There are two maintenance issues that can negatively impact the look and life of a bespoke garment: poor cleaning and poor pressing.
That's a service available at over 25,000 dry cleaners in the USA.
Many years ago, Will Boehlke, the now-retired blogger of A Suitable Wardrobe fame, commented as follows:
“My own inadequate attempts at tailored clothing maintenance have over time reduced themselves to the trouser press and my Jiffy steamer. That is because I have received too many dry cleaned suits that went away as a three roll top and returned as a three roll two, or, just as often, the reverse.”
A few years ago, Simon Crompton (www.permanentstyle.com) was even more blunt:
“A high-street dry cleaner will stick your suit in a large drum, soak it with chemicals that spread the dirt around more than they get rid of it, and then put it on a big industrial press which will stamp it flat, ruining any curve in the shoulders, chest canvas or lapels. The chemicals wear away the cloth, shortening it's life. The press forces a three-dimensional object to become 2D.”
There is, however, one dry cleaner in the USA that really understands all the nuances associated with hand cleaning and hand ironing bespoke:
In a June 2024 posting, entitled "New York Clothing Resources", Simon Crompton listed 2 dry cleaners recommended by his over 1 million annual website readers. These 2 dry cleaners include RAVE FabriCARE (even though we're located in New York City).
His one paragraph summation includes the following statement:
At RAVE FabriCARE, we understand why many owners of bespoke garments are conflicted when it comes to turning over their bespoke garments to an ordinary, “bang and hang” cleaner.
The owners of bespoke garments are familiar with the quality of the materials that went into their garments:
The owners of bespoke garments also understand the collaborative process that went into the construction of their bespoke garments:
The entire process could involve 6 to 10 weeks of time, 60 to 80 hours of skilled labor, 40,000 to 60,000 hand stitches, and 5 or more visits to your tailor.
It’s time and labor intensive. So it’s expensive.
On the other hand, the owners of bespoke garments have personal knowledge of the damage that can be inflicted on their garments by ordinary, “bang and hang” cleaners.
They know that these cleaners often say one thing and then do something completely different….
The answer is that most don’t. They’re petrified.
And when they do, they approach the entire experience with extreme trepidation.
Even if it’s only for a sponge and press during the season?
Or for a clean and press at the end of the season or as needed?
Unfortunately, not everyone is fortunate to live near their tailor, particularly one who offers a lifetime sponge and press service (a rare offering today).
And there’s only so much that can be achieved at home with a hand-held steamer, an open-faced iron, or a steam filled bathroom (all reckless options, in our opinion).
There has to be a better alternative. And there is…
A true quality cleaner will offer 2 services for bespoke garments:
In the past, a sponge and press service was offered by some Savile Row tailors as an integral part of their offering. The idea was simple: Return your bespoke garments to us for a sponge and press as required.
For the most part, those days are over. Today, your tailor might, instead, recommend a cleaner specializing in cleaning and maintaining bespoke garments.
We are currently unaware of any other cleaner in the USA, other than RAVE FabriCARE, that offers a true sponge and press.
To fully understand the difference between these two offerings, let’s consider the process we follow at RAVE FabriCARE as a yardstick….
Please note:
At RAVE FabriCARE, we only clean in siloxane dry cleaning fluid. It’s dermatologically-friendly and fabric gentle. It leaves your garments odorless and soft as butter.
And because it’s unregulated at federal, state and local level, we can hang dry your bespoke garments without putting those garments through the tumbling action of a 30 to 40 minute dry cycle.
By contrast, cleaners who clean in perchlorethylene, synthetic petroleum or formaldehyde dibutyl acetal are prohibited by environmental regulations from drying any garments outside of their dry cleaning machines.
In other words, the entire cleaning, extract and drying cycle must take place inside a sealed dry cleaning machine, typically a 40 to 50 minute tumbling process.
Here’s a summary of the steps associated with each of these two processes:
Every bespoke garment is carefully examined, paying particular attention to the:
All bespoke garments accumulate some dust and soil merely by virtue of the fact that they’ve been worn. This accumulation takes place even if they’ve been gently brushed after each wearing. This step is designed to remove that dust and soil.
For a sponge and hand press during the season, we lightly vacuum each bespoke garment with a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter vacuum equipped with a variable speed adaptor set on the lowest setting.
This vacuum is the very same model favored by museum textile curators to remove dust and soil from garments and textiles in their collection that cannot be dry cleaned or wet cleaned due to their construction, age, condition or fragility.
All bespoke garments accumulate some dust and soil merely by virtue of the fact that they’ve been worn. This accumulation takes place even if they’ve been gently brushed after each wearing. This step is designed to remove that dust and soil.
For a clean and hand press at the end of the season or as needed, the soils and dust will be removed during the dry cleaning process.
About 90% of all visible stains a dry cleaner encounters are water-based stains: perspiration, soda, juice, wine, beer, etc.
To remove water-based stains, we gently flush the affected area with a light jet of steam and immediately dry the area with a light jet of compressed air.
Even if you were to take your regular “dry clean only” garments to an ordinary cleaner, all water-based stains need to be removed in this manner. Before they ever see the inside of that cleaner’s dry cleaning machine.
Because dry cleaning solvents and fluids only emulsify oil-based stains. They don’t – and can’t – remove water-based stains.
Fact is, you can dry clean a garment with water-based stains as many times as you wish. More often than not, the stains won’t “move” with dry cleaning alone.
Unless, of course, the dry cleaner adds or injects moisture into their dry cleaning solvent, a common practice amongst ordinary cleaners. And, in our opinion, an absolutely reckless undertaking, approaching dry cleaning malpractice.
Because excessive moisture shrinks wools and bleeds water soluble dyes.
About 10% of all visible stains a dry cleaner encounters are oil-based stains: butter, salad dressing, steak sauce, body oils, creams and lotions.
Oil-based stains need to be emulsified by a dry cleaning solvent or fluid in order to be removed. One of the most important functions of dry cleaning fluid is to emulsify oils and fats.
An ordinary cleaner will typically load your garments into a dry cleaning machine, add a dry cleaning solvent or fluid (such as perchloroethylene aka perc, synthetic petroleum, formaldehyde dibutyl acetal or siloxane), add moisture (if they clean in perc), sizing and fragrance, tumble the garments for 10 minutes, extract and then dry for 30 to 45 minutes.
That’s “dry cleaning” at its most basic.
For a sponge and hand press during the season, your bespoke garments never see the inside of our dry cleaning machines. We hand clean all oil based stains using siloxane, our fabric gentle, non-dye stripping dry cleaning fluid.
Why siloxane?
Because siloxane is extremely gentle on your fine garments. So gentle it’s been used for decades as a base product in shampoos, antiperspirants, deodorants and moisturizing creams. This means you probably drip siloxane into your eyes every time you shampoo your hair and you spray or roll it onto the most sensitive parts of your skin every time you apply an antiperspirant or deodorant. You even digest siloxane when you eat McDonald’s french fries (but that’s a story for another day).
By the way, you should always clean your fine wool garments, bespoke or otherwise, prior to storing for the summer.
That’s because a proper professional cleaning is the only way to protect your wools from potential damage by moth larvae (time to say goodbye to those moth balls, herbal sachets, Tupperware-style boxes and cedar rings, blocks, chests and closets).
Ordinary cleaners love their presses.
Why?
Because pressing is where cleaners can achieve the greatest productivity. At ordinary cleaners, your garments are banged out on a press at a furious rate. Typically, 30 to 40 pants per hour per presser; 20 to 30 non-pant garments per hour per presser.
Here’s the problem: poor pressing can damage a garment – on it’s first pressing – by subjecting that garment to way too much pressure, with way too much steam, for way too long, at way too high a temperature. Especially when it comes to fine wools, silks and other non-cotton and non-linen fabrics.
And the results?
Shine; seam, flap and button impressions; moire-like press pad impressions; double creases; puckered seams (often called burst or blown seams); wrinkled linings; and other “crimes of fashion”.
At RAVE FabriCARE, we delicately finish all your garments. The old fashioned way. By hand. Using a hand iron. Both inside and out. No matter how long it might take. Paying particular attention to the curvature of the shoulders, chest, sleeves and collar, and to the roll of the lapels.
“Pressing” or “steaming“, as practiced by ordinary cleaners, is such a poor descriptor of the art of finishing.
Of course, a skilled finisher must know how to apply pressure to achieve a smooth finish on a linen or cotton. But a smooth, soft, hand finish, that minimizes the possibility of shine, seam, flap or button impressions, and puckered seams, best defines the finest professional finishing.
If you’re looking for validation of this point of view, just broach the subject of “pressing" or "steaming" by a dry cleaner with any bespoke tailor and watch their blood pressure rise.
And make sure you bring along a portable defibrillator.
Your tailor may need it.
Every bespoke garment is carefully examined, paying particular attention to the:
All bespoke garments accumulate some dust and soil merely by virtue of the fact that they’ve been worn. This accumulation takes place even if they’ve been gently brushed after each wearing. This step is designed to remove that dust and soil.
For a clean and hand press at the end of the season or as needed, the soils and dust will be removed during the dry cleaning process.
About 90% of all visible stains a dry cleaner encounters are water-based stains: perspiration, soda, juice, wine, beer, etc.
To remove water-based stains, we gently flush the affected area with a light jet of steam and immediately dry the area with a light jet of compressed air.
Even if you were to take your regular “dry clean only” garments to an ordinary cleaner, all water-based stains need to be removed in this manner. Before they ever see the inside of that cleaner’s dry cleaning machine.
Why?
Because dry cleaning solvents and fluids only emulsify oil-based stains. They don’t – and can’t – remove water-based stains.
Fact is, you can dry clean a garment with water-based stains as many times as you wish. More often than not, the stains won’t “move” with dry cleaning alone.
Unless, of course, the dry cleaner adds or injects moisture into their dry cleaning solvent, a common practice amongst ordinary cleaners. And, in our opinion, an absolutely reckless undertaking, approaching dry cleaning malpractice.
Why reckless?
Because excessive moisture shrinks wools and bleeds water soluble dyes.
About 10% of all visible stains a dry cleaner encounters are oil-based stains: butter, salad dressing, steak sauce, body oils, creams and lotions.
Oil-based stains need to be emulsified by a dry cleaning solvent or fluid in order to be removed. One of the most important functions of dry cleaning fluid is to emulsify oils and fats.
An ordinary cleaner will typically load your garments into a dry cleaning machine, add a dry cleaning solvent or fluid (such as perchloroethylene aka perc, synthetic petroleum, formaldehyde dibutyl acetal or siloxane), add moisture (if they clean in perc), sizing and fragrance, tumble the garments for 10 minutes, extract and then dry for 30 to 45 minutes.
That’s “dry cleaning” at its most basic.
For a clean and hand press at the end of the season or as needed, we soak your bespoke garments in siloxane dry cleaning fluid for about 5 to 7 minutes. Soaking means no tumbling for 30 to 45 minutes in a dry cleaning machine. Siloxane means a crystal clear, odorless, dermatologically friendly, chemically inert (non-dye stripping) dry cleaning fluid that’s so gentle you can (legally) wash your hands and face in it.
Then we extract the dry cleaning fluid for about a minute and dry for about 2 to 3 minutes (this step does involve tumbling for about 2 to 3 minutes but your bespoke garments are individually contained within special net bags and the tumbling action, measured in RPMs, is reduced to the minimum).
Finally, we remove and hang dry.
At RAVE FabriCARE, we can hang dry your bespoke garments without putting those garments through the tumbling action of a 30 minute dry cycle because our siloxane dry cleaning fluid is unregulated at federal, state and local level.
By contrast, cleaners who clean in perchloroethylene, synthetic petroleum or formaldehyde dibutyl acetal are prohibited by regulation from drying garments outside of their dry cleaning machines. In other words, the entire cleaning, extract and drying cycle must take place inside a sealed dry cleaning machine, typically a 40 to 50 minute tumbling process.
By the way, you should always clean your fine wool garments, bespoke or otherwise, prior to storing for the summer.
That’s because a proper professional cleaning is the only way to protect your wools from potential damage by moth larvae (time to say goodbye to those moth balls, herbal sachets, Tupperware-style boxes and cedar rings, blocks, chests and closets).
Ordinary cleaners love their presses.
Why?
Because pressing is where cleaners can achieve the greatest productivity. At ordinary cleaners, your garments are banged out on a press at a furious rate. Typically, 30 to 40 pants per hour per presser; 20 to 30 non-pant garments per hour per presser.
Here’s the problem: poor pressing can damage a garment – on it’s first pressing – by subjecting that garment to way too much pressure, with way too much steam, for way too long, at way too high a temperature. Especially when it comes to fine wools, silks and other non-cotton and non-linen fabrics.
And the results?
Shine; seam, flap and button impressions; moire-like press pad impressions; double creases; puckered seams (often called burst or blown seams); wrinkled linings; and other “crimes of fashion”.
At RAVE FabriCARE, we delicately finish all your garments. The old fashioned way. By hand. Using a hand iron. Both inside and out. No matter how long it might take. Paying particular attention to the curvature of the shoulders, chest, sleeves and collar, and to the roll of the lapels.
“Pressing” or “steaming“, as practiced by ordinary cleaners, is such a poor descriptor of the art of finishing.
Of course, a skilled finisher must know how to apply pressure to achieve a smooth finish on a linen or cotton. But a smooth, soft, hand finish, that minimizes the possibility of shine, seam, flap or button impressions, and puckered seams, best defines the finest professional finishing.
If you’re looking for validation of this point of view, just broach the subject of “pressing" or "steaming" by a dry cleaner with any bespoke tailor and watch their blood pressure rise.
And make sure you bring along a portable defibrillator.
Your tailor may need it.
Ever get the feeling that your cleaner doesn’t inspect your garments carefully?
We’ve got news for you. You’re probably right. Very few cleaners thoroughly inspect every garment. From top to bottom. From inside to outside.
You see, careful, thorough inspection takes a full-time commitment. And, if the cleaner has any quality standards, an uncompromising position on every aspect of the process. Including stain removal, cleaning, finishing and repairs (buttons, clasps, seams, hems, zippers, etc.).
The problem is that many ordinary cleaners claim that they inspect each and every garment. They even use the term “hand inspect”, implying that their inspections are careful and thorough.
Yet, these same cleaners typically assign the inspection task to the first available customer service representative with some free time on their hands.
A bigger problem is that the “inspector” is very often also the “garment bagger” who is also a customer service representative with a little time on her hands.
The bagger’s primary focus is getting your garments into a bag and onto the conveyor or onto the delivery rack, and simply doesn’t have the time to carefully and thoroughly inspect each and every garment. From top to bottom. From inside to outside.
And even if they did find something obvious on a garment – a stain or wrinkle on a garment; rippled collar on a blazer or sport coat; a missing or loose button; a hanging or loose hem; a broken zipper; etc. – what would they do?
Return it for re-cleaning, refinishing, replacement or repair?
Highly unlikely!
After all, why bother with a careful, thorough inspection when the entire modus operandi of the ordinary cleaner is geared to getting your garments into a machine, onto a press, and into a bag. ASAP. They’re in by 11:00 and out by 5:00; or picked up on day 1 and delivered on day 3.
At ordinary cleaners, careful, thorough inspections just get in the way of their “production system
Quality craftsmanship can be quickly destroyed by poor packaging.
You can take it as a given that if your cleaner isn’t focusing on quality packaging, they’re not focusing on quality cleaning, quality finishing and quality inspecting either.
After all, why would they invest in extraordinary cleaning, finishing and inspecting if they knew that all that investment will be quickly destroyed by poor packaging?
And what should you look for?
Packaging materials that’s technically aligned with and supportive of your fine garments:
Hangers that are molded plastic, contoured (supports the overall drape of the coat, sport coat, jacket or blazer and the contour of the neck), and broad in the shoulders (supports the drape of the shoulder and the sleeve).
Hangers that are molded plastic, straight, with one inch wide rubber backed plastic clips (half inch metal clips leave lasting impressions).
Tissue that is white, soft (provides gentler cushioning), acid free (won’t off-gas acids over time that might yellow your white and cream garments), and non-printed (no possibility of the ink rubbing off or bleeding onto your garment).
Poly that is crystal clear, at least 0.85 mil thick (improved protection for the garment) and extra wide (no possibility of crushing the sides of your garment).
Storage bags that are made from non-woven polypropylene fibers (allows the garment to breathe) and chemically inert plastic (your garment won’t yellow from off-gassing acids in the plastic).
In recent years, many ordinary cleaners have “upgraded” their packaging – everything from logo-printed tissue paper and tinted poly to wishbone-shaped wood and chrome hangers – in an attempt to convince their customers that the quality of their cleaning has been similarly upgraded.
At RAVE FabriCARE, we believe that excellent packaging can and does enhance and protect garments that have been cleaned and finished to perfection.
We also believe that upgraded packaging on ordinary cleaning will be quickly seen for what it is – an attempt to pass off ordinary, bang and hang cleaning as true quality cleaning.
There’s an old saying in the dry cleaning business that, no matter how you cut it, cafeteria food served on fine china is still just that – cafeteria food.
Or as we like to say: fish and chips in a caviar wrapping.