One of the many comments I get both at the counter, and in social circumstances is, "why are prices so different between Dry Cleaners"? It is true that every Dry Cleaner has his, or her own price structure. Every business has it's own model. From big companies, like Macy's to small operations like Dry Cleaners.
In our industry there are two basic approaches, low price and high volume (you hope!), or quality pricing.
There are several variables that go into deciding which to choose from. Number one for most cleaners, what is my competition doing! The second most important variable, is a combination of how much experience a cleaner has, and what kind of equipment he has to work with.
In our experience, many of the so called low price cleaners have little experience before opening their stores.
They may have bought out the previous owner, and now have a cleaners with used equipment that they have no experience with. And even worse! It is full of chemicals and spotting agents that they have no idea how to use. The other version of this is they were sold a so calle d "turn-key" operation. That is where someone built a Dry Cleaners, usually under a franchise style setup. They sell the franchise to someone, show them where the switches are and say "congratulations, your a Dry Cleaner" Obviously, not all low price Dry Cleaners fit in either of these sub categories, but enough of them do.
A quality pricing Dry Cleaner, has good equipment that they know well. They keep up on the latest developments in the industry and in allied industries such as fashion. They will have a complete alterations department, experienced spotters, top notch pressers, and knowledgeable customer service reps.
A quality pricing style of Dry Cleaner, will inspect the incoming garments, checking for spots, loose buttons, etc. The garments will be categorized for color, weight, fabric, and other considerations before cleaning.
Then any garments that need pre-spotting will be taken to the spotting department for any action necessary.
Only after the garments are properly cleaned and have gone through the first inspection will they be given to the pressers. The presser is fully authorized to send any garment back for more spotting, it happens. And a sharp eyed presser is essential. Then the garments are inspected again as they are assembled and packed for the customer to pick up! All these steps are necessary to give the customer what they want and need, clean clothes with all buttons tight, ready to wear.
Yes, the equipment to do it right costs more, the time necessary to do a quality product costs, more. That is why a quality Dry Cleaner charges more. But we are proud of our work, and stand behind it.
Sharon and John own and operate Cambrian Plaza Dry Cleaners in San Jose, California.
Visit us at Cambrianplazacleaners.com
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Starch on shirts
Two of the most common complaints we receive from new customers are related. "My shirts do not have enough starch!". And the equally popular, " My shirts are too stiff!"
Yes, they are related. Some of the problems are due to shirt selection by the customer. The higher the cotton content, the more starch a shirt will hold. Unfortunately many cleaners and shirt laundries today have pre-programmed machines that pump in liquid soaps, liquid "starch" and other laundry chemicals. In many cases, it is so automated that it is impossible to manage the amount of soap, starch, etc. necessary for the proper size of the load. These cleaners were never taught to properly classify and sort the loads of shirts, and how to run the washers based on the load. Just press start and the machine will do the rest!
And of course the liquid "starch" they pump into the washer is not a starch at all. It is a polymer. Starch is made from corn, wheat, and other natural products. It will rinse out with each washing. Polymers do not wash out so easy. So if your shirt is too stiff, or too limp, it may be because your cleaner just knows how to press start!
If you want a nice crisp shirt, always look for at least 60% cotton. Find a cleaner that has some experience, and enjoy the results.
John Elwell and his wife Sherry are veteran dry cleaners with over 25 years of experience each. They currently own and operate Cambrian Plaza Dry Cleaners in San Jose. For more information about Cambrian Plaza Dry Cleaners, visit their website, www.cambrianplazacleaners.com
Yes, they are related. Some of the problems are due to shirt selection by the customer. The higher the cotton content, the more starch a shirt will hold. Unfortunately many cleaners and shirt laundries today have pre-programmed machines that pump in liquid soaps, liquid "starch" and other laundry chemicals. In many cases, it is so automated that it is impossible to manage the amount of soap, starch, etc. necessary for the proper size of the load. These cleaners were never taught to properly classify and sort the loads of shirts, and how to run the washers based on the load. Just press start and the machine will do the rest!
And of course the liquid "starch" they pump into the washer is not a starch at all. It is a polymer. Starch is made from corn, wheat, and other natural products. It will rinse out with each washing. Polymers do not wash out so easy. So if your shirt is too stiff, or too limp, it may be because your cleaner just knows how to press start!
If you want a nice crisp shirt, always look for at least 60% cotton. Find a cleaner that has some experience, and enjoy the results.
John Elwell and his wife Sherry are veteran dry cleaners with over 25 years of experience each. They currently own and operate Cambrian Plaza Dry Cleaners in San Jose. For more information about Cambrian Plaza Dry Cleaners, visit their website, www.cambrianplazacleaners.com
Friday, March 22, 2013
Spots, stains & "clean"
As I briefly mentioned in an earlier post, it is important for a client to be honest and tell their cleaner how old a spot or stain is. And also if they have done anything to try to remedy the spot. First, spots and stains as they age become harder to remove. Some spots can be permanently set in as little to two weeks to a month! So knowing the age of the spot will help your cleaner determine what methods will work best. The age of the spot can determine what agents are necessary to remove the spot.
Of course, some spots may be difficult to see. It is common for sugary liquids like white wine, champagne, and other clear beverages to dry with out being visible. This does not mean that the spot is gone! It means that the sugars in the drink are slowly doing their damage. Eventually this will probably show up as a brown spot. It is now oxidized sugar and can be very difficult to remove.
Home remedies for spots can work on some spots, and some fabrics. However, if they do not work, please tell your dry cleaner what you have done. It may be necessary to use a neutralizer on you garment before we can proceed further with out causing permanent damage!
Of course your dry cleaner will do his or her best to remove those spots or stains. After all, it is what we do for a living. Sometimes, due to the nature of the fabric, the type of dye, combined with the type of stain and maybe, the age of a stain, complete removal of the stain is impossible. Your dry cleaner should inform you of this when you pick up your garments. Your garment is "clean", it just has an irremovable stain.
There is a difference between cleaning your garments and stain or spot removal. Every garment gets cleaned. Dirt's, pollen, the stuff of everyday life is automatically cleaned out of the garment in the cleaning process. Spots and stain frequently require hand work on what is known as a spotting board. Spotting is part science, part art. A highly skilled spotter can remove 90 to 95 percent of the stains presented.
John and his wife Sherry are veteran dry cleaners with over 25 years of experience each. They currently own and operate Cambrian Plaza Dry Cleaners in San Jose, Ca. To find out more about their cleaners visit their website www.cambrianplazacleaners.com
Of course, some spots may be difficult to see. It is common for sugary liquids like white wine, champagne, and other clear beverages to dry with out being visible. This does not mean that the spot is gone! It means that the sugars in the drink are slowly doing their damage. Eventually this will probably show up as a brown spot. It is now oxidized sugar and can be very difficult to remove.
Home remedies for spots can work on some spots, and some fabrics. However, if they do not work, please tell your dry cleaner what you have done. It may be necessary to use a neutralizer on you garment before we can proceed further with out causing permanent damage!
Of course your dry cleaner will do his or her best to remove those spots or stains. After all, it is what we do for a living. Sometimes, due to the nature of the fabric, the type of dye, combined with the type of stain and maybe, the age of a stain, complete removal of the stain is impossible. Your dry cleaner should inform you of this when you pick up your garments. Your garment is "clean", it just has an irremovable stain.
There is a difference between cleaning your garments and stain or spot removal. Every garment gets cleaned. Dirt's, pollen, the stuff of everyday life is automatically cleaned out of the garment in the cleaning process. Spots and stain frequently require hand work on what is known as a spotting board. Spotting is part science, part art. A highly skilled spotter can remove 90 to 95 percent of the stains presented.
John and his wife Sherry are veteran dry cleaners with over 25 years of experience each. They currently own and operate Cambrian Plaza Dry Cleaners in San Jose, Ca. To find out more about their cleaners visit their website www.cambrianplazacleaners.com
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
What to expect from your Dry Cleaner
Today we will discuss what you should expect from your dry cleaner, and what your dry cleaner should expect from your!
Dry cleaners com in all shapes and sizes, from small plants that employ only a few people, to large warehouse size operations that employ dozens of pressers. And some cleaners are only a store front, and send their dry cleaning elsewhere. It may be to a plant they own, or they outsource it to another cleaner.
You should first and foremost expect a polite and friendly greeting from the counter service personnel. Now they may or may not always remember your name, they do see a number of clients each and every day. Second, the CSR should ask if you have any spots or stains that need special attention. In most cases, the CSR should go through the order with you to make sure you both know exactly what you are leaving. You should receive an itemized receipt in return. Now, I know that some clients prefer to drop off their bag and be done with it. That is just fine, because it is that customers preference. We have a number of clients who prefer to do it that way.
Now as to what your dry cleaner should expect of you. Please be honest. What I mean by that is, tell us if you tried to get a stain out by yourself. Or if it has been on there for several weeks, please do not tell us that you just did it. The length of time a stain is on a garment is important. We will cover it more in another post. And please, please, do not mark spots with TAPE. Most household tapes will leave a permanent mark, especially on delicate fabrics like satin or silk!
When you pick up your clothing, it should be pressed, neatly packaged, and ready for wear. How your dry cleaner packages your clothing, makes a great difference. Too many garments per bag results in wrinkled cleaning. A good rule of thumb is no more than three to four garments per bag.
All of your buttons should have been checked, tightened if necessary, missing collar stays replaced, the list goes on. But your order should have been carefully inspected, to ensure it's wear-ability. Of course, sometimes we do miss a button or a collar stay, we are after all human. If that happens, ask us kindly if we could fix it for you.
John Elwell is a veteran dry cleaner with over 25 years of experience. He is currently Vice President of Cambrian Plaza Cleaners Inc. You can find out more about them at,
www.cambrianplazacleaners.com
Dry cleaners com in all shapes and sizes, from small plants that employ only a few people, to large warehouse size operations that employ dozens of pressers. And some cleaners are only a store front, and send their dry cleaning elsewhere. It may be to a plant they own, or they outsource it to another cleaner.
You should first and foremost expect a polite and friendly greeting from the counter service personnel. Now they may or may not always remember your name, they do see a number of clients each and every day. Second, the CSR should ask if you have any spots or stains that need special attention. In most cases, the CSR should go through the order with you to make sure you both know exactly what you are leaving. You should receive an itemized receipt in return. Now, I know that some clients prefer to drop off their bag and be done with it. That is just fine, because it is that customers preference. We have a number of clients who prefer to do it that way.
Now as to what your dry cleaner should expect of you. Please be honest. What I mean by that is, tell us if you tried to get a stain out by yourself. Or if it has been on there for several weeks, please do not tell us that you just did it. The length of time a stain is on a garment is important. We will cover it more in another post. And please, please, do not mark spots with TAPE. Most household tapes will leave a permanent mark, especially on delicate fabrics like satin or silk!
When you pick up your clothing, it should be pressed, neatly packaged, and ready for wear. How your dry cleaner packages your clothing, makes a great difference. Too many garments per bag results in wrinkled cleaning. A good rule of thumb is no more than three to four garments per bag.
All of your buttons should have been checked, tightened if necessary, missing collar stays replaced, the list goes on. But your order should have been carefully inspected, to ensure it's wear-ability. Of course, sometimes we do miss a button or a collar stay, we are after all human. If that happens, ask us kindly if we could fix it for you.
John Elwell is a veteran dry cleaner with over 25 years of experience. He is currently Vice President of Cambrian Plaza Cleaners Inc. You can find out more about them at,
www.cambrianplazacleaners.com
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
A review of Dry Cleaning solvents
Last time we discussed how dry cleaning works. Today we will give you a brief overview of the major, and some minor dry cleaning solvents available to the consumer. Each has their positive and negative aspects.
The most common solvent in use today is perchlorethelene, or Perc. This is an extremely aggressive cleaning agent. While it works well on stains, it can cause problems with sensitive dyes and beading. It is being phased out by law in several state and local jurisdictions. The reason for this is, number one, it is classified as a probable carcinogen. Number two, it is linked to smog formation as a V.O.C. California is one of the states that has instituted a phase out plan.
The second most common solvent is Hydrocarbon. Under various trade names such as, DF 2000 and EcoSolv, it is frequently marketed as "organic". Not as strong a cleaning agent as Perc. It is however, a variation of a solvent used for many years before perc came along. Therefore, it's properties are well known and it is easy to work with. It is however a hydrocarbon, which means it is based on petroleum.
The third most common solvent is Green Earth. This formula is based on simple silicone. In other words, sand! It's use as a dry cleaning solvent was an accidental discovery. It was originally used, and still is, in cosmetics, deodorants, and anti-perspirants. Again, while not as strong a cleaner as perc, it is safe for all dyes and accessories such as beads, sequins and other trim.
Full disclosure, we currently use Green Earth as our solvent of choice. Over the past 60 plus years our family has been in the cleaning business, we have used both hydrocarbon and perc for cleaning. We are well aware of the positives and negatives of both those solvents.
There are several other minor solvents, the two most common are Rynex, a mixture of Glycol and Ether, and liquid CO2. Liquid Carbon Dioxide was a possible game changer, however due to the massive pressures it must maintain, it was cost prohibitive. There may still be some CO2 dry cleaners around, but the technology was too expensive for most cleaners.
Mr. Elwell is an industry veteran with over 25 years of experience. He is currently Vice President of Cambrian Plaza Dry Cleaners. For more about the services they offer, visit www.cambrianplazacleaners.com
The most common solvent in use today is perchlorethelene, or Perc. This is an extremely aggressive cleaning agent. While it works well on stains, it can cause problems with sensitive dyes and beading. It is being phased out by law in several state and local jurisdictions. The reason for this is, number one, it is classified as a probable carcinogen. Number two, it is linked to smog formation as a V.O.C. California is one of the states that has instituted a phase out plan.
The second most common solvent is Hydrocarbon. Under various trade names such as, DF 2000 and EcoSolv, it is frequently marketed as "organic". Not as strong a cleaning agent as Perc. It is however, a variation of a solvent used for many years before perc came along. Therefore, it's properties are well known and it is easy to work with. It is however a hydrocarbon, which means it is based on petroleum.
The third most common solvent is Green Earth. This formula is based on simple silicone. In other words, sand! It's use as a dry cleaning solvent was an accidental discovery. It was originally used, and still is, in cosmetics, deodorants, and anti-perspirants. Again, while not as strong a cleaner as perc, it is safe for all dyes and accessories such as beads, sequins and other trim.
Full disclosure, we currently use Green Earth as our solvent of choice. Over the past 60 plus years our family has been in the cleaning business, we have used both hydrocarbon and perc for cleaning. We are well aware of the positives and negatives of both those solvents.
There are several other minor solvents, the two most common are Rynex, a mixture of Glycol and Ether, and liquid CO2. Liquid Carbon Dioxide was a possible game changer, however due to the massive pressures it must maintain, it was cost prohibitive. There may still be some CO2 dry cleaners around, but the technology was too expensive for most cleaners.
Mr. Elwell is an industry veteran with over 25 years of experience. He is currently Vice President of Cambrian Plaza Dry Cleaners. For more about the services they offer, visit www.cambrianplazacleaners.com
Monday, March 18, 2013
Dry cleaning basics
Welcome to All about Dry Cleaning. We will try to de-mystify dry cleaning, and explain how it works, and why some clothes should be dry cleaned. We will also be happy to try to answer any questions you have regarding your clothing, and the inevitable spots and stains you get.
Today we will cover the most basic question, and the one we get asked the most. What is Dry Cleaning, and how is it different from washing?
At it's most basic, dry cleaning simply means cleaning clothing in any method besides water. Water is absorbed by most fabrics, but dry cleaning solvent for the most part, passes through the clothing. Instead of washing the clothing in the same water for several minutes, and then rinsing it in even more water, dry cleaning uses a different process.
In dry cleaning we continually filter the solvent through special filters and back into the machine. In fact, up to six times a minute! This combined with a mild detergent specially formulated for clothing and mechanical action, removes most of the soils and dirt from your clothing.
This constant filtering, and soft agitation allows your clothing to be cleaned without damaging the dye's, fabrics, and even ornamental parts like beads and sequins!
Therefore, the life of your clothing is extended, and your clothing stays clean and well finished.
Next time, we will discuss the various forms of dry cleaning.
Today we will cover the most basic question, and the one we get asked the most. What is Dry Cleaning, and how is it different from washing?
At it's most basic, dry cleaning simply means cleaning clothing in any method besides water. Water is absorbed by most fabrics, but dry cleaning solvent for the most part, passes through the clothing. Instead of washing the clothing in the same water for several minutes, and then rinsing it in even more water, dry cleaning uses a different process.
In dry cleaning we continually filter the solvent through special filters and back into the machine. In fact, up to six times a minute! This combined with a mild detergent specially formulated for clothing and mechanical action, removes most of the soils and dirt from your clothing.
This constant filtering, and soft agitation allows your clothing to be cleaned without damaging the dye's, fabrics, and even ornamental parts like beads and sequins!
Therefore, the life of your clothing is extended, and your clothing stays clean and well finished.
Next time, we will discuss the various forms of dry cleaning.
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