Baseball is the national pastime, and whether playing in the fields or watching from the stands, everyone seems to be a fan. But while we love baseball, our favorite game doesn’t always love our clothes. Players’ uniforms and fans’ baseball attire often fall victim to stains from hot dogs drenched in ketchup and mustard, freshly cut grass, and dusty fields. But this season, Classic Cleaners is up at bat against stains of the game.

To remove stains at home, check out these tips from the baseball-loving pros at Classic Cleaners.

Five easy steps to grass-stain-free uniforms:
Step 1: Apply a dry solvent such as mineral spirits to the stain.
Step 2: Press with cheesecloth; tamp with a soft-bristled brush.
Step 3: Repeat to remove as much of the stain as possible.
Step 4: Rinse with isopropyl alcohol and let dry.
Step 5: Follow up with an enzyme detergent before washing.

Four easy steps for removing ketchup stains:
Step 1: Act fast! Remove any excess ketchup, but be careful not to push it into the fabric.
Step 2: Remove the garment as soon as possible and run cold water through the stain from the back side to force the stain out of the clothing.
Step 3: Gently rub some liquid detergent into the stain and soak the garment in cool water for at least 10 minutes.
Step 4: Wash and air dry (heat from the dryer could set in stains permanently).

Just remember to gently blot, never rub stains. Click here to check out other how-to tips on removing chewing gum, perspiration, blood and other stains at home. When stains are particularly persistent, take the garment to the stain removal specialists at Classic Cleaners.

On a hot summer day, nothing whets one’s whistle quite like a glass of freshly brewed tea, garnished with lemon and served over ice. But beware: enjoying a refreshing glass of iced tea outside on a hot summer’s day can be dangerous, even in the shade. One slip of your grip and the tasty beverage could be staining your clothes, not quenching your thirst.

When these summertime disasters strike, quick attention and a little home remedying are often your best defenses. When garments are labeled “dry clean only,” however, the job is best left to the pros at Classic Cleaners.

Here’s how to remove iced tea stains at home in just three easy steps:

Step 1:  Saturate the area with pretreatment stain remover.

Step 2:  Lay the stained area down on a couple paper towels and blot the backside of the stain with heavy-duty liquid detergent. The paper towels will attract the stain.

Step 3:  In the hottest water safe for the fabric, launder the stained garment with detergent – not soap. Soap can make the stain nearly impossible to remove.

If the stains are particularly pesky, visit Classic Cleaners and trust the trained stain removal specialists with the task of making your clothes look as good as new!

Click here for other stain removal tips from the pros.

At Classic Cleaners, our mission is to REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE. With an eye on the future, we’re keeping the environment in mind with policies and practices that are eco-conscious. We are proud to meet or exceed the industry’s highest standards of environmentally friendly practices at all times.

Classic Cleaners has a long history of being committed to minimizing our impact on the environment. In fact, we were the first dry cleaning company in the Indianapolis area to become a Certified Environmental Drycleaner by the Drycleaning and Laundry Institute. Since receiving this certification, we have remained focused on creating and implementing policies that take the impact on the environment into consideration.

To be a little more green-friendly, we reuse metal hangers whenever possible. In some circumstances, hangers can’t be reused. Even then, these unusable wire hangers are recycled instead of trashed. In our stores, customers will find convenient hanger caddies that can be filled with unwanted metal hangers and returned to any of our stores for reuse or recycling.

Like metal hangers, the clear plastic garment bags used to protect your clothing can be recycled. According to Keep America Beautiful, Americans generate 250 million tons of garbage per year. Instead of adding trash to overflowing landfills, customers are encouraged to lessen their impact by bringing used garment bags to any of our 17 neighborhood stores for recycling.

We constantly evaluate our environmentally conscious practices and are always looking for ways to be a little greener. By making small adjustments to routines, customers can help us take steps toward a brighter, cleaner future. Just by having Classic Cleaners pickup and deliver your dry cleaning and laundry, for example, you can reduce unnecessary car trips that are unhealthy for the planet. It’s easy to be green.

One of the all-time great “songs about ephemeral someones” listed in Erin McHugh’s book Who? asks the question, “Who put the bomp in the bomp ba bomp ba bomp?”; another asks “Who threw the overalls in Mrs. Murphy’s chowder?”

We don’t claim to know the definitive answer to either of those musical mysteries, but at Classic Cleaners we’re always asking “what” and “when”, rather than “who” questions, when it comes to removal of stains on our clients’ garments, bedding, table linens, and window coverings.

And, while Classic Cleaners specialists are armed with many tools, including steam guns, compressed air, specialized brushes, and more than twenty different stain-fighting solutions, in advanced stain removal, the most important tool is information:

• What is the fabric? Different fabrics lose color, fade, or shrink when improperly handled. You may know the general category of fabric, such as cotton, silk, or rayon, but there are many subcategories that dry cleaning professionals recognize, each requiring specialized treatment.
• What made the stain? Different stains require different treatments. Two basic types of stain are solvent-soluble and water-soluble; our stain-removal technicians are trained to administer different processes for each, based on the very latest in dry cleaning technology.
• How much time has elapsed since the staining occurred? It’s best to get stained garments in for treatment as soon as possible.

  So, who DID put that stain in the bomp ba bomp ba bomp? We’ll understand if you’re not sure or don’t want to confess, but please, when it comes to the “what”, the” how”, and the “when” of stains, Classic Cleaners needs to know!

 by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team