Programs

Set the machine correctly

Modern drycleaning machines usually have a computer that can hold up to 99 different programs but few drycleaners make full use of this capacity to store special settings. The programs for padded jackets or for silks that need re-oiling are two examples of programs that could be kept on file.

Current fashion ranges often include garments that can be easily damaged by the wrong program and keeping a wide selection of bespoke cycles can help to avoid poor results.

However, the computer program does not necessarily control all the necessary parameters so simply selecting a preset program and pushing the start button does not always work.

The thermostat which controls the drying temperature will often need to be adjusted to suit particular fabrics.

The international standard for the method that garment makers should use to check an item’s drycleanability gives a normal, maximum setting for air-off-the-cage as 60C for all solvents. This reduces to 50C for temperature sensitive items made from acrylic fibres and to 40C for ultra-sensitive textiles such as modacrylic velvets and fun-furs. If the operator does not set the thermostat correctly for such garments there is a much greater risk of the fur matting, the velvet pile being flattened and the garment shrinking.

The solvent sub-cooling temperature will also need to be set separately from the computer program. The lower part of the still condenser is used to lower the temperature of the liquefied solvent from its boiling point to the safe cleaning temperature. A garment maker is supposed to use a solvent temperature of 30C when checking drycleanability so machine manufacturers usually make it possible to cool the solvent to 20C to allow a safety margin for special circumstances such as a heat-wave.

Dyes that are slightly sensitive to drycleaning solvent at 20C will bleed more at 25C and even more at 30C. Conversely, cooling the solvent to 15C will often reduce the risk of dye-bleed, which can be very useful when cleaning a slightly sensitive black and white garment, but this technique will only work if the bleed is caused by solvent sensitivity. It will not correct poor dyeing nor will using a milder solvent.

Beaded trim breaks up

Fault: This garment was drycleaned in hydrocarbon but the trim had noticeably broken up and several of the larger fabric panels were distorted.

Cause: If the garment maker specifies a gentle cycle by putting a bar beneath the drycleaning symbol on the care label, then the cleaner is responsible for examining the garment and deciding which restrictions apply.

A garment with a delicate beaded trim may need to be turned inside out and enclosed in a net bag. Light or elastic fabrics can distort easily so the solvent level must be raised for each cleaning bath. For garments with soft hair fibres, such as cashmere and angora, the cleaner should reduce mechanical action by programming intermittent cage rotations to reduce the risk of felting shrinkage.

Enclosing this particular garment in a net bag and raising the dip level would probably have prevented the damage shown here.

Responsibility: The garment was labelled with a bar beneath the drycleaning symbol so the cleaner is probably to blame in this case.

Rectification: The trim should be replaced with the best match possible. A skilled presser might be able to reverse the fabric distortion.

Fun furs are heat sensitive

Fault: This fun fur was cleaned in perc but most of the fibres had matted when it came out of the machine.

Cause: The “fur” is made from modacrylic fibres, which are inherently flame retardant. They can be drycleaned safely but the drying temperature must be adjusted. If the “air-off-the-cage” is over 40C, the individual fibres “kink” and will become matted during tumble drying.

Responsibility: The drycleaner is responsible for setting the drying thermostat correctly as long as the garment’s care label has a bar beneath the drycleaning circle symbol.

Rectification: The matting cannot be corrected.

Handprints left on velvet

Fault: These velvet curtains were warm but unmarked when they were taken out of the drycleaning machine. Then when the operator put them down he noticed he had left handprints on the material.

Cause: The curtains are made from acrylic velvet, which softens at temperatures above 50C. The handling involved in removing them from the machine distorts the softened pile, leaving handprints wherever the garment has been held.

Responsibility: The cleaner is responsible for setting the thermostat temperature correctly and reducing it to 50C would have avoided the problems.

Rectification: It is not possible to remove the prints. It is easy to warm the pile to soften it but once the fibres have been flattened they cannot be made to stand up again.

Watermarks spoil puffa

Fault: The drycleaner processed a pale coloured puffa jacket on a one-bath delicates’ cycle but afterwards he noticed watermarks in several areas, mostly running parallel to the stitched seams.

Cause: The fabric used for the outer side of a puffa jacket has often been treated to make it relatively impermeable. The stitch holes are the only place where moisture can evaporate during drying. When liquid solvent gets trapped in the wadding the moisture will escape through the holes but any soiling in the solvent will be left behind and so ugly watermarks will form.

Responsibility: If the care label calls for a gentle cycle, with the possible need for reduced drying temperature, then the responsibility lies with the garment maker because a padded garment that has become soiled cannot be cleaned on this type of cycle without risking “sweal” marking – the technical term for the watermarks seen here.

Rectification: The garment should be re-cleaned on a cycle designed for padded garments. This involves a thorough two-bath cycle with a one minute inter-spin and three minute final spin, to get rid of as much soiling as possible. Set the temperature for the first seven minutes of the drying stage as high as the fabric can withstand. This should help most of the liquid solvent to evaporate quickly. The drying temperature can then be set to the normal setting for the rest of the cycle. This should avoid leaving any visible sweal marks.