Drycleaning suede and leather
Drycleaning suede and leather can now be
done as easily as drycleaning cloth, thanks to the development
of modern detergent conditioners, like Royaltone’s
Detergent Plus Conditioner. These can be added to any cleaning
fluid (including perc, petroleum, DF2000, etc.), to chemically
condition the drycleaning fluid to stabilize the dyes in the
skins so that the cleaning fluid will not cause color loss or
stiffening and drying out of the skins of suede, leather or fur
items.
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Therefore, once the detergent plus
conditioner is mixed with the drycleaning fluid, drycleaning
suede, leather, furs or cloth trimmed with suede, leather or
fur becomes essentially the same as drycleaning cloth items.
However, there are a few differences
between drycleaning cloth and dry cleaning leather that must be
dealt with.
Higher concentration
One difference is in the concentration of
the detergent plus conditioner required for drycleaning suede,
leather and fur.
The amount of the detergent conditioner
required increases above that required for drycleaning cloth as
the color of the suede or leather becomes deeper, darker,
richer and brighter.
Lower loading
Another difference is in the loading of
the drycleaning machine. The dry weight of suedes, leathers or
furs in a load should not normally exceed one-half the rated
load capacity of the drycleaning machine. The reason for this
is that when suedes and leathers become soaked with drycleaning
fluid they become twice as heavy as cloth that is soaked with
drycleaning fluid.
Shorter run times
Another difference between drycleaning
cloth and drycleaning suede and leather is the run-time of the
cleaning cycle. The run-time for slick leathers and all furs is
much shorter than for cloth, suedes or naked skin leathers.
This difference in run-time is necessary to protect the surface
finish of slick leathers and to protect the delicate skins of
furs from being damaged by excessive mechanical action in the
cleaning wheel.
Drying time and temperatures
Still another difference between
drycleaning cloth and drycleaning suede and leather is in the
drying time and the drying temperature. Drying time is
considerably longer for suede and leather than it is for cloth
because the skins are thicker and hold more cleaning fluid than
cloth. The drying temperature is set lower for white and light
colored suedes, naked leathers and furs. A lower drying
temperature is necessary for these items to avoid oxidation or
yellowing that would otherwise be caused by excessive heat in
drying.
More to filter out
Yet another difference between drycleaning
cloth and drycleaning suede and leather is in filtration. There
is a large amount of suede lint released from the suedes and
leathers in the cleaning process. This suede lint must be
intercepted and collected before it reaches the filter if a
serious reduction in filter life is to be avoided. Some kind of
a lint filter must be installed between the cleaning wheel and
the filtration unit and it will accomplish the job if it is
cleaned frequently.
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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