Trade wrinkles

1 December 1999



Richard Neale looks at the cleaning snags and suggests the solutions.


Pink patches

Problem: After a lady’s pinstripe suit had been drycleaned, two pale pink oval marks were noted on the outside of the left knee.

Cause: This fabric has come into contact with an oxidising agent which has partially destroyed the blue and yellow components of the three-component dye recipe used to create the blue. This has left the more resistant red dye behind to create the pale-pink oval patches. The cause can be confirmed by examination of the white pinstripe which is still white in the middle of the pink areas.

Responsibility: The same change could be produced using a weak solution of sodium hypochlorite bleach in water. The damage here is the result of chance contamination, either with domestic bleach or with a bleach containing liquid such as baby bottle sterilising fluid. The responsibility is far more likely to lie with the owner than with the manufacturer or cleaner.

Rectification: The only way to restore this type of damage is by airbrush re-colouring. This is a specialist operation beyond the scope of the unit cleaner, but although it may not create an invisible solution it should certainly produce a wearable garment.

Colour change

Problem: A three-piece heavy suite in heavy brocade with deep pink background was tackled by surface cleaning in situ. However, the cleaner noticed a significant colour change in the first cushion cover and stopped at that point.

Cause: The deep pink shade is quite fast to water and perc.

If these covers had been drycleaned or carefully wetcleaned in a neutral solution there should have been little change. Under ultraviolet light the cause becomes obvious. The complaint cover fluoresces brilliantly indicating that the detergent formulation used contained an optical brightening agent and had been clearly formulated for white work. It probably contained a mild oxidising agent as well which made the problem worse.

Responsibility: The responsibility lies with the cleaner in this instance. These are very basic errors.

Rectification: Once an item has changed colour to this extent, there is no sensible means by which it can be put right.

Blotched job

Problem: Blotchy watermarking with dark, blurred edges became visible on a woman’s two-piece suit in a grey-brown viscose/polyester blend after it had been drycleaned. Neither owner or cleaner could recall any marking before.

Cause: The marking is not consistent with application of stain-removal reagents or pre-treatment detergent. The dark edges are typical of the way in which dyes used for viscose fabrics can sometimes be weakened by liquid spills in use. Drycleaning removes some of the weakened dyes leaving a pale centre on the mark, while some colour moves to the outer edge to form the blurred dark halos now seen. The marking originated from splash contamination in use, possibly from liquid containing alcohol, not from cleaner pretreatment.

Responsibility: Based on the visual evidence, the responsibility lies with the owner rather than the cleaner. Viscose blends are always sensitive to this type of damage, but that in itself does not render the fabric commercially substandard, so there is no real claim against the garment supplier.

Rectification: This type of problem is ideally suited to wet treatment. The garment should be carefully dipped and swirled in a bath of water at 40°C containing a little neutral detergent. Care should be taken not to crumple or crease the cloth. After a couple of minutes it should be removed, rinsed, drip-dried and refinished. The chances of significant improvement are about 50 - 50.

Wrinkled skin

Problem: Unsightly wrinkling to the upper left-front panel of a white grain leather jacket in lightweight skins,following drycleaning in perc in a standard leather process.

Cause: Wrinkling of this type is natural and clearly visible on many hides when the animal is alive. The tanner removes the wrinkling by stretching the hide to create flat garment leather and setting in the stretch so as to produce wrinkle-free material for garment make-up. This set is released in drycleaning (or in wetcleaning) to give rise to so called relaxation shrinkage. The cleaner can neither forsee the amount of relaxation nor avoid it.

Responsibility: The responsibility for relaxation shrinkage and associated wrinkling which appears in cleaning lies with the garment maker, and ultimately with the original tanner. The problem can be minimised if the maker purchases garment leather which conforms to British Standard 6453.

Rectification: The standard technique for reversing this wrinkling and the associated shrinkage following cleaning is to press the garment under tension on the bed of a free-steam press. Tension has to be applied to each lay to remove the wrinkling, and before the tension is released a thorough vacuum should be applied to the bed of the press to cool, dry and set the panel. While not perfect, this result is the best that can be achieved. Unfortunately many skins are substandard, and even with expert pressing some customer dissatisfaction may remain.



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