General Cleaning Tips
Beyond Cleaning
We do More than Just the Wash
We specialize in taking quality care of your garments, which (with today's busy lifestyle) is a relief because laundry is one less chore you want to deal with at home.
The beauty of dropping your clothes is how convenient it is. We do the work, and when you come back your clothes are ready to wear. But the convenience we provide doesn't end there. We also offer lesser-known services that many customers may not have noticed or given much thought to before. Here are a few of the extras we provide:
Alterations
We can save you a bundle if your body changes shape or size. By altering your garments you can save the time and money of going out and purchasing a new wardrobe. This is also a popular item for heirloom wedding gowns, provided the gown has been packaged and stored properly.
Waterproofing
We have access to some of the most powerful water repellents on the market. Stay dry by taking your wet-weather gear in for a tune-up regularly or after particularly harsh use.
Style
If you're worried about a particular style and its life expectancy, ask us how long it's likely to last. We also have access to alerts on the most frequently seen problem garments and may have valuable information about a particular manufacturer's latest line.
Household Textiles
We also process household items such as blankets, comforters, decorative pillows, rugs, and even upholstery and draperies.
Extending the Life of Garments
Frequent cleaning prolongs the life of a garment. Stains set with age, making the garment unwearable, and ground-in dirt and soil act as an abrasive, like sandpaper, causing rapid wear of fibers. Also, insects are attracted to soiled clothes and will cause further damage.
Buttons & Minor Repairs
We repair loose buttons or sew on new ones, if necessary. Minor repairs are often done at no charge. We throw this bonus in to save you the worry of mending your wardrobe.
These are just a few of the special services we can provide. Please ask us if you have a special item not listed here. Chances are we can either honor your request, or help you find another professional who can. We often maintain relationships with others in the cleaning field who can help you with a service if our shop does not offer it.
Keeping Blankets Looking and Feeling Great
Blankets are essential items in every home. Blanket composition ranges from synthetic to natural fibers; from non-woven to woven fabrics; and from neutral colors to exotic prints.
Caring for (non-electric) Blankets
At some point in time, most blankets will need to be cleaned. It is always best to follow the manufacturer’s instructions when cleaning blankets. Although the Federal Trade Commission does not require care labels on blankets, care instructions are usually provided on a permanent label or temporary hang tag. In most cases, blankets should be machine washed on a gentle cycle in cold to warm water and line dried or tumble dried low.
Most blankets can also be dry cleaned (except for electric blankets, which can be damaged by dry cleaning). For electric blankets, we recommend laundering and line drying.
Wool is Special
Wool blankets can be either of a woven or knit fabric construction and require special precautions when cleaning. Hot water or high drying temperatures may cause wool blankets to shrink and feel harsh and stiff. If the care label suggests, machine wash only in cold water on a gentle cycle with mild detergent, and line dry or tumble dry low.
Even though you may follow the recommended care instructions, some wool blankets may still experience shrinkage.
Industry standards for shrinkage in blankets allow as much as six percent after five washings. For example, a wool blanket that is 81 x 108 inches in size can shrink as much as 4 1/2 inches in one direction and 6 1/2 inches in the other direction, resulting in a blanket that is 76 1/2 x 101 1/2 inches in size.
Question: Does Frequent Dry cleaning Shorten the Life of a Garment?
Answer: On the contrary, frequent cleaning prolongs the life of a garment. Not only do stains set with age, making the garment unwearable, but ground-in dirt and soil act as an abrasive, like sandpaper, causing rapid wear of fibers. Also, insects are attracted to soils such as food, beverages, feces, perspiration, and oils from hair on the clothes and will cause further damage.
Research was conducted by the Department of Clothing and Textiles at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in cooperation with the School of Textiles at North Carolina State System, which was developed in Japan. The research showed that the various dry cleaning processes have no negative effect on the properties of wool in men’s suiting fabrics.
How Do You Clean Pillows?
The filling in bed pillows can be down, foam rubber, foam chips, polyester fiberfill, and kapok. The safest method to clean a pillow is based on the type of filling. If the filling in the pillow is fiberfill it is usually best to launder or remove the filling and replace the ticking. Foam chips can harden with time and begin to crumble. It is probably best not to clean these types of pillows.
Down-filled pillows can be cleaned using a pillow machine. The down is removed from the ticking and placed directly into the pillow machine. The down is sometimes deodorized with ozone or sanitized with ultraviolet light. The features are then blown from the pillow machine into a new ticking and additional feathers may be added to fill out the pillow, if necessary.
Washing down pillows can present several problems. The fabric ticking may be too fragile to handle the agitation of washing and tumble drying or so soiled it would be best to replace it. Often the ticking is sized with water-sizing’s. These sizing’s help hold the down in the ticking. If the sizing is removed in washing, feathers may leak out.
Making Your Clothes Last Longer
Removing Paint Stains from Children's Clothing
You have probably completed your back-to-school shopping for the kids and may be amazed how much they have grown in the last few months. While relatives and friends may be pleased with welcoming those outgrown clothes into their homes, you may be staring into your closet thinking, how can I make my wardrobe last just a bit longer?
Follow these suggestions for proper clothing care:
Do not hang wet or moist garments in the closet.
Mend all rips and tears immediately, especially before the garment is subjected to a cleaning process.
Do not store dirty clothing from one season to the next.
Treat and remove all stains as soon as possible after spillage has occurred.
Clean clothes frequently. Soiled clothes invite insects.
Follow the care instructions and do not remove care labels.
Carefully inspect garments after each wearing to determine the need for repairs or cleaning.
Do not allow perfumes, hair spray, or lotions to come in contact with wearing apparel, as the alcohol contained therein may cause color loss.
Do not store or allow garments to be in prolonged or direct contact with artificial or direct light.
Recycle your hangars
If you are a frequent dry cleaning customer, you may have more hangers in your closet than you know what to do with. Rather than throw out the ones you are not reusing, why not recycle them by returning them to us?
More than just freeing up closet space, recycling hangers is good for the environment - which is one reason many cleaners participate in recycling programs. Our professional cleaning association has pledged to recycle more than 10 million hangers in 2012, and we're working on reaching 25 million. Most hangers can be steam processed for cleanliness and reused. Hangers that are unsuitable for reuse are often sold for scrap metal to avoid unnecessary waste. We can do this together - let’s recycle!
Removing Paint Stains from Children's Clothing
Most paints children end up playing with are water soluble and will easily come out in regular washing. The acrylics and other types of paints are better left to professional cleaners who can get the garments clean and flush out all of the stain removal chemicals used to achieve that end. Any residual stain removal chemicals can harm your child's skin, so it's best to leave that kind of work to the pros - us.
Pain in the Necktie
Even though many workplaces have casual dress codes, neckties for men are still a big part of their wardrobe. Ties can be a powerful or fun fashion statement and pose a cleaning problem. The fabric used for ties is cut diagonally to the weave, or “on the bias,” so it makes a neat knot when worn around the neck.
Unfortunately, this type of cut is easily distorted or stretched, causing puckering and fullness. In many instances, sizing or finishes are used during manufacturing to stabilize fabrics. If the finish is removed in cleaning, the fabric will lose its shape and stability. In the case of ties, this makes it nearly impossible to return the necktie to a wearable condition.
Sometimes a tie doubles as a bib and collects a variety of stains. Most tie stains require water to remove them. In many cases, the dyes are also affected by water, leading to problems when it comes time to tackle a tough stain. Attempts to remove the stains will likely disturb the dyes.
The several layers used to make neckties prevent quick drying of any particular area. The typical solution is to take the tie apart to work on only one layer at a time, but this can also cause distortions because of the bias cut.
So, let us take care of your ties and you can take care of your business.