National Clothesline

Following the heels of its annual convention in March, the Southwest Drycleaners Association has prepared an array of informative outreach seminars set to take place throughout 2003.

In all, SDA and IFI will work together to offer eight separate seminars — one for each state in the territory covered by the Southwest Drycleaners Association.

“Quality is an important issue for cleaners,” said Andy Stanley, SDA’s executive director. “One of our main objectives is to increase professionalism in the industry by providing as many educational opportunities as possible.”

Making true on that promise, the association will begin with an April 5 offering that will cover stain removal. The seminar will take place in Lafayette, LA.

The program will cover stain removal tools, agents and procedures, pH scale, stain removal techniques for the removal of water marks and sizing rings, mineral oil barriers and the use of bleaches.

Similar stain removal seminars have also been planned for the following dates and locations: July 12 in Little Rock, AR; August 30 in Greenville, SC; and October 11 in Albuquerque, NM.

SDA and IFI will also present a Customer Service/Problem Garments seminar in three different cities. In addition to providing an overview on some of the industry’s most troublesome garments, the session will educate attendees on customer expectations, talking to customers, identifying potential cleaning problems and handling difficult situation.

The seminar will be on May 10 in Wichita, KS; June 14 in Jackson, MS; and September 20 in Oklahoma City, OK.

The final joint offering from IFI and SDA will be a seminar on Finishing scheduled on June 7 in Birmingham, AL. The hands-on workshop will cover finishing tools and aids, how to finish different fabrics, finishing techniques, and factors that affect quality finishing.

For more information on any of SDA’s 2003 seminars, contact the association’s office at (210) 826-4684.

The Royaltone Leather Cleaning Academy will be hosting several two-day leather cleaning courses in the coming months at its facility in Tulsa, OK.

Class dates include: April 3 and 4, June 5 and 6, and September 11 and 12.

Morning sessions will run from 8:30 to 11 a.m. Each day, followed by an hour break for lunch. The afternoon class session runs from noon to 4:30 p.m.

The class offers an opportunity for plant owners and managers to learn how to safely and easily spot, wetclean, dryclean, press and refinish suedes, leathers and furs with a higher profit-per-garment ratio. †

Attendees are encouraged to bring two suede or leather garments to work on during the in-plant session.

The cost of the two-day program is $400 per person.

Attendees each receive a complete instruction manual written by course instructor, Frank Lucent, which is available in both English and Korean.

Upon completion of the course, attendees will be presented with a course completion certificate. After-training support is provided through a free hotline at (800) 331-5506. For more information, call (918) 622-6677 or (800) 331-5506.