drycleaning@work receives Industry Award

On Wednesday 3rd March my company drycleaning@work received an award from the Dry Cleaning Institute of Australia (VIC) at the 2009 Excellence and Achievement awards and RMIT apprenticeship awards.

The award was presented to Jim Hudson, my father and owner of Master Dry Cleaners and drycleaning@work and was entitled 'New Streams of Income and Innovation'. The award was judged by an independent panel comprised of professionals from various industries.

We are very proud to receive this award as we are in out first year of operation and consider ourselves as an innovative pick and delivery dry cleaning service.

The night was held at the Glasshouse Caufield Taberet and was attended by around 50 people, including fellow drycleaners and suppliers and was hosted by Peter Hudson, President DIA (VIC).

Photos of the night to come.

Latersss

Coloured Shirt in the Whites. Relax

I see it happen all the time. A coloured shirt put into the wash with the whites. Everyone has done it, even yours truly.

But if it happens to you, dont lose hope, Dave the Drycleaner has the tools to fix the problem.

Recently I was given 5 white men's business shirts from a customer who had cleaned them in her washing machine along with a dark green tshirt. The results weren't great, with green dye all over her husband's shirts. The colloars and cuffs were pretty badly affected.

After inspecting the damage and using my knowledge of dye's and fabrics, I was able to solve the problem, by using a dye stripping agent and then placing the shirt in an optical brightnening agent and hot water for a little over and hour.

The results. Brilliant White, crisp and clean, saved from the brink of despair and ready to fight another day (in the comforts of an office maybe).

Latersss

Dave the Dry Cleaner

The Unwritten Law of Drycleaning

Before continuing please check out the above hilarious clip from Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Unwritten Law of Drycleaning.

Classic, Larry! But, seriously there is a perception getting around that if you get a garment from the drycleaner that is not yours, its cool to keep it. The perception is that sometimes you may lose a garment, and that is 'just how it is'. Win some, lose some. In this case Larry certainly lost.

Dave the Drycleaner is here to change that perception. Something that Larry David couldn't quite do.

Its not OK for a drycleaner to lose your garments. And if your drycleaner tries to tell you that, tell him to stick his unwritten law you know where. Losing a garment unfortunately happens in this line of work and should be taken seriously. It is a quite easy to place a business shirt or a pair of trousers on the wrong order. But rarely should that order go out to a customer with the wrong items on it and rarely does it actually happen.

Most reputable drycleaners use point-of-sale systems which contains info on all customers and all orders. So in any case, other customers can be contacted to see if they have accidentally received your garment.

If it cannot be found, most drycleaners will either replace the item, or pay a claim to an agreed amount, depending on factors such as depreciation etc.

My advice to everyone would be, If you receive a garment from your drycleaner that is not yours, return it to the drycleaner. They will usually offer you a credit note from your act of honesty and goodwill. Plus, think of all the extra Karma you will get. It could come in handy if the drycleaner loses something of yours.

Latersss

Tips for Christmas and New Year

Whilst having a great time this holiday season, be careful not to ruin you prized possessions and gifts. Your Clothes. Here's a few tips for the most common stains this summer...

Gravy - No doubt that after a few Christmas 'cheers' and after tucking into our favourite Christmas roast, a big dollop of gravy will appear on your tie, your shirt, your legs, whatever. Wipe off as much as you can without rubbing! If you rub the spot you can cause the colour in your garment to shift. And it will never look the same again. Gravy also contains fatty oils such as butter that can be tough to get out in the wash. Dave can remove oils from your garments.

Strawberry/Cranberry Sauce - Always a tough stain with the most likely place to spill a thick red sauce is on your white or cream dress. Again do not rub, and try not to smear as it will cause a stain across the garment. Best idea is to take it to Dave as soon as possible so he can remedy the situation.

Champagne - The most common of all stains over summer. Major Tip - Do not put back in wardrobe. Either wash or take to Dave straight away. Drink stains when left alone over time can oxidise and cause a larger yellow stain, which is very difficult to get out in the dry cleaning process.

Red Wine - Its never your fault I know, the waiter spilt it, the rude man walking past. I've heard it all. Red wine can often be removed by soaking the garment, or by delicate spot cleaning by Dave.

Beer - See Champagne

Grass - Grass stains may present themselves after diving for a classic catch at the family cricket game after a few too many. With proper treatment, most grass stains can come out of washable clothing, but for tougher stains, Dave can be at your service.

All the very best for the festive season, I trust you will all enjoy and I will see you all in the New Year.

Latersss

You shrunk it! Seinfeld Vs Dry Cleaning

If you can't be bothered watching the above video I'll explain on the brief. Seinfeld finds that his dry cleaner has shrink his shirt, enraging him. He then takes said shirt back to the store, where the dry cleaner denies any wrong doing. This is unfortunately a pretty common situation in the world of dry cleaning.

Most reputable dry cleaners read care labels before washing or dry cleaning a garment. Dry cleaners are duty bound to adhere to these care labels and clean the garment according to the instructions. Where confusion can occur is when a garment does not perform in the clean and is ruined / damaged.

The most common and generally first response is to blame the dry cleaner. In a lot of cases, yes, the dry cleaner is to blame. The garment may have been dry cleaned when it shouldn't have, or washed. It may have been washed or dry cleaned at high temperate when it shouldn't have.

But sometimes, and it happens a bit, fault cannot be directed to the dry cleaner or to Seinfeld.

Some garments are labelled prior to testing, meaning that the manufacture assumes that it will perform when dry cleaned, when in fact it won’t. Beading and trimming are often added to a garment after the care label has been made, meaning that the fabric is dry cleanable, but the beading, glues or trimming is not.

Reputable and professional dry cleaners should pick up on these things. But they can slip up. A handy tip if you are worried about an expensive or loved garment; is to take it to a dry cleaner, and have a chat about any risks that may occur during cleaning.

Laterssssssss

How To Choose a Dry Cleaner

Here's and handy drycleaning tip from an insider. When choosing a dry cleaner, do not let price be your major factor. Dry Cleaners prices vary, depending on the area, on the competition and also on the quality. Like with everything, you get what you pay for, and drycleaning is no exception.

Alot of dry cleaners, particularly chemist, milk bars, laundries, tailors offers dirt cheap 3 piece specials, which may look tempting, but a scratch underneath the surface and cracks start to appear. A number of the dry cleaning companies offering these 3 piece specials are using subpar equipment, including 'grey' re-used solvent, old and severely out dated pressing equipment and are lacking the training and experience necessary to perform an adequate service. They may do a good job at first, but over time they will end up damaging your garments.

These companies are charging such a cheap price because their business relies on bulk. But how much time is spent on each garment when they are only charging $13 - $14 for 3? Your garments may not being looked at or taken care of properly, and measures such as increased drying temperatures, double leg pressing of trousers and no spot cleaning whatsoever are being used.

Here's a tip, always try to take your dry cleaning to someone that is a member of the Dry Cleaning Institute of Australia (DIA), which can be recognised by their blue logo.

There you can be sure that your garments will be taken care of by a professional, with years of training and experience. Surely it is worth paying a few extra dollars to look after your clothes.

Hey, its Dave the Drycleaner here

I have set up this blog to give people an understanding of what dry cleaning is about, what dry cleaners do, and a few tips and hints of where and how to get your dry cleaning done.

My name is Dave and I along with another gentlemen, Jules, run a business called drycleaning@work, which is a pick and delivery service for dry cleaning operating in Melbourne. I have been involved in the dry cleaning industry now for about 10 years. I have grown up in the industry, with my family business being around for nearly 60 years. I guess you could say I’m a 3rd generation dry cleaner. I’m 25 and have a Bachelor Degree in Commerce.

Dry cleaning is a weird industry and at the moment is going through a downturn. Only the strong are surviving and the smaller outer suburbs dry cleaners seem to be struggling. It's also a weird industry because you are dealing with people clothes. Its a personal thing. A favourite jacket, the favourite jeans, the shirt you met your wife in, etc. Clothing can be close to the heart, which is why we dry cleaners take some sort of pride in restoring pieces back to their former glory.

Our business deals with professionals working and living in the Melbourne CBD and surrounding areas. Work and careers are becoming more and more important to young people these days. While the little day – to – day things like dry cleaning often get left behind.

Sometimes people just don't have time to take their dry cleaning to the store, let alone pick it up! Services like the one we provide are perfect for that kind of busy lifestyle, where we can pick up and drop off your dry cleaning to your office, charge it to your credit card and were done.

Over the next few weeks ill be blogging about the process of dry cleaning, what you may or may not know and a few hints and tips (and how to steer cleaner from the dodgy dry cleaner).

Laterrrsss

Dave the Dry cleaner