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Some clothing stains caused by beverages, food, or oily substances may not be visible after they dry. But later, with exposure to heat or simply the passage of time, a yellow or brownish stain will appear. This is the end result of oxidation or caramelization of sugar or sweetening agents. It is the same process that makes a peeled apple turn brown after exposure to air. If we don’t know about it we can’t […]

Perspiration — Body oils, antiperspirants, or perspiration left long enough on silk and wool garments will weaken the fabric. Frequently cleaning clothes heavily soiled with perspiration can lessen the likelihood of a problem.  Acids — Perspiration, deodorant, antiperspirant, even “all natural organic” products, fruit juice, or hair preparations can cause a change or loss of colour along with weakening the fabric. Alcohol — Perfume, cologne, skin freshener, aftershave, hair spray, medicine, and adult beverages can […]

This problem arises when white and pastel fabrics begin to yellow. When this happens, a little investigative work typically reveals a manufacturer defect in the optical or fluorescent whitening agent applied to the fabric. When this agent begins to break down as the result of exposure to light, atmospheric gases, or dry cleaning or washing solutions, yellowing results. The problem cannot be corrected and can only be prevented by the manufacturer using stable brighteners.

Perspiration will weaken many fabrics when it is allowed to remain in a fabric for a long time. For this reason, clothes should be cleaned frequently to remove the deodorants, anti-perspirants, and perspiration from your garments. Follow the manfacturer’s instructions when you apply deodorants and anti-perspirants.

Alcohol is used in perfumes and colognes. This alcoholic content will cause some dyes to bleed or run. This will leave the stained area either lighter in colour, cause it to changed shade or leave a darker ring around the damaged area. To avoid further damage, never apply perfumes or colognes to your clothing—instead, place it on the skin in areas that are not likely to come in contact with […]

This classification includes such oils as linseed oil, salad dressings, mayonnaise, French dressing, cooking oils and gravy. These stains tend to combine very readily with the oxygen in the air and once they have oxidized, it is impossible to remove or even lighten the stains in colour. Avoid this damage-take your soiled clothes to the cleaner immediately.

Stains in this category include fruit juices, coffee, tea, soft drinks such as root beer, coca cola, etc, tomatoes, beer and others. When these substances first contact a garment, they are not very evident and in many instances, they do not appear to have stained the garment. Neither you nor the dry cleaner is aware that these stains are present until after they have been set by the heat in […]

This is one of the dry cleaner’s biggest headaches. It is enough to make their hair curl. When you have a cold wave permanent, make sure your clothing is well covered. The colourless liquid in cold wave solutions looks harmless enough and no noticeable stains occurs at first. However, heat, and time permanently set the stain. If you should have a cold wave solution spill on your garment, quickly sponge […]

The use of solvents in the dry cleaning process has always been a concern for customers and for industry alike. The dry cleaning machine is sealed to prevent solvent from escaping. Solvent is filtered, distilled and recycled. The remaining “sludge” is then removed to a recycler using a provincially licensed carrier. The Certified Environmental Cleaner program was designed to educate dry cleaners in environmental safety. All Ontario Fabricare Association (OFA) […]

We entrust our clothes to our local dry cleaner. But what happens after you drop them off? The modern dry cleaning plant accepts soiled clothing and produces clean, fresh clothing via the cleaning process. The process commonly called “dry” cleaning is actually wet. Perchloroethylene (perc) is a non-aqueous solvent because it contains little water. Your dry cleaner will sort your garments by type and degree of soiling and will determine […]