Dryleaners have such a high number of complaints not because they have unusually awkward customers but because there are two outstanding problems which beset the sector. Firstly, many garments retailed in the UK – and in many other countries – are never properly checked to determine whether they can be satisfactorily drycleaned or wetcleaned in accordance with the care label.
The International Standards Organisation has developed fairly foolproof methods to enable a care label to be critically checked, but far too many manufacturers and retailers rely on either care labelling by guesswork (!) or in many cases just sending the garment to a local cleaner in the country of manufacture and asking them to check that it is cleanable.
The cleaner might send back a reply saying “Yes, it’s cleanable” or they might return an undamaged garment to the maker. There is very rarely, if ever, an unambiguous description of the solvent used in the test, the cleaning process used, or the method of finishing employed. The cleaning process selected by the local tester rarely meets any minimum criteria for solvent choice, cycle time, cleaning temperature, drying temperature, mechanical action or number of cleans. If pressing and finishing is employed, this is usually limited to one very careful light press, with no record of whether steam is used, iron soleplate temperature, finishing technique or other critical parameters.
This whole scenario is little short of an international scandal, which is not being satisfactorily addressed in any region, despite strong efforts in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and Western Europe.
A good reason for the unusually high volume of cleaning complaints (sometimes very justified) is the high level of skill required nowadays for successful drycleaning, wetcleaning or finishing. The modern cleaner needs considerable fabric and cleaning knowledge, stain removal skills and finishing expertise to deliver a competent job and, with the exception of parts of Scotland, there are now no qualified trainers in the UK to teach these, and the situation worldwide is very variable.
LCNi delivers what might be the only regular update for professional cleaners faced with the challenges posed by current garment designs, trim adornment and manufacturing shortcomings, with ‘What Went Wrong’ articles and our answers to ‘Readers’ Queries’.
Action to take when faced with a complaint
When you are faced with a complaint about the quality of the cleaning or about the unexpected and unacceptable changes that have occurred during cleaning you should address the issue calmly and focus on the following:
1. Examination of the damaged item to determine the technical cause: there are several groups of common faults. It is vital to establish correctly the technical cause. The blame might lie with the cleaner, the owner, the maker, and sometimes the retailer. The following tips will help you:
- Holes, tears and cuts: examine the damage using a magnifying glass (or the magnifier on your smartphone). Moth damage will affect individual yarns with neatly munched fibre ends and little of no distortion to the weave, with the hole created by removal of fibre (but with no colour damage). A stress rupture will distort the weave in creating the hole, but there will be little or no loss of fibre. Entrapment in the lock of a wardrobe door will often leave a distinctive straight edge. Chemical damage from descaling fluid or baby bottle sterilising fluid will leave degraded fibre ends and usually create some local discoloration. Burn holes from smoker’s ash or a bonfire will often leave visible charring or melting to the fibre ends.
- Unremoved stains: not all stains are removable without causing fabric damage and these should always be explained to the customer on collection – they are usually the responsibility of the owner. Failure to take out stains that could and should have been removed, using correct stain removal techniques and reagents, is the responsibility of the cleaner.
- Additional stains: some types of staining might be invisible at reception (champagne splashes on a wedding dress, for example), but could be darkened and made visible by the warmth of the cleaning process itself. The staining remains the responsibility of the wearer, but the cleaner should take responsibility for reducing the marks by post treatment where possible. The champagne marks mentioned can normally be removed by expert and patient treatment with water and steam at a professional stain removal table.
- Pressing damage: incorrect care- or fibre content-labelling will frequently lead to shrinkage or distortion of stretch fabrics containing elastane fibre. A one-dot iron symbol gives specific warnings regarding sole plate temperature and the use of steam, and elastane must be mentioned on the fibre content label.
When labelling errors are combined with inadequate training in professional finishing techniques, it is possible to see why poor finishing complaints abound. - Item labelling: (Pic 2 refers) the maker is primarily responsible for the labelling, but the importer, distributor and retailer have a much-neglected responsibility for ensuring that fibre content labels are present and correct and that the care labelling complies with international standards. Amateur labels expose the cleaner to unnecessary risks and the customer to unexpected damage – often to very expensive items. One of the worst group of labelling faults comes from the indiscriminate use of the P in a circle symbol, which gives false reassurance to the cleaner that the item is in fact drycleanable and has led to many justified complaints for which the maker is culpable.
There are many other groups of faults, but the ones described indicate just some of the problems which give rise to justified complaints.
2. Explanation of what has caused the fault: (pic 3 refers) your description must be in clear, non-technical terms which the consumer can understand. You should include the key clues which indicate the true reason for the damage or change.
At this stage it might still be possible to allocate the blame for the fault, so your written explanation must be accurately worded.
3. Explain what the care label means: the adequacy of the care labelling is frequently critical, because this is often misunderstood and following incorrect labels may well cause unexpected damage.
4. Describe your company policy for addressing complaints: many professional cleaners have a policy of addressing complaints promptly without bias, paying compensation if they are at fault, assisting the customer with a claim where they are not at fault, and seeking independent expertise to resolve any points of dispute.
5. Help your customer to determine a realistic value for compensation: many cleaners base compensation on the current replacement cost, less an allowance for wear and tear based on both age and condition.
The TSA published a Fair Claims Guide to its members some years ago, prepared in conjunction with the Institute of Loss Adjusters, which gave charts showing typical life cycles and the progressive reduction in value with time or excessive wear.
Conclusion
There are frequently good reasons for the high number of justified complaints raised by a dissatisfied customer, but two reasons are quite scandalous: the poor knowledge and skills of a great many cleaners in some regions and the atrocious quality of labelling of a great many garments and household textiles worldwide.
LCNi offers regular monthly updates, and our experts can give prompt and clear answers to most queries, but these two problems stubbornly remain.
