These folks did a last-minute (I mean very last-minute) pressing of a dress I needed that night. I think they got it done in like 45 minutes... they had to call someone in just to do it. I was very impressed, and then had to force a tip on them they kept refusing to take... :) The place came highly recommended by another business down the street, and I would definitely go back there for any cleaning needs based on the excellent service. read more

Best dry cleaning service in the East Bay, hands down! Very nice, reasonable price unlike many other places around Berkeley, and gets your clothes back in a effecient time frame. read more

To add to the otherwise stated great aspects of Arlene's they open early... I dropped stuff off at 7:30am before work!

Arlene's Cleaners really is as good as everyone says. They cleaned my coat quickly as promised and when I picked it up a woman who introduced herself as Arlene gave me a small discount and a pet hair roller. The coat looks great, too. read more

Great cleaners! I was disconsolate after C&C (another local cleaner) messed up some nice clothes of mine so I washed everything by hand for a while rather than go to the cleaners. But Arlenes brought me back around. This place honors their time estimates, treats garments well, and listens to their customers (Unlike C&C). After testing the waters with a few basics, I brought in some silk & lace tops that I wasn't willing to risk hand-washing. And they did a GREAT job! When I've had information to share about stains they've listened and done a great job fixing things. When I just want something clean and fresh they can do it (without bleach/bad chemicals like other local cleaners). They're honest about their ability to tackle stains, they're honest when you come back to retrieve items (ahem, C&C), and they're reasonably priced. Finally someone I can trust my fancy clothes to. read more

very friendly, and gave me extra discount. recommend!

Such an amazing dry cleaners. They do way more than clean. Every time I go in, Arlene herself inspects my garments. Regularly, she'll point out any imperfection and offer to fix/mend it in addition to dry cleaning. It's usually perfect because I never knew how or had the time to take care of it before. The times I've turned the extra help down, however, she was the perfect saleswoman about it and accepted my decision in a second and with a smile. My clothes wouldn't be in such good shape without her :) read more

Best dry-cleaner ever. Reasonable prices, incredibly friendly staff. They really go the extra mile. I won't go anywhere else.

This place is friendly and professional, and they do a great job with my dry cleaning. Most importantly, I trust them--which is what you need most in a dry cleaner. I always feel like I'm dropping my babies off at day care or something -- I want them to come back in one piece. At Arlenes-- they do. read more

The lady that works here is so sweet! She asked me if I ride my bike here and if I live in the neighborhood. I said yes and she offered to give me a bottle of water. This is the first dry cleaner I've visited in Berkeley and I will only come here from now on. read more

Very nice service. Super satisfied! The owner is so kind. The work is great. Wouldn't want to go anywhere else to do laundry and alterations. read more

Very nice service, lovely staff, clothes looked great, and was affordable.

i think it's awesome when a business gets massively successful but doesn't let it get to their heads. this place continues to deliver excellent results (both alterations and cleaning) and great customer service! turnaround is excellent as well. I had my pants hemmed for 7 dollars and i ended up changing my mind on the length of the pants after she finished. what did she do? she shortened them again for me for free. that's as good as it gets folks. read more

I couldn't agree more with the other glowing reviews and to add that Arlene takes customer service and pride in work to a level that most businesses don't even approach. Her work is great, the prices are fair, but, really, it's the attention to detail, warmth, welcome, and appreciation of your patronage that really sets Arlene's apart. She's nowhere near where I live, but I will continue to go out of my way to give her my business. read more

I can't say enough good things about this woman. She is sweet, attentive, and, most importantly, DRY CLEANS WELL! For some reason I've been having a hard time finding a decent dry cleaner in Berkeley. Prices have been rising while quality has declined. Arlene's is totally worth going out of the way for. She takes time to do the extra stuff that counts: folding sweaters impeccably, pinning shirt sleeves in the front so they stay pressed, etc. Her services are also underpriced in my opinion. She genuinely cares about her customers, and you will feel that your money is well spent! read more

Arlene's is about as good as it gets. Not only is Arlene an adorable sweet lady who cares about each of her customers, but she treats your clothing with the utmost care, to perfection. Also an enviro-friendly cleaners, with good prices! It's not just about a business to her - it's about taking care of people. read more

I have been meaning to write this for awhile. A few months back I dropped off 2 pairs of pants (out of the 3 that I own) for alteration. I was very specific in my directions, and upon the first return to pick them up, neither pair was short enough and one of them had been unevenly altered- so one leg was longer than the other. I left them for another week, and when I returned to pick them up they were short enough, but not tight enough on the bottom, which they had been the first time I went to get them, so I had to leave them FOR ANOTHER WEEK! Bear in mind this is 3 weeks of only having one pair of pants for an alteration that anywhere else would've taken 3 days. When I picked them up the last time, not only did they charge me more money for doing the job I had payed them to do to begin with, one of the pairs of pants had been made so tight that I can barely get them over my feet. They also ruined a pair of my boyfriend's pants. Never again. read more

Arlene and her staff set the customer service bar. Bravo. I can't say how amazing the service and friendliness was. If I could give them 10 stars, I would. read more

Arlene's is a testament to the value of good customer service. The people who work here are so friendly and warm, and of course they do a great job getting things clean and pressed. read more

They're fantastic! My clothes look great, prices are cheap, and they are so very friendly. You get offered a water bottle every time you go :) read more

Top notch service. She even stayed open a few minutes late so I could pick my suit up when my bus was delayed.

Decided to try this place out for my annual dry cleaning of my coat, and a few sweaters. Arlene is a very nice lady. I pointed out to her a part of one of my sweaters that needed stitching. When I came back to pick them up several days later, it was about 15 minutes before she was closed. Her door was locked, but I was able to get a hold of her. My clothes were clean, the sweater was fixed. And of course, there was candy. If Arlene is running a one-woman operation, she is doing an incredibly good job at it. I don't give her 5 stars only because her prices seem a little high ($26 for an overcoat and 2 sweaters), but I don't go the dry cleaners often enough for that to be a real issue. I will go back there again. read more

I am so used to having my clothes destroyed (zipper pulls ripped off, snags etc) by other dry cleaners, that I was super hesitant to bring clothes to anyone...but I completely recommend Arlene's. They are fabulous! The woman behind the counter is so pleasant and kind. I've had a sweater and two coats cleaned here several times, and they always do an excellent job. They will give you a discount if you bring in more than one item at a time. read more

Wonderful! I've only had fantastic experiences bringing my clothing here. She once helped me out to my car with an armload of dresses :) Highly recommended. Thank you!!! read more

I brought in a nice dress that I wore only once to my sister's wedding reception but ruined with a dark oil stain the size of a quarter that seeped through pretty well - enough for me to be convinced that not even dry cleaning would be sufficient. But I went to Arlenes based on the Yelp reviews, and was really happy with the results. I also took in one of my boyfriend's favorite silk ties that had very old oil stains on it. The stain on the dress basically disappeared with only the slightest hint of it having being there - only a crazy neurotic would complain. The tie came out looking new. Also, the lady at the counter is so nice. Upon giving me my clothing back, she also gave me a free lint remover brush, for no particular reason, but to say thanks. I will definitely be going back in the future. read more

I can't say enough good things about Arlenes. Their prices are reasonable (especially for an eco-friendly dry cleaner), they do a great job, and the woman behind the counter (I don't think her name is actually Arlene) is amazing! I seriously don't know how she is always so nice and friendly, I've never had anything but over the top great service from her! read more

Amazing, amazing business. Not only did my clothes come out clean, bright, and taken care of, but the staff is just superb. Arlene is probably the most adorable woman I've ever met. Not only does she give you a free water bottle, but when I picked up my items she discounted the already insanely low prices. I had 10 items (3 suit jackets, 4 skirts and 3 dresses) cleaned and immaculately pressed for $68. A friend of mine had his suit jacket done for a mere $7. Please go visit Arlene's and you will not be disappointed! read more

Absolutely the best out there. Extremely friendly and extremely good customer service. There was nothing for me to complain about. They had a wonderful turn around time and the price was very cheap compared to everywhere else I went. read more

I needed a suit and two shirts pressed by the afternoon for an event I was going to in the evening. I showed up at 9, and my clothes looked great when I came to pick them up. The owner (Arlene?) was very gracious and courteous the entire time, offering me bottled water both during drop-off and pick-up. Glad I found this place, won't take my clothes elsewhere. read more

I loved the service. The lady at the front desk was so sweet. They even offered a drink!! Definitely recommending

I brought a coat covered with vomit into Arlenes and not only did they remove all stains as well as the smell but they were sweet and professional. I highly recommend this dry cleaners! read more

I went to Arlene's after reading some positive reviews on Yelp, and the reviews were more then confirmed by my excellent experience. The service cannot possibly be better--it is the definition of excellent service. I highly recommend going here for dry cleaning and any sewing or patching needs. read more

Great place, good service. This is a family owned place, and the owner works there, which is nice and really personal. I like to feel like I can trust someone with my clothes. read more

arlene is very sweet, but too expensive. i think my last bill was $275. she agreed to give me a discount, but it was very small. after every "discount" cleaners proved to be almost as much, I started using dryel kits at home and steaming my clothes on my own. dry cleaning these days has reached ludicrous monetary proportions. I come now only for alterations. Parking is also an issue here. read more

We have had a lot of trouble with misplaced shirts. (1) One time, one shirt with the same brand name but wrong shirt (and size) was sent home with the rest of our shirts. (2) Another time we received a phone call the day after we dropped shirts off asking for a description of our shirts because the cleaners couldn't locate them and there was some sort of mix-up. Apparently the shirts were found somewhere, yet the clothesnik (bag cover) was lost for two weeks because it went home with another customer with my husband's name and number written on the front. (3) This last time, I didn't double-check at the store we had all the right shirts. The next morning, we opened up the clothesnik at home and found someone else's five expensive shirts. We called Arlene right away and there was this back and forth about how it would take some time to locate our shirts. Meanwhile, the owner of the shirts in our possession at our house showed up at the store for their shirts. Arlene called back and said she would need someone to pick them up at our house the same day since these other people needed their shirts right away. Arlene did not say she had found our shirts yet. Later, someone showed up at the house and we did a shirt exchange since our shirts had been located. My husband says there were two other incidents where there was some confusion about location of the correct shirts. Arlene needs a better system to prevent these sorts of hassles and potential losses. We don't want to risk losing $1200 worth of shirts one of these days. Sorry Arlene. read more

why do every one of my shirts have my last name in black ink on the inside of my placket? not cool.