You've invested time and money in a quality
wardrobe or in a few prized bespoke, made-to-measure, designer,
specialty and couture garments. And you want to maintain that
wardrobe and those garments in pristine condition. Looking, feeling
and smelling great. And lasting much longer.
Like most, you'll probably turn to a "professional dry cleaner"
for help.
And what happens there?
They take 50 to 60 "dry clean" garments. Sort them into "lights"
and "darks". Load them into a 60 lb. dry cleaning machine with
little or no pre-spotting (pre-dry cleaning stain removal). Add
detergent (the cheapest one), moisture or water (to "remove" any
water-based stains), fragrance (to disguise the smell of the
emulsified oils and fats in the solvent) and sizing (to stiffen
your garments and render them quicker to press). Toss them about in
a relatively aggressive, dye-stripping, toxic solvent
(perchloroethylene or synthetic petroleum) for 10 minutes or less.
Extract at a high RPM and dry at a high temperature to further
minimize the total wash/extract/dry cycle time. Then, machine press
the garments and "squirt" them with steam from a hand iron in an
attempt to conceal any evidence of machine pressing. At a rate of
30 to 40 pants per hour per presser and 20 to 30 non-pant garments
per hour per presser. About 1½ to 3 minutes per garment. Finally,
stuff the finished garments into narrow poly bags and cram them
onto a holding rack or conveyor.
What's more, many of your dry
cleanable cottons and linens may, in fact, not have been dry
cleaned at all. They've probably been washed or wet cleaned, tossed
into a dryer, machine pressed, and then "squirted" with steam. Even
if you specifically requested "dry clean only". Even if the care
label said "dry clean only".
Voila, they're done! With almost no investment of time or skill.
They're in by 9:00 and out by 5:00. Picked up on day 1 and
delivered on day 3.
Welcome to the world of "professional dry cleaning". Where every
cleaner claims to be a true quality cleaner.
So what are your dry cleaning rights? And what you should expect
from a dry cleaner?
- The right to garments that are exceptionally clean and free of
both oil-based stains (such as body oil, creams, lotions, salad
dressing, steak sauce, etc.) and water-based stains (such as
perspiration, soda, juice, wine, etc.)
- The right to spectacularly bright whites, creams and
pastels.
- The right to colors that are rich and lustrous, without that
"washed out", faded look.
- The right to renewed, revitalized fabric textures that feel
butter soft.
- The right to cottons and linens that have been dry cleaned as
you requested or as specified by the care label. Not washed and
dried in a dryer.
- The right to garments with absolutely no dry cleaning solvent
smell. Ever.
- The right to garments with absolutely no fragrance or perfume
smell.
- The right to garments that are meticulously finished. Inside
and out. By hand. Not by machine.
- The right to garments that are carefully and thoroughly
inspected. From inside to outside. From top to bottom.
- The right to garments that are professionally repaired whenever
feasible.
- The right to a complete set of matching buttons that are secure
and not scratched, chipped or cracked.
- The right to garments that are individually and elegantly
packaged using hangers and other packaging materials that support
the integrity of those garments.
And how can your dry cleaner achieve the results?
- By pre-spotting every garment instead of just
loading all garments into a dry cleaning machine and maybe
post-spotting them. Pre-spotting is targeted stain removal by a
skilled technician prior to cleaning the garment in a dry cleaning
machine.
- By cleaning your garments in an odorless, crystal clear,
dermatologically-friendly, fabric-gentle dry cleaning fluid
instead of a fabric aggressive, dye stripping,
toxic solvent like perchloroethylene (aka perc) or synthetic
petroleum, the solvents used by 97% of all cleaners.
- By dry cleaning your cottons and linens as you requested or as
specified by the care label instead of wetcleaning
or washing them and tossing them in a drier.
- By operating their dry cleaning machines with zero moisture,
zero fragrance and zero sizing instead of
injecting moisture, fragrance and sizing into their dry cleaning
solvent.
- By gently hand-ironing all your garments instead
of machine pressing them.
- By conducting a detailed inspection of every garment - inside
and out - prior to packaging instead of a cursory
look over, if any.
- By employing a skilled, on-site tailor or seamstress to make
all necessary repairs instead of assigning the
task to the first customer service representative with nothing to
do.
- By packaging your garments individually and using the finest
packaging materials instead of stuffing them in a
bag and using materials that "look pretty" but aren't technically
aligned with and supportive of your garments over the short and
long term.
- By taking the time to do the job right (3 to 5 days in most
cases) instead of routinely offering same and next
day service or 3 day pickup and delivery service.
Unfortunately for ordinary cleaners, fine garment care - true
quality cleaning - requires more than just a knowledge of loading
and unloading a shirt washer or dry clean machine, and banging
those garments out on a press. And more than just an assembly-line
cleaning and pressing operation where every garment is barcoded and
treated as interchangeable irrespective of original cost. Based on
this definition, I could teach any Hallmark Card store employee to
be a dry cleaner/presser in 2 weeks. (Sorry, I take that back. In 1
week.)
Truth is, fine garment care - true quality cleaning - requires
an extensive knowledge of and commitment to the art and science of
textiles, garment construction, cleaning and hand ironing, a
never-ending commitment to process improvement (no matter how
marginal), a stubbornness to reject labor saving technologies that
negatively impacts true quality, an unyielding commitment to invest
in true quality rather than extract every last penny out of the
cleaning, hand ironing and packaging process, a sense of pride in
one's work, a passion for perfection (to the extent that perfection
is achievable), the time necessary to "do the job right," and most
importantly, a personal philosophy that says that true quality has
inherent meaning and value - for the cleaner, his employees and his
clients.
How can I help you?