Discoloured yellow jacket
27 February 1998What to do when disaster strikes? Richard Neale of the Drycleaning Technology Centre opens his problem files and offers some solutions.
Problem: Colour run from a yellow jacket following drycleaning in perchloroethylene, with the yellow fabric in several areas around the Velcro fasteners becoming discoloured.
Cause: Colour-fastness tests revealed the presence of loose dyes in the black lining to the hood of this jacket and in the blue fabric used for the pockets. It is these loose dyes that have caused the discolouration.
Responsibility: Lies with the garment maker. There are many polyester fabrics available which are very colour-fast to drycleaning and if one of these had been specified, this fault would never have arisen.
Rectification: There is no sensible means by which this garment can be salvaged. The manufacturer must solve this problem at source.