How to get smoke out of your garments

It has been a while since my last post. As you may have seen on the news, Santa Barbara had a devastating fire called the Jesusita fire. Over 30,000 people were evacuated and 80 homes were lost. This event touched the lives of everyone in Santa Barbara.

Now the cleanup process is underway. One aspect of the cleanup is textile restoration services. What is that? Well, if your home survives but was in close proximity to a fire, you will most likely have an insurance claim. And your claim will likely include smoke damaged clothing and linens.

When you call your insurance company and place a claim, you will be assigned an adjuster. Normally the adjuster will come out to take a look. The adjuster will then hire several contractors to clean up and repair your house. Typically the adjuster will hire what is known as a "contents remediation company." That would be a Service Master, Serve Pro, Qwik Response or one of many other company's.

Then there is the contents. There are 2 options for cleaning up your textiles (linens, clothing, curtains, rugs, etc). They can be written off (total loss) or taken to the cleaners. This decision can be made by the homeowner, adjuster or remediation company. Sometimes the adjuster calls a restoration drycleaner, and sometimes they call it a total loss. Other times the remediation company (Service Master, etc.) will call a drycleaner or take the clothes to a drycleaner.

It is good for homeowner to understand, your insurance can recommend vendors - BUT HOMEOWNERS CAN CHOOSE THE VENDORS THEY WANT!

So now, how do we restore fire damaged clothes?

Smoke Smell: Often, because the entire house smells of smoke, the homeowner is unaware of the smoke smell until they are removed from the location. They may not believe they have smoke odor that requires remediation until weeks or even months later. Let your adjuster be your guide in this case. Usually their recommendations are based on experience.

Smoke odor (actually, any odors) do not come out in regular drycleaning. The items must be treated with special chemicals, washed with special detergents or put into an OZONE chamber before (and sometimes after) cleaning. This process is more time consuming than your normal drycleaning, and since there is normally a large volume of clothes, can take considerable time.

Fire Damage: Houses in close proximity to fire not only are inundated with smoke, but the temperatures go way up too. Often a garment looks like it has soot on it that should come out in cleaning. After cleaning, the garment is shredded - and the garment is ruined. What happened? The extended period of high temperature caused a slow burn, the clothes did not catch fire, but the fibers did turn into carbon during the extended period of heat. No drycleaner can prevent this damage. It was already there

NonCleanable: There are items that are not cleanable - or at least cleaning is not recommended. You may have brand new items in your home that had not yet been used, items that had prior damage from use, or items with card board or special embellishments that do not clean well - drapes, chenille blankets, pillows, etc.

We typically clean 2000 pcs a day - last week we had calls for over 140,000 pieces!

If you have a fire restoration drycleaner to your home you will be asked to select a RUSH order. That is enough items to keep you comfortably clothed for a month! This order should be returned to you in a week or less. Many times, people want the items back sooner - but the smoke removal usually requires multiple cleaning and 24-48 hours in the ozone. 3 day turn around may lead to the smoke odor still in the clothes.

Also, because of the amount of work created in a general disaster, vendors come in from miles away. In SB I know that drycleaners came from San Diego to San Francisco. They fill trucks with textiles and drive them back to their plant - often 5 hours away! This sort of service is necessary to process the huge amount of work. If you are in this situation Please Ask where your clothes are going to be cleaned and how you can contact them. I have found that since I am business aquaintence of most of these drycleaners - they use my name. Unfortunately, the homeowner is under the mistaken impression that my cleaners is doing the work.

The rest of your items will be returned several months later - or even over 6 months later. Often delivery is dependent on the repairs of your home. Because of the size of the catastrophe and the amount of people and textiles involved - there is no way to process in a faster way.

Communication, as always, is key in these situations. The restoration companies should be sensitive to your needs and work with you in every way. They should be asking the right questions and helping you select the rush order, etc.

Happy Earth Day!

I believe that everyday is Earth Day. Today I want to express my opinions about drycleaning and the environment. These are my opinions from working in the industry for many years and being interested in protecting our environment most of my life.

The most frequent questions I get from the general public are normally related to drycleaning and the environment. Drycleaners get a lot of bad press in this area. And really that is too bad. However, the industry has brought this upon themselves through poor practices. Today this industry is heavily regulated. Drycleaners, like any business, respond to what their customers want. So the biggest thing you as a consumer can do is voice your opinions!

Here are some things you can think about when considering environmental concerns:

1. Ask your cleaner what they are doing to be environmentally conscious. The answer should be a list - not just the type of solvent
2. Be aware that operating in an environmentally conscious way is more expensive - beware of the "cheap eco-cleaner"
3. Take back your plastic
4. Take back your hangers for reuse - please be gentle with them! Reuse saves tremendous resources. Often the fatigue strength of hangers (due to the extrusion process) is such that the metal can no longer be recycled. Hangers are the last stop for metal on the way to a landfill - so be gentle and re-use them.
5. Voice your willingness to pay extra for environmental bags
6. Be aware that using less chemicals, or less harsh chemicals increases the labor necessary to remove stains. More time must be spent doing hand removal by a specialist - this increases the cost (Harsh chemicals in the machine removes more stains). Something that use to be removed without comment may need more time and effort.
7. Solvent types include: perc, petroleum (often called organic, however perc is organic by definition also), green earth (silicone based, and not organic), water, CO2. ----

Perc and Petroleum have been around pretty much since drycleaning started. So any cleaner that uses something other than these 2 solvents, is probably working to minimize their environment impact.

Drycleaning uses very special chemicals and solvents that are not fully understood. The majority of publicized environmental concerns are about the solvent. While it is true that if a drycleaner does not maintain their equipment, or operate it correctly, they may release toxins into the atmosphere and into the ground, careful use of any equipment results in 95% or better recycling of the solvent. The remainder should be disposed of properly.

The 2 most "environmental" forms of drycleaning are considered to be "wet cleaning" or CO2 cleaning. Wet cleaning uses water instead of a chemical solvent and CO2 uses liquid Carbon Dioxide.

Wet Cleaning is promoted by our local EPA as environmentally superior. However I question this, at least where I live, where water shortages occur more frequently than I would like. Drycleaners (as opposed to industrial laundries) are still allowed (and really have no other choice) to discharge the water, soap, etc., down the drain. NONE of the water is recycled by the cleaner. Even if the cleaner is conscientious and uses only full loads - there is still an impact on the environment.

Thanks for your time, and remember to tread lightly!

What do you Wear to a Recession?

The fastest growing clothing retailer in that area is Goodwill Industries!
This is from an article in The National Clothesline (http://www.natclo.com/0904/content.htm) that cites the Chicago Tribune.

The article also stated that Americans own more clothes than any people on the planet!

Contrary to the trend among other retailers who are scaling back and even closing stores, Goodwill plans on opening 5 new stores in the area this year. Breaking from the mold of its appeal to edgy art students and hard-luck hobo's. And it appears to be working. While sales at major chain stores fell 2% during the last three months of 2008, Goodwill store sales in southeastern Wisconsin and metropolitan Chicago rose 8%!

I googled the head line "What do you wear to a recession?" and to my surprise, there were at least 5 news articles with this headline (including: http://www.observer.com/2008/arts-culture/crashion-what-wear-recession). Perhaps one silver lining of our current economic turmoil will be the acceptance of second hand purchases! Not only is it easier on our pocketbooks, it is good for the planet - in my opinion, new items always impact our planet more than reusing items. After all, where does your old clothing go if no one buys second hand? By giving clothes a 2nd life, we are promoting sustainable living.

Consignment shops come in many varieties - you can find couture used clothing or typical thrift store fare. Often, when you donate, they will give you a receipt for tax purposes.

I have a few thoughts on this trend:

1. When you buy 2nd hand clothing, send it to your cleaner before wearing. Many thrift stores cannot afford to clean clothes before putting them for sale.
2. If you are donating - please send clean items (see #1)
3. If you are uneasy about going to a 2nd hand shop, consider having a clothing swap party. Everyone can bring items from their closet they no longer wear (I know I have lots), and make a party out of it!

Some cleaners will accept clothing donations, clean them at no charge and then distribute the clothing to different organizations. Ask your current cleaner for advise.
They say that difficult economic times foster creativity and new business models. I hope that this trend will continue after our recovery:-)

Why you should read Garment Care Labels

Ever wonder what those strange symbols are in the labels of your garments?

Well you should! Taking just a minute to review that label may make the difference between a favorite peice and a nightmare at your drycleaners!

One of the best tips I can give you is ALWAYS look at the label before you make a purchase . . . For example; Prada has just come out with several gorgeous pieces - if you look at the label it says "do not dryclean, do not wash, no steam." If you get any soil or spills on this item, it very likely may be the end of the garments life.

$500 is a lot to spend for a garment you will only be able to wear a handful of times. You may still want to purchase the item (they are gorgeous!). And now you are making a fully informed decision.

In the US, garment care labeling is regulated by the Federal Trade Commission. They REQUIRE manufacturers to list at least one acceptable means of care for the garment. NOTE: There is NO requirement that the label needs to be correct, there is NO requirement to indicate what should not be done to clean the item ("Do no dryclean" for example). However, even with these shortcomings, at least in the US, we have care labels. Other countries often have no care/content label at all.

Better dryceaners will always read care labels. However, because of the shortcomings listed above, they may not always follow them exactly. They are really used as a guideline. For example, many silk and some cashmere sweaters can be cleaned with water. They feel and look wonderful when cleaned that way properly. However the label may have said "dryclean". BEWARE - the water temp, agitation and detergents must be carefully controlled. I am not suggesting you throw your cashmere sweater in the washer with some Woolite!

So now onto explaining how to read those little labels.
A circle typically indicates drycleaning. Letters inside the circle represent the type of drycleaning solvent. Tub shaped symbols are often a form of machine or hand washing.
Numbers within the tub represent temperature in degrees Celsius. The iron symbol of course relates to ironing and the dots inside the iron correlate to temperature. An "X" over any of these symbols prohibits the use of that process.
There are some fabrics that tend to be difficult to care for regardless of the care label and require special precaution. These include:

1. Sueded or Sand washed Silk (think Tommy Bahama)
2. Appliqued, beaded or otherwise embellished garments (I once had a metal piece that melted in the dryclean machine! I still wonder what that "metal" was made of!)
3. Brightly died pigskin sued (it cannot be repainted like leather)
4. Printed fabrics that only have print on on side

Better drycleaners use creative cleaning methods not normally in use by conventional drycleaners. They also have considerable ongoing training for new materials and experience. There is no substitute for desire and experience

Save Money On Your Wardrobe

It seems that everyone is feeling the pinch of our downward economy. Talk of doom and gloom is all around. It looks like 2009 will be a bad year for most of us financially.

So it is natural that we are all watching our spending. I have noticed that there are fewer people out at the restaurants during the week and stores seem to be closing daily. If you are watching your finances, you probably want to make all your investments last, including your clothing investment.

I have noticed a significant drop in clothes going to the drycleaners. I have talked with cleaners around the country and the trend is everywhere. While I understand why many people have no choice but to reduce spending, cleaning clothing after use is still the best investment for your clothes. As long as you are conscientious, and follow care labels and detergent directions cleaning your clothes yourself is a much better option than just wearing them more frequently between cleaning, or not cleaning them and putting them in their closet.

If you want your garments to last and look sharp like when you bought them, ALWAYS clean them after wearing. When you store soiled garments, many things can happen. Also keep in mind that just because a garment looks clean, it may not be.

Please, if you want your garments to last, the important thing to remember is you will almost always clean garments after you wear them. How you clean them is up to you.

3 Common Types of Damage Caused by NOT Cleaning After Wear:

1. Body oils are often not readily visible, but perspiration and other things that we exude from our pores are often acidic and damage fibers over time. This can create holes or color loss. Men's shirt collars can be especially problematic. Those oils around the neck may be nearly invisible, but if they have time to oxidize, the shirt may not recover!
2. Some spills like white whine or 7up dry completely clear. However, if they are not removed they will oxidize and turn brown the same way an apple turns brown after you take a bite and leave it out. Once these stains turn brown they are very difficult, and sometimes impossible to remove.
3. Insects such as moths are really after the soils in the cloths, and they will cause damage.

What to do if your cleaners says "that can't be cleaned"!

Like many of you, I watched the Oscars recently. I love looking at the gowns! But not for the usual fashion do's and don'ts. I check them out and try and figure out if they can be cleaned, how they can be cleaned, and how much it would cost to clean them (yes, I am that dull!). Last year, People magazine had an article that had three popular stars in gowns, with the drycleaning bill next to it. Cleaning prices ranged from $400 to a little more than $1000!

I heard several comments that the high cleaning price are because of the status of the star or the designer. I'm here to tell you -- the price of a garment has no bearing on its ability to be cleaned.

What these stars wear are really pieces of art! The artist gives ZERO thought to how it would be cleaned or maintained. They only care about how it fits, falls, reflects the light and looks on that one special day! Garments may have metallic components, bias cuts, very delicate weaves, embellishments and a host of things that just won't survive "drycleaning".

I recently had the privilege to clean a beautiful and unique Justin Avery wedding gown. It was a very delicate silk chiffon, with ribbons of silk that had unfinished edges. The gown had been custom made and then sent to an artist for hand painting.

This gown was a piece of art (I wish my photo did it justice).
This gown is not drycleanable. The artist did not give a thought to the fact that no cleaning machine can tell the difference between that paint and dirt!

And I'm glad he didn't - great art is shouldn't be practical.

I will guess that less than 5% of cleaners could clean this type of gown successfully. Most would (I hope) refuse to clean it - the others wouldn't clean it well - or worse case, ruin it!

Here are 3 pieces of must have advice:

1. Get recommendations
2. Talk to people who have used the service you are considering and
3. Tell the drycleaner what kind of risk you are willing or not willing to take.

Remember, once something is cleaned it cannot be uncleaned!

So the next time you are wanting to have something cleaned and are told that it can't be done, realize that you need to find a drycleaner who is also an artist, and be willing to pay a fair price for the time and expertise. So how do these 5% of cleaners do it? Hard work, a lot of time (15 hours in this case), constant training and a lot of experience. Im not saying that the gown was the same as new, but it was back 95% of new. Thank goodness the bride didn't spill red wine!

Maximize your drycleaning buck

By Zak Stambor
January 25, 2009
The simple process of getting your clothes dry-cleaned can be simply overwhelming.

Should you take your clothes to a giant chain dry cleaner that sends clothes to a "new state-of-the-art, centrally located plant"? Maybe drop them off at a discount outlet that offers limited services but charges only $2.29 a garment (and $1.19 for a laundered shirt)? Or should you frequent the mom and pop dry cleaner just around the corner or in your high-rise?

It seems almost impossible to make sense of all the options.

And the question for many families feeling the pinch of recession: Should you be spending money on dry cleaning at all?



We asked a few experts for smart tips on using the various dry cleaning options.

Find a reputable cleaner

"If you want your clothes to last a long time, you want to go to a dry cleaner that is knowledgeable and has experience," said Tom Barnett, vice president of the Illinois State Fabricare Association, a professional association of dry cleaners affiliated with the international Drycleaning & Laundry Institute.

Cleaners that are members of the Illinois State Fabricare Association are kept abreast of the industry's ever-evolving technologies and garment-care advancements. But the association only represents about 10 percent of all cleaners, and you can verify if yours is a member by looking for an association sticker on-site, simply asking your cleaner or searching on the association's Web site, www.ifi.org/consumer/search/index.php.

If you don't have a member cleaner nearby—or those in the neighborhood are too expensive—ask friends and neighbors where they take their clothes. Or, turn to user-review sites such as Yelp that allow people to post their experiences.

Evaluate your needs

Cleaning a men's button-down shirt is more straightforward than cleaning a leather jacket, said Barnett. Many discount cleaners offer limited services that cater to more common cleaning needs.

Most men's shirts don't need to be professionally laundered; most men simply don't want to press their own shirts.

When men's shirts are taken in, they're simple to clean and routine to press. Cleaning leather, however, requires a specialized method of wet cleaning, which is not a "dry" clean, but a technique using water and biodegradable soap

Think about what you need your cleaner to do, said Barnett. Discount cleaners often don't have a tailor on-site so they can't hem jeans or repair buttons, and some don't hand-spot garments for difficult stains. Before dropping off your clothes, ask what services the cleaner does and doesn't offer.

Divide and conquer

Most garments that end up at the dry cleaner are simple to clean—they're not stained, and they're not a difficult material to clean like suede or leather, said Yale Gordon, chief executive of DryClean Direct. His local chain of stores, like many cleaners that offer discounted prices, are able to handle most garments, such as slacks, button-down shirts and dresses.

To cut costs, divide your garments into those that require special care and those that don't, said Barnett. Discount cleaners such as DryClean Direct clean most garments for around $2.49 an item, sometimes significantly less than mom and pop cleaners. For the clothes that you don't take to the discount place, a smaller shop can provide more customized service or refer you to a couture cleaner.



Wear things twice

If a garment isn't soiled or smelly, you can probably wear it another time without hurting its longevity, said Darrell New, vice president of Michigan-based 1-800-DryClean, a national chain that picks up and delivers dry cleaning twice a week to customers' homes or offices.

"If you wear a pair of pants, and salt didn't splatter on it, and it's otherwise clean, there's no reason you can't wear the pants twice or three times," he said. "Just don't push it too much."

Be informative

The best way to rid your clothes of stains and get back clean clothes is to give your cleaner as much information as possible, said New. Where is the stain? What caused the stain? How old is it?

"The more information you give them, the better service you'll get," he said.

smart@tribune.com