National Clothesline

had occasion to speak with a wonderful young woman named Lisa Payne a few months ago. Lisa answers drycleaners’ technical questions from her office in upstate New York for the renowned catalog company — Cleaner’s Supply.

Knowing that cleaners from all over the country call her about all sorts of things certainly cements the thought that folks are in search of answers and at times may not be sure who to ask.

I asked Lisa to tell me about the questions that she is asked that are in the general shirt laundering category. We had an interesting conversation. Lisa has good answers to good questions, but I thought that some of the subjects were worth elaborating on.

Why would you order a 30-oz. flannel as opposed to a 50-oz. flannel?

This is a good question and Lisa provides a good answer:

The 30-oz. would be purchased if you had just changed the steel mesh. Some people compensate for the fact that they haven’t changed the mesh by purchasing a 50-oz. or more flannel. Another reason is that a vacuum unit should always use 30-oz. flannel as opposed to 50-oz. Using a 50-oz. flannel on a vacuum unit would decrease the efficiency of the vacuum.

My comments: Using a heavier pad is cheating. If you are tempted, avoid the temptation and replace the steel mesh instead. In fact, stick with the factory specs regarding just about everything. Look at it this way: when the factory sells a machine, the shirts go “under a microscope” so to speak.

What the factory recommends is quite likely to produce the best possible result, don’t you think? If you think that the thinner pads expire more quickly (and I doubt that you’d be right), your quality hasn’t been where it should have been.

The most common flaw created by pads that are too thick is bad pressing at the sides of the shirt — the part of the shirt that the steam chests don’t actually touch. This happens because the thickness of the pads will keep the heads from closing completely. Don’t dismiss this.

If the pad is 1é8" thicker than it should be, then the combined amount of excess thickness (front pad plus the back pad) is 1é4". That will keep the heads 1é4" inch further apart than they should be and that is roughly twice what it should be.

How long should pads, covers and airbags last?

Lisa answers these questions with what I guess are stock manufacturers’ suggestions, and they must be right but there is an important variable that needs discussion.

Lisa suggests that pads and covers will last 12,000 to 15,000 shirts, but, assuming that this is true, it may not be true for everyone. The expansion and contraction of the pads and covers wreaks havoc on their life.

If your plant is open long hours, let’s say 12 to 15 hours per day, you will get longer life than the plant that fires up its shirt equipment to do a mere 50 shirts per day. Those pads and covers will not last nearly a year, even though only 12,000 shirts will be pressed in 12 months. Although it is only a guess, I doubt that those pads would last longer than 6,000 shirts, or six months’ worth.

How do I know when to change the steel pads on my shirt units?

Lisa answers: The steel pads on a shirt unit last for approximately 160,000 presses for vacuum cabinets and about 180,000 to 225,000 presses for other non-vacuum cabinet units.

The other indicators that a steel unit should be changed is when the presser starts to notice a lot of buttons breaking, more wrinkles around the pocket, sides and shoulder areas, and increased touch up time on shirts.

Another good indicator is when the covers and padding seem to need to be changed more often, or if the presser is using thicker flannel than what the manufacturer recommends.

This is a great answer. So many times I see wrinkles around the pocket, sides and shoulder areas, and increased touch up time on shirts, and the solution is so much easier and cheaper than throwing a body at the problem.

The price of steel is dear, but what is the price of having an extra person to do touch-up?

Compounding that, what is the price of reduced production so that touch-up can keep up with productivity and then justifying this by saying “we only do 30 shirts per hour, but we do a good job and touch up every shirt”?

What is the best way to remove stubborn starch build-up on a hot head unit?

Here, Lisa recommends the Cleaner’s Supply hot head cleaner which, I suppose, is a fine product.

Few people know, however, that there is something that you can do to minimize or even prevent starch build-up on the hot heads.

There is a product called Karagami Wax that accomplishes this. It is inexpensive, comes in a canister and it may surprise you to learn that it comes in a granule form.

Sprinkle some on a heavy towel and wipe the hot steam chests with it. The granules will melt on contact and provide a slick surface to which starch will not adhere. I used to do this every week or so at my plants.

And guess what? There is a super added bonus: Send the bucks in without a shirt after applying the wax to the heads. This will make the covers a bit slippery and allow them to last longer by cutting down on friction. Cool, huh?

Why would I get multiple wrinkles on my shirts after pressing them in my shirt unit, I just changed the steel padding, and my pads and covers are relatively new?

Most likely the older cover and pad already have the impressions in it, and these are now what are causing the wrinkles on the clothes. Remember that when changing the steel, you should always change the pads and covers too.

Once the contour is set in the older pads and covers, it will remain. Also note, that when changing the steel, it is important to run the steel though the pressing machine at least 30 times by itself before placing the pads and covers on it.

This is a good question and a good answer, but let me add this: If you make some sort of adjustment to the buck or to the steam chest on a shirt machine, it is strongly recommended that you immediately change the steel mesh and the pads and covers.

Sound ridiculous? Well, let me word it another way. If possible, defer mechanical adjustments to your shirt unit until the steel, the pads and the covers are changed. You see, the pads mold themselves to the shape of the heads. This is even true when the heads are flat.

If you adjust the buck in some way, or replace worn bearings on the transfer mechanism for example, the bucks will no longer make perfect contact with the steam chests. This will result in reduced press quality, or even shockingly poor quality, depending on how radical the adjustments were.

Hey, you know what? This was fun. Let’s talk to Lisa some more next month.

“If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you always got.”

Donald Desrosiers has been in the shirt laundering business since 1978 and is a work-flow systems engineer who provides services to shirt launderers through Tailwind Shirt Systems, 867 Spencer St., Fall River, MA. He can be reached by phone at (508) 965-3163 or by e-mail at tailwind1@comcast.net and he has web sites located at: www.tailwindshirts.com and www.dondesrosiers.com