At Classic Cleaners, we pride ourselves on our unparalleled expertise in the business of cleaning and maintaining all manner of garments. However, we never stop looking for ways to improve the services that we provide for our customers. As part of our effort to be the best dry cleaners we can be, Classic Cleaners is a member of the Drycleaning and Laundry Institute (DLI).

DLI is the primary international trade association for the garment care industry, representing more than 10,000 retail dry cleaning facilities in the United States alone. Among other services, DLI provides representation of member interests on Capitol Hill and to various regulatory commissions, holds educational events and training seminars, and offers professional certification programs for dry cleaning, wet cleaning and the environment. Additionally, members have access to research from DLI’s state-of-the-art technical service laboratories, allowing us to learn about and develop new and more efficient cleaning methods.

As a member of the Drycleaning and Laundry Institute, Classic Cleaners has made good use of the wealth of information available. As we’ve mentioned before, we were the first dry cleaners in Indianapolis to become a Certified Environmental Drycleaner, and have implemented policies to make our techniques more environmentally friendly.

And that’s a great example of the reason why our membership in the DLI is good for Classic Cleaners and for all of our customers. We take great pride in our expertise, but as with any other industry, professional cleaning is a dynamic business. Things change, new developments are made, new techniques are developed – and the best way to stay current is to have an intimate connection with what your peers are doing. Our goal is to bring you the most effective, efficient dry cleaning techniques available, and with a little help from our friends, we’re doing just that.

Launder your cotton shirts. Save dry cleaning for suiting.

“I’d trust him with anything in my closet (which is practically the same as saying I’d trust Arnold with my life),” Gabrielle Poshadlo wrote in her style column in this week’s Indianapolis Business Journal. After we lifted some tough stains from Gabrielle’s evening gowns that another cleaner couldn’t get out, she decided to ask our own Steve Arnold about caring for suits. It was a pleasure being on your pages, IBJ! Here are a few excerpts from the full article:

• Most suit shirts are made from cotton, a fiber that won’t hold up to dry cleaning as well as wool. When you take in your whole suit, have the pants and jacket dry cleaned, but ask that your shirt(s) be laundered.

• When you drop your suit off at the cleaners, or when you’re preparing it for wear at home, make sure the lapels are pressed to a soft rolled edge instead of a sharp crease. This prevents gaping as you move around.

• Always unbutton your jacket before you sit down, as keeping the jacket closed while sitting adds stress to the buttons.

• Don’t store your suit in the dry cleaning bag or any other type of garment bag. Many people believe such measures will prevent moth holes; however, if a moth somehow gets trapped in the bag, it’s not being able to escape will result in more holes.

• Make sure to get the pants and jacket cleaned at the same time. Dry cleaning tends to slowly fade fabric color, and cleaning the pieces simultaneously ensures they’ll fade at the same rate.

• Have your suit cleaned only if there is something on it, or up to a few times a year. The dry cleaning process degrades the fibers over time, and cleaning only as needed increases the life span of the suit.

If you have questions about suit care, contact us.

For many of us, clothes with the perfect fit are not easy to find. The dress that fits just right in the waist and shoulders drags along the ground. The pants that are just the right length are too tight in the waist. You can spend hours driving from store to store, trying on every imaginable garment and never track down just what you’re looking for. Or maybe you tear your favorite blouse or a button pops off your best jeans, and you have to start from scratch.

Did you know that Classic Cleaners can alter ill-fitting or damaged clothing? The seamstresses here can handle adjustments and repairs both major and minor. Whether the garment doesn’t fit or it’s damaged, ripped or torn, we’ll make it right.

Among the services we can provide are:

• Hemming of dresses, pants, and skirts
• Letting out and taking in of dresses, pants, and skirts
• Replacing buttons, zippers, and fasteners
• Repairing fabric tears
• Patching the elbows of jackets
• Repairing and altering leather garments, like jackets and pants
• Repairing quilts

Our top-flight equipment and experienced staff can solve almost any possible problem, and if you like, your measurements and preferences can be logged here for future use. So if you need a garment altered or repaired, bring it to any of Classic Cleaners’ 17 locations, and we’ll get it in shape and in your wardrobe.

It’s back to school time and we have some tips for getting your guy or gal ready to take on the world.

Growing Like Weeds

Your kids are growing by leaps and bounds. They could have grown an inch just over the summer break. Before you find yourself sending them off to school in ankle-length jeans and ¾-length sleeve sweaters, do a little trying on.

Ask them to slip on a pair of pants, a long-sleeved shirt and, for the girls, a skirt. Once you have one of each of these items that is the right leg length, sleeve length and skirt length, you can run through the rest of their clothing and compare.

Pass along or donate clothes that are either too worn to keep around or are beyond your child’s size. The same goes for school uniforms. If pants or skirts are just a bit too short, bring them into Classic Cleaners to let the hem out. Our alterations experts can help.

Good Night’s Sleep

Be sure your little one is getting enough sleep. If your kids have been staying up later during the summer months, ease them back into a pattern of going to bed early. Research shows that healthy minds need sleep for improved recall of what you’ve learned, concentration and attention, and problem solving and idea creation.

Our bodies need plenty to sleep so that our muscles, bones, and skin can grow and repair themselves properly. Sleep also helps us fight sickness, which is especially rampant when so many kids are together sharing germs.

Besides encouraging a habit of going to bed early, you can make your child’s bedroom extra comfortable. At Classic Cleaners, we can help with our down pillow rejuvenation and bed linen services.