Procedures for quality finishing
Part 7
Quality Points for pants Finishing
A recent survey made by the Tennessee
Fabricare Association, and presented at Clean ’03,
stressed the number-one desire of your customers: Quality work
ranked over all other factors, although the others were not to
be ignored since they were also important.
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Finishing of a garment is the final step
in the production process. Finishing determines whether the
garment is one of quality or one of mediocrity. All the spots
can be removed and the garment can sparkle, but the job can be
completely negated by a poor finish.
If the garment is not properly pressed, it
cannot properly be finished as a quality job no matter how well
it is packaged for delivery. A bad press job will immediately
be noticeable to the customer as it is being hung on the
delivery rod.
Part 3 of the series on inspection gives
three levels of quality finishing: Production or Economy,
Deluxe and Classic. The Economy level gives the most
production, but the degree of quality is never better than
fair, and I do not recommend it even for discount cleaners. The
Deluxe level is by far the most practical since it gives very
good quality with reasonably good production. This is the level
that I highly recommend.
The following inspection points were
enumerated in the Part 3 article, e.g.
• No spots (where possible to
remove).
• No rips, tears, open seams, open
hemlines or missing buttons.
• No linting.
• No crotch wrinkles.
• No uneven crease heights front and
back.
• No rolled front creases where pleat
meets front pleat.
• No double creases from top to
bottom.
• No vacuum wrinkles or dips.
• No folded pockets.
• No leave-off marks (especially when
steam-air topped).
• No uneven cuffs or plain bottoms.
• No flap pocket impressions and no
dipped slotted pockets (pockets should be buttoned when marked
in).
• No wrinkles in fly on both sides
(requires tensioning or hand iron).
• No waistband wrinkles (special
attention to elastic waistband).
Pants that have been wetcleaned or
laundered, and are not permanently creased, must be very
carefully pressed from top to bottom of legs. Wetcleaned pants
will sometimes “draw up” slightly in the waist and
length, especially those of tropical worsted weave or very soft
finish fabric.
In that case, the tensioning pants topper
with leg clamps will accomplish correction better than the wind
whip. However, the wind whip is an excellent tool for initially
drying the pants before placing them on the tensioning pants
machine.
Note: The wind whip was originally
manufactured by Cissell many years ago, and it was taken out of
production; but the original plans were obtained by Andy
Henderson Manufacturing Co. (Texas), and an improved version
was then produced by Henderson. The wind whip also dries all
types of garments in shape after being wetcleaned.
When finishing laundered cotton and cotton
blended pants, it is most important that the legs be first set
“seam-to-seam” to ensure proper shape and drape of
the legs when the pants are being worn by the customer. Do not
merely set the bottoms; you must set the leg seams all the way
up to the crotch. Make sure that the front creases properly
meet the pleat nearest the fly so that a straight crease
extends from the top to the bottom of the leg.
When topping laundered pants with elastic
waistband, place the waistband off the buck. The top is
then pressed from the bottom of the waistband to the end of the
crotch. Touch up is required with the hand iron around the
outer portions of the waistband that do not contain the
elastic.
When legging laundered short pants, it is
a little more difficult to attain the
“seam-to-seam” from the bottom of the leg up to the
bottom of the crotch while still meeting the front pleat. For
this reason, when topping the short pants you should not go
below the bottom of the fly, in fact, an inch above the bottom
of the fly is better since carrying the pleat too far downward
will make it more difficult to align with the front leg crease.
Also, make sure that the back pockets are pulled away from the
lower portion of the top by raising them over the waistband,
and the side pocket impressions are hand ironed out. Ensure
that the pocket top is squared, not dipped.
Finally, during inspection (after
finishing) make sure that the fly zipper works easily. Apply a
little “zipper ease” (wax stick) to release a
frozen zipper.
I have always advocated giving a bonus,
and recognition, for achieving quality as well as achieving
production standards. Remember, the customer is not concerned,
nor interested, in your production standards: only QUALITY is
the chief concern.
I invite you to review my three articles
on training and training programs (November and December, 2000
and January 2001). As they say in the military: “Training
never stops.” Repetition is the best reinforcement of
doing a job.
Note: My spotting video, “The
Caplan Method of Stain Removal,” which includes my
comprehensive text and handy spotting board reference available
in English, Spanish and Korean (video only in Korean) from the
Golomb Group, c/o Dennis McCrory, 7664 Plaza Court,
Willowbrook, IL 60521, phone (800) 679-5856. A lecture and
demonstration are presented similar to my classes over the
years at IFI and SDA. This video and text are ideal for
training inexperienced spotters as well as a good review for
experienced spotters. Digesting with enzymes, bleaching,
oxidized oil stains and caramelized sugar stains are discussed
and demonstrated. An article on “Removing Spots in the
Cleaning Machine” and an article on “How to
Increase Production in the Spotting Department” are
included in the comprehensive text book.
Also available from the Golomb Group, in
English and Spanish, is my video on step-by-step shirt
finishing which includes my comprehensive text in loose-leaf
form outlining each procedure for single-operator and
two-operator cabinet shirt unit using a cabinet sleeve press.
Proper forming of the collar using heated collar formers is
demonstrated. Each lay is demonstrated for top quality with
very little effort by the operators. Attractive detailing and
packaging of the hangered shirt, padding, steam pressures and
timing are all discussed. A unique wash formula for whiter
whites and brighter colors and removal of grease and body oils
is included in the loose-leaf text book.
My experience with shirts spans over 55
years with US Army as a principal laundry and dry-cleaning
concessionaire at Ft. Meade, MD, where average shirt volume was
approximately 10,000 per day. We were constantly
“sampled” for excellent quality in both finishing
and washing in laundry and drycleaning and in tailoring.
We operated our own 40,000-sq.-ft. plant
for over 35 years.
Stan Caplan has over 35 years experience
in his own high volume dry-cleaning, laundry and tailoring
plant and two package plants with adjoining coin-operated
laundry and drycleaning. Stan is the former chief instructor at
the International Fabricare Institute, the Southwest
Drycleaners Association and various other trade
association-sponsored schools throughout the US and courses in
Canada, Mexico, South Africa, Singapore and Hong Kong. Stan
offers consulting, training and engineering services in all
areas from customer service area to the boiler room since 1981.
His complete system withtotal quality management will produce
maximum efficiency, economy and product excellent quality. Stan
can be reached at 7341 Amberly Lane, Suite 310, Delray Beach,
FL 33446, phone/fax (561) 496-2548. His e-mail address is stancap100@aol.com.
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