National Clothesline

By Bill Bogus

The joy of feeling clean, perhaps cleaner than you ever felt before, is an excerpt taken from a deodorant bathing soap advertisement. The ad was selling the benefits of what this soap does. It gently removes the nasty residue that causes body odor, which, although not contagious, is obnoxious when smelled by others.

People can tolerate their own body odors if they have to, but not the stinking smell of other peoples’ odors. For whatever reasons, body odors occur and getting rid of them is an ongoing daily chore. The biggest concern is underarm perspiration. This is the most offensive area that others can get a whiff of — and one whiff is too many. I don’t know of anyone who likes to smell someone else’s underarm perspiration.

The necessities in fighting body odors are soap, water and clean clothes.

By neglecting cleanliness, body-odor causing bacteria are constantly discharged through sweat glands and absorbed by the garments that are being worn, from undergarments to outergarments. Undergarments, being next to the body, need to be changed on a daily basis. It takes more time for odor causing bacteria to penetrate outerwear, however, this is where the odor causing residue begins to accumulate. This is where the odor smells the most. Most people buy all kinds of antiperspirants and deodorants to reduce odor-causing perspiration.

Unfortunately, overuse of antiperspirant products may cause skin problems. No matter what products a person may use for odor prevention or how often a person bathes, it won’t be enough to stop body odors unless the person is wearing clean clothes.

Laundered undergarments and drycleaned outergarments are essential. By neglecting both, body odors intensify and become highly objectionable to others.

Then, there are other odors that get caught up in outer garments, such as pet odors that come from dog and cat hair and animal dander. You can tell a pet owner by the smell of his clothes, And outer garments can pick up all kinds of odors in public transportation and other places.

What is a woman saying when she says to the drycleaner, “My dress is relatively clean. All it needs is to be freshened up a bit?” What she really means is, “Get the body odor out!”

By neglecting to remove perspiration residue from outer garments, the residue will accumulate and worsen the smell. As long as people wear clothing, odor will exist. The only people who don’t perspire are those who are no longer with us.

The time has come for the serious-minded drycleaner to advertise and offer “Odor Free” drycleaning. This also means free of chemical odors. By mentioning this service, you give customers more reasons to patronize drycleaning. Working and refreshing your services with new practical ideas will please existing customers and give you the advantage in getting new customers.

Today, thinking is towards big drycleaning plants, big cars, big houses, and so on. Instead of focusing on big, the focus should be on better. We are focusing too much on growth and too little on creativity and quality.