Why you’re not a home washer
It all started with coin-operated
drycleaning. Imagine, “Eight pounds for $2!” The
equipment fell apart before it was paid for and solvent cost
was horrendous, but with all that fresh, new solvent the colors
looked new.
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A few years later, research chemists
introduced polyester, Dacron, which wore like iron when
combined with cotton, or wool. This brought on “wash and
wear” that not only laundered and drycleaned well, but
also was able to introduce “permanent press.” This
brought new decisions of what could be laundered at home with
new miracle detergent soap products. All became more
accessible, but thanks to the woman in the work place and the
chore of home washing and home ironing/pressing, doing the
laundry remained unwelcome drudgery. With two-income families,
the volume soon came back to those who knew best, the
professional drycleaner. There are still the labels that lie,
which increase the risk of washing at home and the hazards of
colors bleeding into each other, plus the simple skill needed
to not shrink a favored garment.
Get it done right
People still have the economics and labor
of home washing, but fortunately they can choose the
neighborhood professional drycleaner if they want the job done
right! Whether the choice is a new solvent or wetcleaning, that
like-new look can only be achieved by a professional with
professional equipment.
Professional finishing is made possible by
one minor part of the finishing process. It seems it is always
overlooked and many times treated as secondary, while only
revealing itself long after the garment has left the production
line. That all important function is the proper use of the
vacuum. It’s the vacuum that makes all the difference
between a poorly or average operation and top quality. What
makes it so devious is many plants are totally unaware of the
condition.
We could single out quality of drycleaning
and stain removal, but with today’s modern equipment the
modern drycleaner has come up protective automation and
built-in disciplines such as normal or gentle cycle, controlled
distillation, soap or sizing injection, solvent filtration
safeguards, detection of a solvent leak or vapor, and even
prevention of inadvertently opening a door.
My concern is the finishing department
where we have some form of automated dual presses but the
element of human error remains.
The improvement has been on production and
the quality or excellence is the result of following the
standards set by management. (Write for my guide book,
“Pressed for Perfection and Final Inspection.”)
A simple test
I ask all my fellow drycleaners to take
this simple test.
Take a single full page of any large
tabloid newspaper, and lay that sheet on the large area of a
utility or legger press. Press your foot fully on the vacuum
pedal and draw the sheet of paper towards you. Hopefully, it
will tear, or be too difficult to remove.
If it can be removed easily or offers
little resistance, then you have to go on the search for the
reason your operator is going through the motions of attempting
to dry the garment and removing all the moisture but in reality
is allowing that garment to retain the moisture. That garment
is now being dried or cured, while awaiting to be assembled, in
a moisture-protective plastic bag.
Here is where poor quality reveals itself,
and where the customer, unfortunately, becomes the “final
inspector.” We are looking for that wrinkled lapel,
pocket flap or wherever the material was doubled and allowed
moisture to accumulate. The vacuum was activated, and the
operator went through the motion, but the moisture, has still
been fully retained.
A smooth flat lapel and crisp pocket flaps
are the obvious signs of a properly finished garment. All
crinkled doubled seams are another indication of a weak vacuum
and an operator who went through the motion but eliminated
little or no moisture, leaving the flaw to show itself when the
garment is ready to be called for or delivered.
The guilty party
Here is a list of probably causes to check
for the source of the trouble.
1. Old padding. Not only will buttons
break, but hard padding that has long since lost its resiliency
will result in a constant reduced vacuum.
2. Undersized vacuum. A 5 hp vacuum has to
be rated downward from the following — the distance and
length from each press, the change of pipe direction (each
elbow, reduces its pull by a 1Ž3 hp; any change in reduction of
pipe size, by another 1Ž3 hp).
3. Most vacuums are installed in a
basement (for noise reduction) and there is another loss of a
1Ž3 to 1Ž2 hp.
4. Wet padding, due to leaking buck valve.
Vacuum is allowed to dry overnight and becomes progressively
less.
5. Inadequate steam pressure. Most plants
should be steadily maintained at minimum 85 pounds psi for
drycleaning (100 pounds psi for shirt finishing for proper
shirt drying). Any less or a fluctuation will produce wet
steam.
These are just common faults that I have
found from poor and inadequate installations. They are
exacerbated by the practice of excessive steaming. Most
operators from “piece work” days cheat on vacuum
time to allow for increasing in production. Quality become near
impossible if mechanical defects are allowed to continue when
simple mechanical adjustments should be the order of the day.
Observe a TV commentator and notice the
smooth collar and lapel and you see what good appearance can
look like.
A home washer or non-quality operator will
allow defects, but bless the professional certified drycleaner
who knows and retains that standard of excellence with
consistency, always backed by final inspection.
Ray Colucci, a consultant to the fabric
care industry, has revised and made available three timely
pamphlets: “Up Front Is Where It Counts” for
counter training; “Pressed for Perfection” for
finishing techniques; the popular “Route to Success To
the Home of Office” for complete route training. The
pamphlets are $20 each or all three for $50. Immediate delivery
with all postage paid is promised. Send requests and payment to
to R. Colucci, 410 Warren Ave., Mamaroneck, NY 10543.
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