Abandoned Dry Cleaners - Tons of Clothes Left to Waste 

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Well that was nostalgic. I was a 4th generation dry cleaner before I wised up and left the industry. The thing in the beginning with the clear garage door on it was for steaming pleated curtains/drapes, which is why it's so tall. The room with the safe door was originally meant for storing furs out of season, a common practice back in the day. Yes, it would have been strictly climate controlled to maintain proper humidity and such. Yes, the Irons were steam powered from a central boiler, as was most of the equipment (the stuff that got hot anyway). People abandoned their clothes all the time, even wedding dresses, and would ignore phone calls/letters to come pick it up. We'd donate hundreds of pounds of abandoned clothes every year. Conspicuously absent are the actual dry cleaning machines, which is where most of the toxins would have been. In the row of 4 washers, the 2 older looking ones on the right predate microcontrollers and essentially ran on a punch card (in the form of a round drum). They were also neat because the drum (the washing one, not the punch card one) had chambers in it that would selectively fill with water to balance the drum when it was extracting. Most dry cleaners use very old equipment, it's a dying industry so very few have the funds for modernization, and for the most part things haven't really changed enough to warrant upgrading anyway. Most dry cleaning sites are polluted as most date from a time before anyone really understood the environmental impacts, and well before the EPA was ever a thing. They used to just dump what is now considered toxic waste down the drain. Which is also why so many are abandoned like this when they go out of business, no one wants to buy and pay for the cleanup of the site. Superfunds exists in a number of states specifically for cleaning up old dry cleaning sites, but depending on where you are they usually only cover a fraction of the costs.

My father worked dry cleaners and watched this with me. Abandoning clothes was a depressingly common practice, and it wasn't unusual for dry cleaners to have racks of abandoned clothes being sold for just the price of cleaning them.

Imagine watching this video and suddenly spotting the leather jacket you dropped off 27 years ago and forgot all about, in better condition than you are now.

My former late landlords had a 3 generation dry cleaning business. When the business finally shut down, I said " Brian, why are there so many clean unclaimed garments?" He replied " some customers died, some moved away, their house number is disconnected, lots of reasons ". And some of the garments were expensive. They also still had functional equipment from the 1940's, from when Francess opened the business. It was a true time capsule.

All those former customers really got taken to the cleaners! I'm here all day!

Casually walks by the "Danger, Asbestos" sign at the front door. Lol Keep up the good work guys! I enjoy the videos!

As someone who loves vintage fashion and sewing seeing all the clothes left to rot, the old Singers, the shelves full of sewing books made me so sad

Great video guys! Love the unique, smaller scale places like this.

I can't believe how untouched that place is, lots of valuable equipment and cool vintage clothing

I'm an environmental engineer, and the first thing that I thought of when I saw the title was potential TCE or PCE exposure. I've worked to clean up many nasty dry cleaning sites. However, by the time the engineering/remediation work began, the buildings were essentially stripped, empty warehouses. Thanks for breathing a little life back into this space and documenting it. Stay safe out there!

that is heartbreaking to see all of those expensive wedding, maybe prom tux, fur coats and other clothes left behind...in my city few years back had a guy who owned a dry cleaners and he blew up his own dry cleaners just to claim the insurance and lots of ppl had their personal belongings destroyed just so he could claim the insurance, but he ended up in jail anyways for that. but when passing by for while saw lot of burnt and untouch clothes inside. i think a year or two they finally torn it down and bulit a new building in it place.

"This is where they did Satan's dry cleaning." LMAO !!!

8:04 After he says, "Do you see them?", look at the right side near the rack of clothes. Just to the left of that, you can see a shadow move near a small box on the ground in the background (what looks like a cabinet)!

The Troy Atlas Washer is solely for bedding. Blankets, drapes, table clothes, comforters, sheets,etc... All the large items that folks couldn't do in their home washers.

I think this is the first place in a long time that they visited somewhere with no Christmas decorations. That’s a huge miss on this episodes bingo card. 😢

Myself and my boyfriend randomly stumbled upon this site while in town for a concert, we wanted to get in so bad but it was all fenced off. Awesome that you guys got to it!

The room with the vault door is the Fur Coat storage room. Most all dry cleaners would keep fur coats kept for their clients over summer months in climate controlled rooms like such.

Crazy how everything was just dropped and left behind!

The music that started around the washing machines freaked my cat out. It was kinda funny, he turned his head around like an owl 😆

Only the two of you could make an abandoned dry cleaning plant entertaining. Nicely done!

This is really cool to see. I do sewing and it's clear to me that they did tailoring, resizing, and repairs to clothing. I'd give anything to get my hands on some of the machines they have/had for sewing. The industrial machines are far superior to most consumer versions, and as someone in the infancy of a sewing business as I write this, my dream is to have all of my machines running so I can do larger scale work. Currently, one of three is working that I know of.

As an archivist myself, it would have took me a lot not to open the bags and look at the clothing. You never know what may have been left behind, forgotten. Waiting to be found again.

Thank y'all for recording these historical sites, before they became dust in the wind.

Imagine how cool a time lapse over the major stages of decay would look in a place like that

I got one hell of a shock when I started this when I heard Ballston Spa NY, because I literally went by this place on my way to/from high school every single day. I used to go to that dunkin donuts right next door almost every day too. Surreal

There is beauty in decay. Thank you for documenting

crazy! we did a job in a town near I live. The building was a former dry cleaners so they reused the old foundation (the upper part was tore down) but to be able to reuse it they had to install a vent system, then 4 feet of fill in the basement then sealed off with a floor system that cost something like 70k to make sure fumes didn't come up. In it's place will be 2 luxury rental units on a river next to lake michigan and will get upwards of 10k/week during peak times.

Awesome to see some Upstate NY exploring!

NGL those books and manuals, it'd be so tempting to take them just for the sake of digitizing them / preserving their contents.

I do believe that last area might be a waiting area for those there for the laundromat? With a few basic toys and such for kids, and rocking chairs for adults. This is relatively common where I am, at least the rocking chairs.

I’m glad you were able to capture this time capsule of a gem before it got demolished! I find old school technology so fascinating. As I’ve always wondered how my grandparents’s generation did their thing back in the day

Crazy how buildings such as these can look structurally sound from the outside but be falling apart on the inside. Really enjoyed this episode. Really neat to see all these machines and clothing frozen in time.

A Proper People exploration of an abandoned Superfund site _and_ new merch? This is the best day ever!

This is so cool for me. I used to work at a dry cleaners, it wasn't too bad of a job. 8:17 that looks like where the roll of plastic bags would hang, and you'd put the hanged clothes on the hook near it, and pull the bag down and over

Respect for all 🙏🏾

You'd be surprised what people abandon. My dad owns an auto repair business and every couple years someone will just abandon a vehicle at his business after having it worked on, stop returning calls, etc. If they're willing to abandon something as valuable as a car I can imagine they'd abandon clothes too.

The machine you proposed might be for socks, is as far as I know, a machine for cobbling shoes

Places like this always make me sad, because abandoned stores used to be somebodies pride and joy. I hate to think about the fact that my store will look like this too someday..

Great video as always guys, but I’m going to be honest I like it when you guys reveal what the fate of the building is at the end of the video. I really appreciate the research you guys do on the locations you visit so thank you.

In the section with the giant ironing boards, in the rafters you can see plastic sheets held up in place. Possibly there to catch water/redirect into a bucket. I'm guessing the place fell into disrepair years before it finally closed.

Always a good day when The Proper People post a new video

It’s crazy how quickly these places deteriorate after being abandoned. Very cool find

It's wild how my brain associates their theme song with the pandemic. I spent a full year "working from home" and pretty much watched all their videos while on the clock.

This was really different. I worked at a dry cleaners years ago - looks like nothing changed. I don't know how you guys make even a dry cleaners look so intriguing and haunting, but you more than managed it. Really enjoyed it, thanks.

My daughter and I watch all of your videos, and we just received our proper people shirts. Very soft and cozy. Yayyy we love your videos❤

It's just crazy that how many clothes were left behind! It's always an awesome day when The Proper People post this is so far my favorite video good job guys keep up the great content🤘❤️❤️

I've been waiting for this video ever since I saw a shot you guys posted from here on IG awhile back. I explored this place in 2020. There was considerably less water damage at that time, crazy what a difference a year or so can make. I've explored hundreds of abandoned locations and this one is definitely in my top 10. It's super unique and with so much left behind. I'm glad you guys were able to see this hidden gem before it was demolished.

Every time I see a new video I'm pretty sure it's gonna be impressive. Every single video is so immersive, so well put together. Those b rolls are just amazing. The decay amplifies the whole feeling to another level. Just amazing content as always. Thanks for bringing us that joy!

Super cool unique find

I've checked out several other urban explorer channels and none set the tone/mood as well as you guys do. Excited to view the next video when posted!

Ngl I would’ve taken some of those clothes and try see if they was salvageable, some looked pretty good to sell fr

Thank you Brian and Michal for touring that unusual piece of history! I liked it!

Damn he still ain’t cut that manbun lol.

Wow that was a colossal dry cleaning establishment! For whatever reason I always remember finding the dry cleaners in the tiniest unit of the strip mall. Many times comically narrow like a shotgun house. That wouldn't have made for a very good tour tho...

It’s not surprising to me about all of those unclaimed clothes because people leave stuff in laundromats all the time and just never come back. I know someone who used to work in one and she told me about it and showed me the backroom. Tons of clothes and other items that people never returned for!

I'd love to know the age demographic of the viewers of this channel. I'd imagine it would be folks 50 and older due to the nostalgic nature of the content. It seems like many things from 50 years ago have now gone into history. Think Blockbusters from only a few years ago. So much Americana is being lost. I remember going to the dry cleaners to drop off and pick up clothes in the 1970's. This reminded me of those days. Seeing these old places before they are gone is pretty cool.

As someone who sews this video is way more upsetting to me than it should be. Those beautiful beautiful sewing machines. 😭😓

Wow 😯, Proper People! I’ve seen abandoned shopping malls 🏬, churches ⛪️, cinemas 🎦, theatres 🎭, industrial 🏭 sights, factories 🏭 and power stations to name a few within the ‘Proper-People-verse’ but I wasn’t expecting to see you exploring a dry cleaner facility? What a nice 👍 treat!

6:30 That thing in the middle almost reminds me of an old octopus furnace as some call it, or gravity furnace - it probably isn't, but it does appearance-wise remind me of one.

Just a suggestion for you guys. You should say what happened to the site by the end of the video not to spoil the adventure. Makes more sense imo. Great content as always!

Most of the stuff left behind was probably consolidated as the storerooms cleared out and they were waiting for people to pick them up before they closed for good. It's sad that people didn't pick up their stuff. I bet some of the stored things owners moved or died, and the things were just forgotten.

Maybe some of the garments were put in storage and the owner died? Some of the fabrics/styles look vintage.

My family was in the dry cleaning business for over 30 years and I always thought that the building was big...but it's tiny compared to the one you all explored. I know what every machine and tool does/did...and some of those machines are outdated.

6:43 The sign outside advertised "cold storage". That is probably what this room was.

Great way to end a long hard week, nothing like a proper people videos!

I also wonder how many people worked there on a normal day? Seems like alot of help was needed to run that place

Really shocking how many PCs of clothing left behind! So many wedding dresses unbelievable! Great explore guys!

Look at the quality of clothes, the whole place is going to pot but the clothes still remain in perfect condition 😮

Ive watched you guys for years and randomly clicked this video today just to be surprised by my hometown laundromat. I believe the self serve laundry area was still in business for a few years after the dry cleaner side closed down

That was a much larger place than I expected.

I think the creepy music is getting better.

7:40 Random apple on the ground 😂

In the right state of decay, even a piece of dry cleaning equipment can look like a medieval torture device.

It is cool to see a video just come out from a couple years ago.

I hope some people were able to get their hands on some of that equipment and the really neat looking four tube light fixtures. It'd be a shame if all of this history was destroyed.

My uncle owned a dry cleaning company for about 10 years when I was young. They didn’t use outdated equipment it was just made so we’ll all they needed to do was have it serviced. He (I’m talking about the presses and stuff, not the actual washer and dryers) all the presses he had were from the late 60s and he was using them into the early 90s when he sold the place.

How beautiful! Thanks so much! Happy to have traveled with you! 👋

Kind of surprised there weren't a bunch of Navy uniforms, with NPTU right in that area. Saw a few which could have been peacoats and officer dress jackets, but nothing that had rank insignia.

Yessss found y'all's yt again after my yt got terminated I'm so happy I used to watch y'all all the time during school nights

My parents and I went there to do laundry! That was back in the 70’s and 80’s.

I grew up in Ballston Spa and that dry cleaners has been abandoned as long as I remember. That place was what got me interested in urbex. That is nostalgic to see!

Would be cool to track some owners down of those clothes, give them their clothes back after 12 years😆

Another awesome explore!

This was very interesting but also very sad, in a way. To see all the clothes just hanging there was sad. Loved the video...thanks for sharing!

That place was filled a lot with stuff.

wow, customers never got their clothes back. You'd think customers would come and demand to get their clothing back

I live right around the corner and drove by this place everyday and always wanted to go inside. Thanks for doing it for me!

I hope the building wasn't in such a bad condition when it shut down ...

i was just thinking about how much i missed my proper people videos 💕

4 minutes in- a "giant iron" is called a "Mangle". 7 minutes in - the room with the safe like door was probably cold storage. Cold storage was popular back when fur coats were popular. Owners of fur coats would pay to have them kept in cold storage spring/summer/ fall when they weren't wearing them. The big hoses/pipes were probably part of the refrigeration unit.

I'm surprised by just how massive the building is...and what an odd mix of different rooms and additions.

So many peoples fancy clothes depressing left behind. Memories attached to all of them.

That was incredible thanks so much for showing this

Wow, you just never know where the guys will be exploring! Great video, thanks.

Awesome video as always.

Crazy to see all of that left behind! Great video as always!

I love you guys. Captivating as always.

Really cool to see the old equipment in there. It's crazy that so many clothes were left behind

Uber dope explore. I was bummed that I didn’t see any Christmas decorations.