A
new client brought in a White House/Black Market white skirt
adorned with glued-on black plastic beading. The care label said
"dry clean only."
She told me that she'd taken it to 7 dry cleaners around town --
all of whom rejected the garment as "not dry cleanable."
Some rejected it out of hand. Some said that they would try to
dry clean or hand wash the skirt but that there were risks: the
beading could melt or fall off. And the black dye from the beads
could bleed onto the white fabric.
So what to do?
She called up one of the upscale department stores in Scottsdale
and asked one of the managers what she would do if she had a
similar garment. The response: take it to RAVE FabriCARE!
We explained to the client that we love garments with trims and
embellishments. That we can clean almost anything: beads, sequins
or rhinestones; plastic, vinyl or rubber; paint, glitter or
silkscreen; appliques or embroidery; suede, leather or fur;
multi-media comprising fabrics, skins; feathers; high-tech fabrics.
Or a St. John Knit blazer heavily embellished with pailettes and/or
rhinestones. And that we can do it expertly, safely, and
effectively.
Ordinary cleaners, on the other hand, hate garments with trims
or embellishments. So they follow multiple strategies:
* Most reject them out of hand, telling you that the garment is
not cleanable.
* Some warn you of the "risks", make you sign a waiver of
liability and, when the garment is reduced to unwearable status,
wave the signed release like a flag blowing in the wind.
* Others, unwilling to expose their lack of skill and
experience, and knowing that they have a 50-50 chance of "getting
it right", go ahead and experiment on them.
* A few "clean" them by reducing the time on the wash cycle of
their drycleaning machine to a fraction of the required time and
then tell you that "they've been cleaned." When, in fact, they
haven't been properly cleaned.
* Many just spot clean them, spray them with a "freshening"
product (say hello to Fabreze), steam them and then tell you that
"they've been cleaned". When, in fact, they haven't been cleaned at
all.
These photos show the skirt before and after dry cleaning
...
Before
After
Over the next 2 weeks, I'll be featuring some unusual garments
with trims and embellishments. Everything from a $200 Sheri Bodell "dry clean only" baby doll dress
with metal trim to a $10,000 wool and plastic Chado Ralph Rucci
"spot clean only" two piece skirt suit.
How can I help you?