be collected at any of Gibson's four counters, the Kingsway at 4241 Dundas Street West among them, or delivered to a Yorkville door twice a week. A trim or button at risk is reinforced, or taken off and reattached after cleaning.
Dove Cleaners. Beading, sequins and embroidery on a gown or a delicate piece are cleaned by hand, one detail at a time. Its Yorkville counters are at 26 Bellair Street and on the lower level of 87 Avenue Road, the building that holds TNT and Via Cavour.
Even its cheapest dry cleaning, a shirt from $38.45, costs more than a Door2Door suit, and a tuxedo tops the list from $155.45. The first step is reading the care label; hardware that has to come off for cleaning goes back on after, and minor repairs cost nothing.
Parkers Dry Cleaners. It says it was the first Canadian cleaner to adopt GreenEarth, a silicone solvent launched in 1999, and lists designer suits, beads, sequins, lace, leather and suede. Its three counters are in the Manulife Centre concourse at 55 Bloor Street West, at 3125 Yonge Street and at 1696 Bayview Avenue, which has a drive through.
Parkers dates itself to 1876 in Ottawa, where its main trade was once dyeing ostrich feathers. In its building there of 1903, by its own timeline, dry cleaning meant brushing garments by hand with benzene. Its Yonge Street counter does the work on the premises.
Brite Star Cleaners. Wool and silk marked dry clean only can go through its wet cleaning, on computer controlled washers with moisture sensitive dryers. Most of the work at 193 Roncesvalles Avenue, designer gowns included, is done in the store.
It has served Toronto since 1967. The process uses a little water and biodegradable detergent in place of solvent, and Brite Star says it leaves no chemical odour or residue. Same day service needs clothes in before 8am, the hour the store opens on weekdays.
For leather and suede
Love Your Leather. It has repaired leather since 1987 and opened its facilities to the public in 2011, "so now everyone can skip the middle man". They are at 41 Advance Road in the west and 21 Mobile Drive in the east.
It brings faded leather back by replacing the oils lost over time, and glazes fur trims to restore their look. A coat comes back in 7 days, or 2 to 3 days on a rush inside Toronto, and bags have their own Toronto handbag repair note.
Door2Door Dry Cleaning. A pickup and delivery service whose leather page says to clean a set together, since oiling a skin after cleaning can darken it a few shades. A leather jacket starts at $69.99 and a suede one at $59.99, and the smallest order is $50.
Its terms ask for a signed consent form and a deposit that is not refunded before it cleans leather, fur, suede or a wedding, beaded or evening dress. For suede, signing means you agree no liability for damage lies with the company. A wedding dress is cleaned alone, never with other dresses.
For a wedding gown
Style & Grace Cleaners. No gown goes over the counter at 3678 St Clair Avenue East, by the Scarborough Bluffs. The first step is a free consultation, usually 45 minutes to an hour; it prints no gown price, and its quote holds for 30 days.
As a member of the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists, it guarantees a preserved gown's fabric for life. It also cleans saris, lehengas and Chinese red dresses, and credits "our father Neville" with moving it off perchloroethylene in the 1980s.
Gibson's and Parkers take gowns on other terms. Gibson's needs no appointment, uses no bleach and boxes a preserved gown acid free; Parkers, also in the association, calls you back to inspect it before boxing. The shops that sell gowns are in the Toronto bridal boutiques note.
What to ask before you hand it over
Start with the care label, and never cut one out. Canada makes a label name every fibre at 5% or more of a garment's weight, per the Competition Bureau. Care instructions are voluntary, so a piece can be sold with none, and Parkers dates the first "Dry Clean Only" label to the 1970s.
The label, or its absence, decides who carries the risk, even for Saint Laurent, one of the 14 brands Gibson's says it regularly handles. Gibson's takes no liability for normal cleaning of a piece with no care label or instructions, or for one cleaned as its label says.
No cleaner here prints a promise to pay what a piece cost new. Gibson's own terms cap the payout at ten times the charge "regardless of brand or condition", so a blazer cleaned for $23.10 is covered to $231.
At Gibson's, the cleaning bill, not the price tag, caps what you are owed.
Door2Door wants a complaint inside 48 hours, and sends a disputed one to an outside fabric tester only if the garment has a care label. It settles on the garment's age, original value and proof of purchase, and without a receipt it gives most dry cleanable clothes "an average age of three to five years". Keep the receipt.
Last, ask how it will be cleaned. Style & Grace says about 70% of what crosses its counter never sees a dry cleaning machine, and Gibson's picks "the least aggressive method" after checking fibre, dyes, trims and linings.
Two boutiques that say clean less
The cheapest claim is the one never made, and both boutiques here treat the cleaner as the last step. The Cashmere Shop says to hand wash its cashmere with its own shampoo, soaking 10 to 15 minutes, and that its pieces can also be dry cleaned. A stain you are unsure about should go to a cleaner promptly, with a description, and cashmere should be stored clean, since odours and food stains can draw moths.
First Aid for Leather by Sandalman, at 1181 Davenport Road, recommends dry cleaning leather "minimally and only when absolutely necessary". It sells its soap to anyone who would rather clean at home. "To be honest, it isn't really dry cleaned but rather wet cleaned," it writes of its own service.
Common questions
How much does it cost to dry clean a coat in Toronto?
A coat starts at $29.99 at Door2Door and at $119.45 at Dove, by their lists. Gibson's starts a hip or knee length coat that is not down at $55, and warns that a luxury brand upcharge may apply. A $40 bill for a pea coat falls between the Door2Door and Gibson's starting prices.
Is there a dry cleaner open on Sunday in Toronto?
Parkers at 3125 Yonge Street opens noon to 5pm, the only counter here with Sunday opening hours. Parkers cleans nothing on Saturdays, and its free same day service runs on weekdays only at that Yonge and Lawrence counter, in by 9am and out after 4pm. Gibson's same day service costs 25% more and skips weekends.
What does a P in a circle mean on a clothing label?
Dry clean on a normal cycle in any solvent except trichloroethylene, per the federal care symbols guide. An F in the circle means petroleum solvent only, a W means wet cleaning, and a cross through it means do not dry clean. The national standard behind the symbols was withdrawn in October 2017.
Can you dry clean a leather jacket?
Yes, though Sandalman says to do it rarely. Its machine washes leather with soap and moisturisers, then hangs, tumbles and presses it, and the shop calls that the only way to clean out body odour. Smooth leather can be cleaned by hand instead, while suede and nubuck cannot.