Dry Cleaner

I have a hockey sweater that has been signed by a bunch of players. I want to clean it without fading the signatures. is dry cleaning a good way to do it and is there anything specific I need to tell them to do? thanks

Asked by mike almost 12 years ago

I would not dry clean the garment or have it cleaned by a very reliable dry cleaner. Quite often, the components used in some inks can dissolve quite easily in dry cleaning solvent and in water too.  Because of that, I would be very prudent in my choice of dry cleaners, discuss your concerns and if you do not feel confident in their ability, I would not leave the garment with them.  

Not being funny, but how much lint does a dry cleaner produce in a day? If at all? Thanks

Asked by jojoboy almost 12 years ago

That is a tough question.  First it depends on the amount of garments being processed, as well as the types of garments.  Lint is produced from mechanical action taking place in the dry cleaning machine.  This happens as the clothes tumble during both the cleaning and drying portions of the dry cleaning cycle.   This lint will end up in several places.  

1)  The lint filter.

2) The filtration system.

3) In the still (when using a 2-bath process)

4) On the clothing that is being cleaned (especially when no detergent or an ineffective detergent is being used.  

A good rule of thumb is that 100 lbs. of cleaning will release about 1/2 pound of insoluble soils.  Insoluble soil will not be 100% lint and I am not sure what percentage of these insolubles would be lint, but lets say 50%.  So, if a dry cleaner cleans 200 lbs. of average soiled garments.  1 pound of soil would be released.  If that 1 pound contains 50% lint, I would expect 8 ounces of lint to be produced per every 200 lbs. cleaned.  

That is the best I can do.  It is a very ball parkish estimate, but I think you can also see that the actual amount of lint released is a very small amount.  

           

Is it safe to dryclean leather?

Asked by John Boy Walton almost 8 years ago

I would recommend taking leather garments to the dry cleaner, as opposed to cleaning them on your own. There can be several different processes used, depending on the type of leather, trim, dyes used, etc. Some of these may be better off cleaned in a wetcleaning method, while others may be better off cleaned in specific solvents. Leave it to the professional dry cleaner to solve you problem.

I wear white cotton dress shirts. recently i started getting bluish green stains at the edge of the collar from the blue sport jacket. both from 100% wool, and washable jackets. why is this happening, and how do i get rid of the stains?

Asked by ziggy about 1 year ago

Has there ever been something that you could not clean and had to break the bad news?

Asked by John over 5 years ago

Cream raw silk drapes have not been cleaned in over a decade. Should I do a brief, gentle pre-soak or two before bringing them to the cleaners, or is it possible, or standard, that the cleaners would use fresh perc for very soiled white drapes?

Asked by joyphiltre over 6 years ago

Have a Union HL840. Changed filters. Having a problem getting solvent from distiller back into tanks 1,2 and 3.

Asked by terri over 5 years ago