Beau Knows Clothes

Do you have precious keepsake garments or household linens that have been passed down to you? Perhaps it’s your Mother’s wedding dress, your Grandfather’s Christening gown, your Aunt’s beautiful crochet tablecloth, or Grandmother’s intricately worked afghans?

Oftentimes, those precious fabrics weaken with age and wear and we treat them with caution and reverence—and a special place in the closet where they are never touched. I would like to encourage you to enjoy those meaningful pieces of your family’s past without worry, after all, these items were made to be used and enjoyed.

“Beau knows clothes” and fragile household fabrics as well, and I knows how to handle those delicate heirlooms to restore their natural coloring and gently remove signs of age. Today you can have them restored without damaging the weak fabrics or unstable dyes in vintage pieces. Years of experience and careful pre-testing ensure that your family heirlooms will return to you in far better condition than you likely ever remember seeing them. I’d like to encourage you to pull them out of their alcoves in the back of your closets and bottom of your drawers and start using them again with confidence. We’ll keep them looking beautiful for your kids to use when you are ready to pass them on to the next generation.

We take pride in carefully inspecting your garments to determine the most effective yet gentle cleaning methods available in the dry cleaning industry today. Here are examples of how we can help:

Past Storage

Do you have a garment that’s been stored in a dry cleaning box from yesteryear? Garments carefully cleaned or preserved in the past may have collected damage over the years. That is because the “plastic window” on the top of old dry cleaning boxes actually accelerates hidden stains, oxidizing and yellowing them over time. Today’s dry cleaning technology can remove much of that staining and restore the bright white and soft cream colors of antique garments. We pay attention to the little details, too, such as carefully removing old buttons prior to storing your garment to avoid future causes of accelerated aging and staining.

Fire or Flood

Fire or flood can bring a devastating shock and loss to a family. Sifting your memories into piles of “salvage” or “dump” takes such an emotional toll! I am so thrilled to see the excitement we bring to people by restoring the treasures they thought they lost.

Most often, it’s the loss of heirloom pieces and irreplaceables that people are saddened by. Water and smoke damage can wreak havoc on clothes and can be very difficult to restore with household laundry cleaning methods, so that’s where we come in.

We’d be happy to help you bring your old fabrics and keepsakes back to life again. So push your reluctance aside and pull out your delicate heirlooms for the whole family to enjoy—afterall, when Grandma painstakingly made that afghan, she probably didn’t want it relegated to a closet in a state of stale preservation! Wouldn’t she want her children and grandchildren to enjoy the comfort and beauty she crafted with loving hands? So do we.

Hey, I hate to be a naysayer but there are some things I’ve just got to say No! No! No! to, and they are these common dry cleaning misconceptions.

Dry Cleaning Wears out Clothes:
This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Dry cleaning powers beyond surface stains to remove dirt particles that wreak havoc on your clothes over time. The International Fabricare Institute has actually looked deep, deep into this subject and says that the myth is bunk. Okay, they used slightly more technical terms to de-myth the fabrication. In all seriousness, dry cleaning actually works to preserve fabrics, not the other way around. You can take that to the bank—literally, because clothing preservation is more time and cost effective than clothing replacement.

Keep the plastic over your cleaned clothes until you wear them again.
Nope.
We put a thin, recyclable layer of plastic over your clothing to protect it for the transit home; however, the plastic should be removed before you put your garments away. Why? Plastic can trap moisture or create slight condensation from temperature changes, which, no matter how little, can damage your clothing. You can keep the paper shoulder guards on clothing to protect them from dust and fading, but please remove that plastic so your fabrics can breathe.

*I do recommend sliding the plastic back on for travel as it reduces the likelihood your clothing will get dirty in transit and it keeps potential wrinkles at bay.

I can get just about any laundry stain out at home.
Falsity, false, false.
If that were the case, I’d have to quit my day job. At-home methods can be useful when applied properly until you can extend your garment the full laundering treatment available at your dry cleaner’s. But consider this—we’re told to blot (lift) the stain, not rub it. How many people resist that urge and throw a little wrist action into it after a minute of getting nowhere? Now think about pressing, patting, blotting, or rubbing the stain and those hidden stain particles working themselves deep into your fabrics and remaining behind. The offending stain has likely been rubbed into the fabric where it lies in wait to create more harm. How? Some examples are perspiration stains that can actually “eat” through your fabric, and dirt particles that act like an abrasive, actually thinning the threads of your garment as they rub together.

Dry Cleaning is Dry
What a load! (A front load that is!)
We use industrial washers, but instead of water, we use dry cleaning solvents that remove stains and don’t leave water rings on delicates or shrink your favorite clothing items. Garments are inspected, spot treated where necessary, protected (items like button are covered, or delicates are placed in mesh bags), and then cleaned and dried with a protective, temperature controlled stream of air. The machines remove approximately 99.99% of the cleaning solvents and dirt, which is why dry cleaned clothes do not generally contain any smell. It’s more environmentally friendly and since there’s little to no smell, it can’t irritate your senses or compete with your favorite fragrance. Now if you ask me, that just makes perfect scents!

Linen is one of, if not the oldest natural fibers in the world. For nearly 8,000 years before the Christian era, the ancient Egyptians used linen of such high quality that today’s most modern looms have been unable to replicate some of it. It is a fabric that has withstood the test of time and the fickleness of yesterday’s and today’s fashions and trends. There is no argument of its timelessness.

Want to stay cool this summer?

Much like the blooming of the early daffodils in our gardens, linen clothing is a sign of the passing of the colder season and the birth of warmer temperatures. We put away our heavy knits, flannels and wools, and replace our wardrobes with our summer weights in cottons, eyelets and yes, our beloved linen. I use the word beloved as I, like many, do love the look of linen; however, beloved does have a flip side in the case of linen, and I call it notorious. Linen is notorious for wrinkling, but in an odd way, this is part of its charm and essence.

How many times have you dressed your best and only five minutes later you look like you slept in your Sunday best? Is there any way to avoid all this wrinkling is the number one question I am asked when the topic is linen. And the answer is, to be perfectly candid, no – not really.

Not really because it is two-fold and depends on the actual piece. More formal pieces such as trousers, suits and dresses will usually have an inner construction in the form of lining, facings and perhaps some padding for shoulder definition. These items require the cleaning method to be dry cleaning. Material used for the inner construction is most often silk or rayon, and thus needs this more gentle care. The bonus of the dry cleaning treatment is the restoration of your linen’s finish and crisp shape.

A helpful hint or two, and some basic tips for storage will help you to maintain your linen pieces.

• Stains do require immediate attention for removal. Chlorine bleaches are never recommended so get this piece to a professional dry cleaner as soon as you can.
• Never store dirty linen, because it will attract mildew.
• Hang – don’t fold – and you will be off to a crisper start in the wear of your linen.
• Once clean, short and long term storage should be in cloth bags- never plastic. Also, avoid cardboard boxes and yes, cedar chests. Linen and cedar do not get along.

Embrace the history, the feel of the fiber and yes, the wrinkles. They’re nature’s function is keeping us all equal as we happily enjoy the comfort, look and appeal of linen!

At Dry Cleaning Station, that is what we do.

If your home runs like mine and many others, there’s a basket where the socks sit waiting to be matched and folded (if the dryer hasn’t mysteriously eaten one half of a pair). This basket sits next to the “to-do zone” where we place the shirt missing a button, the trousers needing a cuff tacked, or the slacks with the seam that is past only threatening to come apart. More often than not, a need for some mending comes to light in the most inopportune time. And of course, there never seems to be enough time in the week to thread that needle and work through the “to-do zone”.

During our pre-cleaning inspection of your garments, we are looking for soil, stains and spots as well as that errant button or torn hem. We offer our customers the option for repairs while we have your garments here for cleaning. From mending to replacing buttons to re-doing a seam, we are your one-stop shop for keeping your apparel 100%. Your favorite blouse or trousers need not be kept out of rotation any time longer than it necessary for a cleaning. When your garments are returned and the protective covers are removed, your items are ready to wear. It should be that easy and without thought.

As your preferred dry cleaner, we are your partner in the pursuit of streamlining the laundry needs of your household. Beyond knowing that your shirts need to be lightly or heavily starched, boxed or on hangers, let us know if you’d like for us to handle your mending needs as well. We’re always happy to just include a note alerting you to anything we notice should you prefer to see to your own repairs.

Back to the missing socks… if anyone has solved that mystery, please do tell. I’m fascinated over the solo sock collection that my family has acquired over the years!