A high value on standards

Competition in retail drycleaning is today more intense than it has ever been. The move from high street to out of town shopping continues, so fewer customers are shopping in town and city centres. Adding to the competitive pressure, the supermarkets are still extending into retail drycleaning.

As a result, many drycleaners feel they must compete solely on price rather than on the quality and presentation, but this can be a mistake, particularly where high value/designer label garments form a significant part of the business’s workload.

I have recently noted that a growing number of businesses are introducing higher charges for expensive garments and this move is long overdue. The charge for such garments should reflect their high value and the increased exposure of the cleaner in the unfortunate event of a claim.

Further, removing stains from designer and high value items often requires much more care and skill and finishing these garments to the high the high standards that the customer expects also takes much longer. The response of some high value items to drycleaning can be difficult to predict. Aftercare instructions such as “Dryclean only, exclusive of trimmings” (when the trimming forms an integral part of the garment) do not inspire confidence.

However, not all designer wear presents a problem and there are opportunities to increase turnover, if staff have, or can develop, the right skills and expertise.

Meeting expectations

Most customers expect their cleaner to deliver a clean, stain-free, well-finished garment that looks “like new.” In most cases this is realistic and quite achievable.

A thorough inspection of the garment will reveal if it is clean and stain-free, but the standard of finish is much more difficult to determine. All garments (including new ones) will still have some faults after finishing. Some will be insignificant and difficult, occasionally some will be obvious.

The final inspector must decide whether such faults can be ignored or need correction.

Final inspection requires a very high level of concentration while at the same time being repetitive. Do not assume that any member of staff can inspect work. Inspectors need to be taught what well finished garments look like and trained to examine in a systematic way.

Aim for the best

The finished result is influenced by three main factors:

• temperature

• pressure

• cooling.

Temperature and pressure need to be related to the textile, but pressure is not always required as in the case of pile fabrics.

Heat and particularly steam, relaxes textiles and allows them to be reconfigured in their finished form. Cooling is a critical part of this process and sets the finish. The importance of fully cooling to set the finish cannot be over emphasised.

Cleaners do not always understand that the temperatures achieved during forming and pressing with steam heated irons, assuming a pressure around 65psi , are unlikely to exceed 120C, which is only a little above a cool iron setting (electric steam irons are an exception to this).

In many cases fabric temperatures are unlikely to reach 100C, for example, when forming in a rotor cabinet or when using a steam heated iron in conjunction with vacuum.

For this reason, cleaners are often unable to achieve good standards of finish on cotton and linen in particular and can occasionally struggle with problems such as retained wear creases on wool/polyester combinations.

If the best standards of finish are to be achieved, the question of temperature and finishing methods must be considered.

High production rates are not consistent with producing a quality product. For pressing, the recommended steam time on robust fabrics is around 2.5seconds. Assuming a good vacuum, the cooling time may need to be up to 5seconds. A press production rate of around 16 to 18 pairs of trousers an hour is realistic for a good quality finish on garments that have been “topped”.

However, I have seen specialist trouser pressers, working in factories, who can finish around 24 pairs/hour to a good standard on well maintained equipment.

To produce the best standards of finish, steam time, pressure and cooling must be precisely controlled. The following points are critical:

• check the press locking pressure at the start of each working day

• maintain press and ironing table clothing in good condition

• good vacuum is essential as a good vacuum should fully cool the bottom buck/ironing surface within 5seconds after heating with steam

• steam response (the time taken for steam to fully penetrate the clothing when the steam valve is opened) should be no more than 2.5seconds.

• finishing equipment must be kept in good mechanical condition.

Remember that steam response times must be added to the steam time, so with a response time of 1.5seconds the total time for pressing each lay would be 4seconds followed by vacuum.

Check your equipment against these criteria – I have found a press with a response time of 11seconds, and response times of around 5seconds are fairly common.

Hard consolidated clothing is often responsible for this fault as steam does not flow easily and is often blown out around the edges.

High value

Designer label and high value garments can be particularly difficult and time consuming to finish, one of the reasons for charging more. I would also recommend extending the service time to establish a clear relationship between the charge and the time the job takes. Customers are more likely to accept a higher charge if they believe that their garment requires special care.

Problems often arise with high value garments due to:

• failure to inspect the garment properly and establish its value at the counter

• failure to inspect and assess the garment properly before cleaning.

When accepting high value items for cleaning, pay particular attention to the care label, any staining and any signs of fabric damage including colour loss.

Complex garments such as wedding dresses and ball gowns, may need to be assessed with regard to finishing. This is often overlooked at the first inspection, but if there are potential problems, they need to be considered at this stage, not after the garment has been cleaned. If counter staff are in any doubt, they can usually ask an expert in production to advise.

It may not always be possible to carry out a full inspection at the counter, particularly at busy times. Under these circumstances, or if counter staff are unsure, the garment can be put to one side and assessed later, and the customer contacted if problems seem likely.

Always bring any potential problems to the customer’s attention before going ahead.

I have always worked on the basis that the more expensive and exclusive the garment, the less likely it is that it will have been properly tested for its response to aftercare processes.

If in doubt, do not accept the item or ask for “owner’s risk”, making sure that you explain in detail to the customer the nature of the problem and confirm in writing.

Always make sure that the customer is the owner of the garment and ask them to sign the risk form before going ahead.

In the case of high value items, it is unwise to discuss “owner’s risk” or accept a signature from anyone but the owner of the garment.

Finishing techniques

Having both ironing and pressing equipment will give a drycleaner a distinct advantage.

Garments such as heavyweight coats may be easier to finish on a manual press, whereas silks are often more easily finished on ironing equipment.

Today the majority of cleaners do not use presses, however.

Those handling a large volume of complex items will find a set of puff irons useful.

In addition, modern forming equipment with additional steam heating can produce high standards of finish and will reduce the need for skilled comprehensive methods of finishing.

Much time and effort on the part of skilled staff can be saved by the use of the latest type of equipment.

As trousers and jackets together make up around 70% of the typical drycleaners workload, developing a high level of competence in finishing these is important.

Ironing systems started to replace presses in the drycleaning industry in the mid-1980s and their use soon became widespread.

It is much easier to train staff on ironing equipment. In my experience, though, ironing techniques are often limited to ironing with the vacuum applied and finishing staff rarely receive any formal training, probably because ironing systems are seen as an extension of domestic ironing.

A modern top of the range professional ironing table will normally be equipped with:

• a steam heated or an electric steam iron (usually optional)

• ironing surface steam

• vacuum and air blowing coupled with air volume control

• foot controls on either side.

Basic finishing skills need to be taught “hands on” by a trainer, but a few trainers may not be aware of the contribution that the following techniques can make to finishing standards:

• ironing with steam but without vacuum, which will often remove creases that have set in

• ironing without steam and with or without vacuum, which may help when lightweight wool fabrics present finishing problems

• smoothing with a mock iron (paddle) while using ironing surface steam is a useful technique for finishing satin fabrics, silks and some linings

• ironing with steam while using the blower – this method is also used for finishing silks and linings.

Note that some satin fabrics may be de-lustred if condensate is ejected from formers or irons during finishing.

If using an electric steam iron, always check the temperature setting is suitable for the fabric you are finishing.

Ironing with steam and vacuum, heats and cools simultaneously and therefore fabric temperatures will be lower and set-in creases in particular may not respond.

Soft creases are a common fault on trousers. When ironing trouser creases make sure the point of the iron precisely follows the crease.

The steam is only ejected through a small area near the point of the iron. If this does not pass directly over the crease the result will be a poor crease. Iron slowly to ensure a sharp crease. Allowing the iron to “wander” is responsible for many finishing faults on creases.

Pressing

Pressing is the traditional method of finishing in the industry and while it has fallen into decline, there is still a good range of equipment available from old refurbished Hoffman presses to sophisticated scissor presses equipped with a sleeve arm and air blowing.

Common faults are often due to:

• press clothing that has become hard and consolidated

• poor vacuum

• failure to adjust the locking pressure correctly

• releasing the head with the vacuum on (a frequent cause of vacuum marks on trouser legs)

• applying vacuum with the head locked on pressure sensitive fabrics

• failure to correctly finish and set lapels which is one of the most common finishing faults in both pressing and ironing.

Pressers should note that when the head of the press is closed and locked, only top steam should be used, not top and bottom or just bottom steam.

Vacuum should never be applied while top steaming as this can cause symmetrical steam patterns on some fabrics.

Pressers usually believe that garments can be finished to a better standard on a press and many are reluctant to finish on ironing equipment. But if the operator has the right skills and expertise, either type of equipment can produce equally high standards.

Finally, customers with expensive clothing usually find it difficult to accept that for one reason or another their garment may not respond satisfactorily to drycleaning, stain removal or finishing. Therefore it is a good idea to have on hand articles that are published in the trade press from time to time which identify the various problem areas.

Customers naturally expect high value items to perform as well in drycleaning if not better than mass produced garments, but this may not always be the case.