Liquid spotters for suede and leather
here are liquid spot
and stain removers for use in drycleaning suedes and leathers
just as there are for cloth items. The spotters made for use on
cloth are not to be used on suede and leather as they will have
a harmful effect and can result in color loss and hardening of
the skins. Only spotters designed specifically for use on
suedes and leathers should ever be used on them!
Prespotting water soluble spots and stains
To dissolve and loosen water soluble spots
and stains such as perspiration, beverages, food, blood and for
general soil removal from items before cleaning, use a
specially formulated safe product that is made for use on
suede, leather, fur and trimmed cloth items so that it will not
remove colors or harden the skins while at the same time being
highly effective on the cloth portions of items trimmed with
suede, leather and fur.
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Apply the prespotter liberally to the
stained or soiled area of the suede, leather, fur or cloth
before cleaning. Mechanical action may be applied with a bone
or metal spotting spatula or a special suede or leather
spotting brush. The amount of mechanical action applied depends
on how delicate the skin is that is being prespotted.
The prespotter may be allowed to dry on
the suede or leather before it is cleaned or it may be cleaned
while still wet if the leather cleaning system is charged with
a specially formulated additive that will emulsify the
prespotter while it conditions the drycleaning fluid to prevent
color loss or stiffening of the skin.
Thus, the suede or leather item that has
been spotted with the prespotter may be leather cleaned either
wet, immediately after it is prespotted, or set aside and
allowed to dry and then leather cleaned whenever it is
convenient for the operator. However, for heavily soiled items,
you should wait at least a half-hour before cleaning. This will
allow the prespotter more time to work to more fully loosen the
soil and stains before cleaning.
Since the special prespotter allows the
suedes or leathers to be cleaned immediately or later in the
day, the following day or even several days later, it permits
considerable scheduling flexibility in the prespotting portion
of the leather cleaning process.
For example, if the prespotter is used at
the end of the day, it may not be practical to clean the
leather at that time. It may be cleaned the next day after it
has dried.
Furthermore, if the actual leather
cleaning is to be done only once or twice a week, the
prespotting can be done at any time it is convenient for the
operator during the week as time permits. However, furs spotted
with prespotter should be allowed to air dry thoroughly before
cleaning.
Prespotting in the drycleaning machine
Prespotting of heavily soiled suedes,
leathers and cloth combinations can also be accomplished inside
the drycleaning machine by adding a soil release batch additive
to the load in the drycleaning machine. It can be injected into
the machine if it has an injector. It can be poured into or
dispensed by squeezing a dispenser bottle filled with the batch
additive into the wheel after loading the heavily soiled
articles into the wheel and before closing the door and
starting the cleaning cycle.
The obvious advantage of using the soil
release batch additive is that it lets the machine do all the
work on heavily soiled items, saving time and labor otherwise
spent applying prespotter to the garment and applying
mechanical action by scrubbing and tamping it with a spotting
brush on the spotting board and then repeating the process and
rerunning the load as many times as it takes to get it clean.
The soil release batch additive is also
highly effective in releasing soils and stains from cloth as
well as from suede or leather, making it especially useful for
garments that combine cloth with suede or leather such as cloth
items trimmed with suede and leather as well as suede and
leather items with heavily soiled cloth linings.
The effectiveness of the specially
formulated soil release batch additive on cloth portions of
suede and leather trimmed garments makes it possible for it to
also be used to clean up heavily soiled cloth items in regular
drycleaning. That can result in a significant savings in the
cost of time and labor spent scrubbing and brushing, the cost
of spotting chemicals and the cost of rerunning and recleaning
badly soiled cloth garments like tan trench coats, etc.
The beauty of the soil release batch
additive is that it can remove heavy soil from suede, leather
and cloth combinations, in the machine, without causing color
loss, dye bleeding, stiffening of the skins or contamination of
the system.
The soil release batch additive, as its
name implies, is used on a batch cleaning cycle to release soil
from the garment into suspension in the cleaning fluid. A batch
cleaning cycle permits the soil release batch additive to work
in concentrated form with minimal dilution in the cleaning
fluid for maximum soil removal during the batch cleaning cycle.
This means as little as one ounce of soil release per ten
pounds of dry weight of items being cleaned can do the job of
removing heavy soil and stains in the drycleaning wheel, in
approximately five minutes of batch run time.
The soil release batch additive will
release soil from the garment and put it into suspension in the
cleaning fluid which is then filtered or dumped to a still at
the end of the five minute batch run.
Batch cleaning means that the garments are
cleaned in only a small portion of the drycleaning fluid that
the drycleaning machine holds.
In older machines, batch cleaning means
placing the garment and soil release batch additive in the
drycleaning machine, then filling the wheel to a low level with
drycleaning fluid. The pump is turned off before the
drycleaning fluid flows over the level control device into the
button trap. The garments are then cleaned for five minutes in
the small amount of drycleaning fluid in the wheel containing
the soil release batch additive. Then the pump is turned back
on and the cleaning cycle is completed.
If possible, the filter should be
by-passed for the batch wash cycle. On many machines, the soil
release batch additive may be injected automatically into the
wheel at the start of the cycle and the drycleaning lluid then
filtered or dropped to a still at the end of the batch cycle.
Note: The drycleaning fluid used with the
soil release batch additive for cleaning suedes, leathers and
cloth combinations must also contain the proper concentration
of a special leather cleaning detergent and conditioner, like
Royaltone’s Detergen tPlus Conditioner.
Spotting agents and batch additives other
than those mentioned above are may not work the same and those
made for use on cloth only should never to be used on suede,
leather or fur as they may cause color loss, color bleed and
stiffen or otherwise damage the skin.
Frank Lucenta is president of Royaltone
Co., Inc., a firm that manufacturers the products he developed
to make it possible for any cleaner to safely and profitably
dryclean, wetclean and finish any suede, leather, fur and
trimmed cloth garment. He also wrote related instruction books
that document the process, entitled “Handling Leather and
Suede” and “Cleaning and Finishing Leather and
Suede.” He also teaches small groups of plant owners and
managers how to identify, accept, spot, dryclean and wetclean,
press and recolor suedes, leathers, and furs using his
Royaltone procedures and products. The next Royaltone Leather
training session is scheduled for June 10-11 and Sept. 9-10 at
the Royaltone Suedemate Leather Cleaning Center in Tulsa, OK.
For more information on training sessions or on spotting charts
in either English or Korean, call (800) 331-5506, (918)
622-6677, fax (918) 665-6017, or e-mail frank@royaltone.com. Information is also available on the Royaltone
web site, www.royaltone.com.
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