Due to increasing woman participation in the professional workforce more and more women are needing dry cleaning and laundry services and don’t want to have to pay more to get the same service.

It’s a Man’s World….Or at Least it Used to be…

Although the dry cleaning industry can trace it’s heritage to as early as the 1600′s dry cleaning didn’t come to prominence as an industry until the early 1900′s with the advent of steam powered dry cleaning presses.

At the time the business industry was dominated predominately by men with most women being content to living a life of watching the kids and “taking care of their man” who was often the sole bread winner so it made sense for dry cleaner equipment manufacturers to cater to their target markets-target market, which was men.

The first laundry presses ever made were built with men in mind and because the shirt sizes and cuts didn’t vary greatly most shirt presses were built with the medium to large sized man in mind (most “shirt bucks” are still made to press a med to large sized mans shirt).

Speed is Huge Factor Affecting Dry Cleaning

In the dry cleaning industry speed is a huge factor that cleaners have to take into account. A lot of dry cleaners have next day and even one day service and the faster you can finish clothes ultimately determines the volume you can handle and the money you can make.

Because they manufacture the laundry presses with men in mind in order to press a woman’s shirt you have to deviate from the same pressing style as a man’s shirt and thus the process takes three times what it takes to press a mans shirt.

How Austin Cleaners is Different

The real issue in regards to pressing ladies shirts is the size of the shirt and not really the gender of the shirt owner. For instance if you have a shirt that is a ladies large and it will fit on our normal shirt press then we only charge the customer for the normal price it costs to launder a mans shirt.

The only time Sir Austin charges a little more is if the shirt is so small (or the cut is prohibitive) that it can not fit on the normal laundry press and it takes more time to press the shirt through an alternative method.

Sir Austin wants his lady customers and friends (and trust me he has LOTS of “lady friends”) to know that he will never charge them more simply because they are women. He will only charge more if it costs us more to press a shirt thus being as as fair to all parties as possible!

PROTEIN STAINS

(blood, egg) Spray spot with diluted dish washing-soap solution & allow to sit. Rinse in lukewarm water. If stain persists soak in an enzyme detergent then wash as usual.

VEGETABLES & FRUITS

(juice, jelly) Quickly spray with a diluted dish washing-soap solution. Next, flush the stain with vinegar & hydrogen peroxide. Finally, use an enzyme detergent and wash per label directions.

GRASS

In a well ventilated area apply a dry solvent (mineral spirits or acetone) to the stain. Using cheesecloth and a soft-bristled brush, remove as much of the stain as possible by pressing down with the cloth then lightly scrubbing with the brush; repeat as necessary. Rinse stain in isopropyl alcohol & allow to dry naturally. Apply an enzyme detergent to the stained area then wash as usual.

LIPSTICK

Scrape off as much of the lipstick as possible, apply dry solvent & gently dab with a soft brush. Rinse area with isopropyl alcohol. Repeat until no pigment is visible & allow to dry naturally. Soak with diluted dish washing-soap solution. Use an enzyme detergent & wash as usual.

RED WINE

Generously apply a diluted dish washing-soap mixture & dab at the stain with a soft brush. Rinse stain with water & apply vinegar with a cotton ball, dabbing lightly. Allow item to sit a few minutes before repeating above steps. If stain is still visible, try treating with hydrogen peroxide. Rinse area with water, apply an enzyme detergent then wash as usual. Before drying item check for remnants of the stain. If any exists try a powdered non chlorinated color-safe bleach and wash again.

WHITE WINE

Immediately rinse the area with cool water and apply a diluted dish washing-soap solution. Apply an enzyme detergent and wash according to directions.

GREASE

(oil, mayo, butter,
margarine) Treat any stain with a dry solvent, rinse with isopropyl alcohol then let dry. Spray area with a diluted dish washing-soap solution, soak in an enzyme-detergent then wash as usual.

Wet cleaning clothes can be equated to washing clothes in your home washing machine and then hanging them to dry as opposed to drying them in a drying machine. After the garments are dry they are then pressed. Wet cleaning is definitely the most environmentally safe cleaning method available because the clothes that are being cleaned are washed in water as opposed to a dry cleaning solvent that is manufactured. In addition, wet cleaning is the best cleaning method in terms of removing stains due to the nature of cleaning with water. As stated in previous blog posts water is a more aggressive cleaning agent than pretty much all dry cleaning solvents on the market.

Eco-Friendly Cleaning Drawbacks

However wet cleaning has it’s draw backs. Being a heavier substance, cleaning clothes in water can not only strip color out of garments it can also alter the size and texture of delicate items as well. Therefore wet cleaning clothes is better suited for certain types or garments. However now we have suffisticated laundry machines that don’t agitate the clothes as much as traditional laundry machines. We wet clean a large portion of the clothes that we clean.

Green Cleaning of the Future

Wet cleaning is, in my opinion, going to be the dominant cleaning choice for green dry cleaners in the future. With advancements in wet cleaning machine technology it’s only a matter of time before all garments, including the most delicate ones, will be able to be cleaned in wet cleaning machines and not lose their integrity.

Clothes that are “dry clean only” are pre-spotted on a machine called a spotting board and the process is much more time consuming than pre-spotting clothes that are going to be laundered. This is because you can’t put any clothes that are wet inside of a dry cleaning machine due to the axious nature of dry cleaning solvents. Therefore each portion of the garment that becomes wet from the spotting gun must also be dried by the hot air peddle. Below is a diagram of a spotting board and an explanation of how the entire process works.

Dry Cleaner Spotting Board Controls 

-Vacuum Pedal

The vacuum foot pedal causes a sucking motion that allows the garment to hold fast to the end of the spotting board. This makes it easier for the person pre-spotting the dry cleaned item to keep the garment in one place and position the stain in the middle of the vacuum tray. This is important for the next step, applying steam to the stain area.

-Steam Pedal

The steam pedal is the work-horse of the spotting board. Once compressed, 300 – 350 degree steam hits the surface area of the garment and shakes loose the stained area. Commercial dry cleaning steam lines, by far, heat up hotter than any home pre-spotting steam kit on the market. That is because the steam lines are powered by a piece of equipment that powers the entire dry cleaning plant and is built to distribute extreme heat.

-Hot Air Pedal

As stated before all garment surface area that is hit with steam from the spotting gun must also be dried. Once depressed the hot air pedal sends hot air through the spotting gun and dries the area that has been wetted from the steam. The fact that you have to dry the area that is wet from the steam is the main reason that pre-spotting dry cleaning items very time consuming (compared to pre-spotting laundry, explained in Sir Austin’s next blog post).

SIDE NOTE

Although the pedals act independently from each other and accomplish different functions they are always used in conjunction with one another and the person pre-spotting the dry cleaned garment most of the time presses two of them together to combine functions.

-Spotting Gun

The spotting gun could be called the eyes of the different foot pedals and following is the process of pre-spotting a dry cleaned item from start to finish.

Apply steam to the stain. Next you determine what stain removal product will best fit the stain, apply the product and scrape the area with a scraping tool. Then you spray the area with the steam function hopefully lifting the stain. Finally you dry the area and check to see if the stain has been lifted. If it hasn’t the process is repeated until the stain is gone.

Next blog post we explore pre-spotting laundry

Most dry cleaning machines are very similar to the front side loaders that you find in laundry mats across Austin. In fact the two machines look and behave almost identically in terms of how they fill the drum of both machines and also how they agitate. Most solvents that are used in the dry cleaning process are far superior when cleaning delicates then cleaning the garments using water due to the fact that they have a lower PH balance then water making them lighter substances and therefore easier on fabrics. Dry cleaning is far superior at removing stains that are fat soluble and are also superior when trying to preserve the color, size and texture of a certain garment. Dry cleaning however is not as effective when removing stains that are water soluble.

Dry Cleaning & Laundry Machines Side by Side

Dry Cleaning Machine                  Laundry Machine

Another reason for the term “dry” in dry cleaning is because solvents that are used in the cleaning process have little to no water mixed with the substance therefore causing a different reaction on fibers than cleaning clothes with water. Dry cleaning aids in keeping your clothes looking as new as possible by preventing color stripping, size reduction and general fabric distortion due to the fact that all dry cleaning solvents are lighter substances than water and therefore less aggressive cleaning agents. Be sure to tune in to our next post when we explore pre-spotting.

Here is A Great Video on How Dry Cleaning Works

Most of us never think about the origins of the most widely used tools we interact with every day and the coat hanger is no exception. The wire coat hanger actually started out as a door hook before resembling the hangers we use today. Coat hangers on the surface seem like such a simple invention but how did the creator of the hanger actually envision the coat hanger?

The idea for the coat hanger actually started with a hook on the wall that was used to hold coats. Albert J. Parkhouse was working for a wire manipulating company at the time, Timberlake Wire and Novelty Co. Jackson, Mississippi. Frustrated by the lack of hooks on the wall to hold jackets, Albert decided to invent an apparatus that that could solve their problem of two many jackets and not enough hooks by bending a piece of wire into a hook at the top with two oval sides. With this simple invention the coat hanger was born.

Then in 1932 an improved design for the hanger was patented by Schuyler Hulett. The hanger used cardboard cylinders that were mounted one on the top and one on the bottom to prevent pants from wrinkling. This design is still in use today mostly for disposable hangers used by dry cleaners.

The coat hanger began to evolve over the years with plastic hangers being the hanger of choice for most American households. Plastic hangers keep their form and also have a greater circumference for the clothes to rest, aiding in keeping your clothes wrinkle free. Clothes hanger designs vary from wooden hangers used in many high end clothing stores to the cardboard and metal mixed hangers that you find at your local dry cleaner.

Retail stores make up a large part of many hanger manufacturers’ business so they pay special attention to the style of hangers. For example the hanger with clips at the top to hold clothes in suspension was invented solely because retail stores needed a hanger that could display an outfit in it’s entirety. Although we don’t think about the hanger much it has become a staple for dry cleaners and people alike that want to keep their clothes formed and wrinkle free. So long live the coat hanger!

Father of Modern Dry Cleaning

The story goes that French born Jean-Baptiste Jolly, who owned the first commercial dry cleaner, found his calling by accident when his maid spilled Camphene from a lamp on his tablecloth. Jolly noticed the aggressive way in which the Camphene was able to remove grease spots on the tablecloth and after fine tuning his knowledge on cleaning with the solvent opened his doors to the first recorded commercial dry cleaning business in 1845

Dry Cleaning in the U.S.

The exact date is not known as to when the first dry cleaner was opened in America, however it is recorded that at least one New York dry cleaner was started as early as 1879. By 1910 dry cleaning was on it’s way as a major industry with widespread approval from a rising middle class and also with the invent of mechanized equipment it made it possible to clean a lot of clothes in a short period of time allowing for increased production. Surprisingly little has changed in the way of dry cleaning mechanical technology since it’s introduction to the U.S. with the exception of hydraulically powered equipment.

Developments in Dry Cleaning Solvents

Originally used solvents such as turpentine and the like were highly flammable and caused major public safety concerns for early commercial dry cleaners. Often these dry cleaning machines would ignite and could burn entire city blocks. That was until perchloroethylene, or PERC for short, was introduced to dry cleaners and quickly became the industry standard of solvents due to it’s flame retardant nature. To tie into earlier blog posts on the negative effects of PERC, only recently have major advances been made in the area of dry cleaning with an expansion of green dry cleaners in the U.S. If you have any questions about dry cleaning or the processes used don’t hesitate to ask!

For clothes that are advertised as stain-resistant they are supposed to be able to resist staining on contact. Many new clothing lines are showing up from different clothing makers such as Dockers and Van Heusen. Although your best dry cleaners will be able to lift most stains, sometimes there are stains that just won’t lift so assisting them in the pre-spotting process with stain resistant clothes can help fight against those dreaded stains.

In order to put the stain-resistant clothes to the test Hannah Storm, Koeppens co-anchor, smeared a number of different substances onto a trench coat that she was wearing that was being advertised as ‘stain-resistant’. Among the substances were coffee and O.J. Unbelievably the substances didn’t stain the coat and just wiped right off.

Wanting to put the stain resistant garments through an even further test, next they smeared a number of different substances ranging from ice cream to pizza liberally on the front of the clothes they were wearing. However they found a different reaction this time in that most of the substances not only stained the garments but didn’t even come out in the wash. Basically their findings were that although the stain resistant garments did really well with liquids such as coffee and O.J. they didn’t do so well with oil based stains and other substances with heavy dies. But luckily for you Sir Austin has your back! (or front depending on the stain). We pride ourselves at Austin Cleaners on a great pre-spot. In short when you bring your clothes to Austin Cleaners if the stain can be lifted it will! Oil-based stains such as grease are easily separated from fabric during the dry cleaning process so if you ever find yourself in a bind just call on Sir Austin and he will be there to the rescue!

Blood

Blood is one of those stains that you definitely want to pre-treat as soon as possible. If let to sit for a long time blood can harden making it a lot harder to lift the stain at a later time. The first thing you want to do is is place some salt in a bowl of cold water along with the garment. Rub the affected area gently with your fingers. Ideally you should see the water turn red from the blood coming off. This also depends on how long the clothing item is left to sit with the blood stain on the garment. However if you have got to the stain quickly the blood should come off in the water and turn it red. Repeat this process a few times changing out the water when it turns really red and if you have gotten to the stain fast enough that should be all you need. After the blood is completely removed than just launder or dry clean the garment as normal. If the stain is already set in then bringing the garment to your dry cleaner is going to be the only other option. Most dry cleaners have special chemicals to get blood out and is a lot easier for them. Stay tuned for more clothing care tips from Sir Austin!

Gum

So it’s happen to everyone, you go to sit down and suddenly feel a squishy feeling in your seat. Once you realize you’ve gotten gum on your favorite slacks it’s now time for action. If it is feasible at that time take off the garment that has the gum attached. Next place a bunch of ice cubes in a plastic bag and place it on the area where the chewing gum is located. You want to make sure you rub the bag on the gum to loosen it before any other action is taken. Next place the garment inside of the freezer to harden the affected area. Finally the chewing gum will freeze and become hard allowing you to easily remove the gum from the affected area and should not leave a stain. And that’s it! Be sure to tune in for more How-To’s on stain removal and clothing care from Sir Austin your favorite Fabric Care professional.