While the Classic Cleaners’ motto is “the modern craft of clean”, actually “cleanliness” itself in the sense we now use the term is itself pretty modern.

It’s not that people in ancient times weren’t concerned with cleanliness.  They were.  The Bible tells of women going down to the river to wash their clothes, and dry cleaning actually dates back to ancient times.  In fact, in the ruins of Pompeii were found records of “fullers” who were the professional clothes cleaners of that time.

The first washing machine was invented by Sir John Hoskins in 1677, and, in 1848, the closest thing to dry cleaning as we know it was discovered by an owner of a textile dyeing factory when he found that the liquid from an oil lamp dissolved fat.

It’s just that hygiene in general, up until modern times, was viewed in extremely basic terms.  People generally washed their clothes – and themselves – in cold water unless they were wealthy. The great scholar Erasmus wrote about the bottom layer of medieval flooring being covered with rushes and left undisturbed, sometimes for twenty years, harboring spit, vomit, leakage of urine from animals and humans, and scraps.

In fact, since Classic Cleaners are wedding gown specialists, we know that one reason June became such a popular month for weddings is that, in medieval times, baths were annual, usually in may, so that June brides still smelled relatively fresh. (If not, the bridal bouquet was designed to divert attention from the odor!)

It’s obvious that our standards for both personal hygiene and the cleaning of clothes have been much refined.  Classic Cleaners is at the forefront of that trend towards spotless and sweet smelling, using the modern craft of clean!

By Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

What shade of green is C.E.D.?  Classic Cleaners knows. 

The first dry cleaners in Indianapolis to earn the designation Certified Environmental Dry Cleaner, Classic Cleaners assumed leadership early on in our increasingly “green” Indiana economy.

The C. E. D. designation comes from the International Fabric Care Institute (IFI) and is accepted as identifying “masterful knowledge of the fabric care process”.  The owners of Classic Cleaners elected to participate in the program because we believe in protecting the environment while producing quality garment care. 

Our commitment includes:

• No smoking permitted in our cleaning facilities or delivery
• Reusing and recycling hangers, garment bags, and boxes
• Proper handling of waste
• Safe dry-cleaning operating
• Reducing “carbon footprint” from autos by reducing customer trips through our free delivery route system

Each year, owners or operators of drycleaning facilities must register with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and obtain a permit to do business in compliance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules.

To borrow a once-popular banking slogan, “It’s not easy being green.” But, at Classic Cleaners we find it’s quite rewarding. We’re very proud of our Indiana Five-Star Environmental Recognition award – and of our C.E.D. “green”!

So, what shade is C.E.D.?  We call it Classic Cleaners green!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

With the month of February ending and all those wonderful Super Bowl parties out of mind, it’s unfortunate that some of the pounds – and some of the stains – aren’t out of sight.

While Classic Cleaners may be experts in the area of stain removal, we would never presume to offer diet advice.  In fact, it’s easy for us to tell, many of our customers are turning in for dry cleaning help, they didn’t heed Kim Benson’ advice in the Huffington Post, either (you know, how-to-enjoy-Super-Bowl-Sunday-without-ruining-your-diet).

Good Housekeeping lists five unwelcome but common “souvenirs” of Super Bowl Sunday:

• Salsa
• Guacamole
• Nacho cheese
• Beer
• Buffalo wing sauce

It seems as if Classic Cleaners has exceptionally creative hosts among its customers, because we have a list much longer than that.  As we like to say “We love your business, but we hate stains!” All the back-slapping and high-fives of Super Bowl fans mean spilled drinks, dripping sauces, and even entire plates of delicious goo unloaded into laps!

Yes, the big game is over, but, even if your favorite team didn’t come out on top, it’s not time to give up.  Before putting what used to be your favorite tee or sweatshirt in the give-away (or worse yet, the throw-away) bag, let Classic Cleaners bring it its team of dozens of different stain-fighting solutions and stain removal techniques!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

Handmade in the small English town of Honiton, the lace on Queen Victoria’s wedding gown took more than one hundred lace makers more than six months to create. When the queen married Prince Albert in 1840, she started a trend by wearing a white dress – before that, white gowns were quite unusual.

To this day, lace adds a beautiful romantic touch to garments, especially wedding and christening gowns. Two famous types of lace are Chantilly and Alencon; each can come embroidered with seed beads and pearls.

The delicate surface of lace demands special sewing techniques – and special lace dry cleaning care. If the holes in the lace are large, there is even greater danger of snagging and tearing (this is especially true with vintage wedding gowns).

One of the wedding gown dry cleaning challenges the professionals at Classic Cleaners face comes from stains accumulating around the beaded edges of lace. The “terrible threes”, sugars, salts, and acids, do the kind of damage to wedding gowns with which conventional dry cleaning methods cannot cope.

 The clean, safe, and unique methods of wedding gown hand cleaning, dry cleaning and preservation perfected over the years by Classic Cleaners have kept many a lacy wedding gown in an enchanting state of perfection!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team