Irish solo dance dress

To find something as special as Maggie Ramsey’s “solo dress”, you’d have to fly to Europe.

Only Irish dancers who have won first prize in certain levels of dance competition are privileged to wear one like it, we learned.  

The challenge of cleaning this three-year old red Irish dance dress, made by Elevation Design, had to do with its elaborate ornamentation.  The garment is decorated with everything from metal flakes to sequins (four different kinds), and has an under layer made of red and silver snakeskin. 

The Ramsey dress seemed to combine a number of the toughest challenges dry cleaning technicians face:

• Red dyes tend to be less stable, with red garments likely to lose vibrancy faster than other colors.
• Sequins often melt with heat, so even steam-cleaning posed risks.
• There is no one method that is safe for all the different types of fabric used in that one dress – a normal dry cleaning label from the International Association for Textile Care Labeling couldn’t begin to cover all the different parts of Maggie’s solo dress.

But, by carefully combining different tools and techniques developed over decades of specialized dry cleaning

Maggie Ramsey at the 2010 Indianapolis Feis Irish Dance Competition

experience in Indiana, including compressed air, specialized brushes, steam guns, new combinations of stain-fighting solutions and more, Classic Cleaners professionals were able to create the beautiful result pictured here.

Maggie’s mom gave us permission to share her e-mail note:

I can’t thank you enough for the excellent care you took in cleaning my daughter’s Irish Dance Solo Dress. It is beautiful!  I have sent a message to all the other Irish Dance families at our academy about our wonderful experience and great the dress turned out.  If they are thinking of purchasing a used solo dress that needs cleaning or have never had their solo dress steam cleaned, they should really contact you at the Bash location Classic Cleaners.  We were very pleased with our experience.

My daughter’s name is Maggie Ramsey and she is with the Richens/Timan Academy of Indiana located at Washington Square Mall….Thank you so much.

Cathi Ramsey

With a testimonial like that, it feels as if Classic Cleaners has won the prize!

 by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

In recent Classic Cleaners blog posts, we’ve been tracing the history of buttons.  Buttons, however, represent only one of the many varieties of garment fasteners we find on the thousands upon thousands of customer garments we care for at our dry cleaning plant in Indianapolis. 

Hooks, snaps, Velcro, sippers, buckles – you name it, and you know our technicians are pledged to keep those fasteners functioning (protecting our loyal customers from the type of “wardrobe malfunctions” that inspired recent media coverage).

Garment fasteners have a history all their own, no doubt about it:

• Cavemen fashioned straight pins out of thorns to hold together animal hides.
• Greeks and Romans used safety pin-like clasps.
• Snaps appeared in the late 1800’s.
• B.F. Goodrich coined the phrase “zipper”, using a “separable fastener” invented in 1913 for their rubber galoshes.
• Velcro was developed in the 1950’s.

Special tidbits from Wikipedia: The brand name “Velcro” comes from two French words: “velours” and “crochet”. There are two layers: a “hook” side, and a “loop” side.  When the two sides are pressed together, the hooks catch in the loops.  When the layers are separated, the strips make a characteristic” ripping” sound.  (Now, as a Classic cleaners blog reader, you are “in the loop”!)

Whatever form of garment fastener we encounter, at Classic Cleaners, our mission remains the same: ensuring that every Classic Cleaners customer is “well put together”!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

Discover special August dry cleaning promotion

At Classic Cleaners, we have specials for every month of the year.  Of course our Classic Rewards program is available year round.  This August, though, thanks to Discover Card, it’s a sort of triple promotion month for all our Classic Cleaners customers.

Discover announced that through August 31, for every transaction at a dry cleaners using a Discover Card, customers will get five entries in a $1 million 2010 grand prize drawing. The Discover promotion includes dry cleaning, laundry, uniform cleaning, tailoring, and alternations.

August is already a special time at Classic Cleaners, a time when your dry cleaning helps others succeed.  For every August dry cleaning order of $20 or more, we donate $2 for Dress For Success Indianapolis.

In addition to the August monthly special, Classic Cleaners offers $10 off for every $200 you spend within a six-month period.

Do the math:

Monthly special + Classic Rewards + Discover promotion = a very memorable August 2010!

We wish each and every one of our customers could be a $1,000,000 winner.  In any event, we’re sure that, in your freshly cleaned and pressed garments, you’ll have that million dollar look!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

My Drycleaer.com  lists 10 things to look for when choosing a dry cleaner, but for me, it’s all about #3. That’s because #3 touches on what used to be my dry cleaning pet peeve, which is getting  back clothes in not-ready-to-wear shape.

Truly ready-to-wear with Classic Cleaners

And, you know, as a customer, I didn’t want to debate whose responsibility it was to notice.  If a button was loose, or there was a little tear in a seam, or a thread in the hem was coming unraveled, whether it was there to begin with (and I’d just forgotten to call their attention to it when I brought the garment in) or whether it happened in the dry cleaning process – I didn’t really care.  I still wanted what I wanted, which was to be  able to take my clothes out of their plastic bags, hang them in my closet, and know they would be ready for me when I was ready for them!

As Tevye would say in Fiddler on the Roof, “Sounds simple, doesn’t it?” Well, B.C.C. (before Classic Cleaners), it wasn’t.

At Classic Cleaners, No. 3 is just part of the routine of good customer service and it’s no peeve, all gain!  Making simple clothing repairs is just part of offering the best dry cleaning and laundry services possible.  If a seam’s open, our technicians sew it up before cleaning or laundering, so the damage doesn’t get worse. Same for loose fasteners and buttons, snags or ravels – it’s all part of routine customer service and smart clothing care.

(Of course, if a garment is severely damaged and needs extensive work, a Classic Cleaners manager will contact the customer before going any further,  explaining what the charges will be. If a customer requests that all the buttons on a garment be replaced, there is a $1 charge per button.)
 
Truth is, most dry cleaners provide limited services such as sewing on buttons, and making minor repairs.  Classic Cleaners goes many steps further than that, offering complete alteration and re-tailoring services. As eighteen year Classic Cleaners veteran Ohi Suhre, Manager of Alterations, can tell you (in five languages, by the way) – it’s all about making it right for the customer.

My pet peeve about #3 is history. Like all Classic Cleaners customers, I  know – when I’m ready to wear them, my freshly laundered and dry cleaned clothes are ready for me and ready to wear!
By Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

“Nothing commands attention like a man in a well-fitted suit,” exclaims B.A.T.. “He exudes a sophistication that is impossible to recreate by any other means or in any other clothing.”

At Classic Cleaners, we agree. Once you find a suit that fits well in which you feel comfortable, we want to help you keep it looking its best just as long as possible. We even want to make sure your tie adds to your sophisticated business or evening look, so we’ve developed a special process for pressing neckties to give them a perfect rolled edge.

The other day we blogged about buttons, and how careful Classic Cleaners’ technicians are in making sure buttons are sewn on tight and not cracked. On a man’s suit, only the top button of a two-button jacket is fastened; if there are three buttons, either just the middle button or the top two are fastened. With the exception of the one button jacket, the bottom button is never fastened. That means, if any button is likely to need re-sewing, it’s the middle one! So, while we check all the buttons, we start with that middle one.

There are three ways to acquire a suit:

1. Bespoke: Your suit is custom-made from a pattern the tailor created from your measurement.
2. Made to measure:  Your suit is tailored from a pre-made pattern and modified somewhat to fit you.
3. Ready to wear or off-the-rack: This is the least expensive and most common.

However you acquired your suit, you can be confident, when you bring it to Classic Cleaners, it will receive all the specialized attention it needs. We take care to preserve the inner construction of each suit, including the facings, the lining, and the shoulder pads, all things that give the suit its shape and fit. And, if a suit needs repair or alterations, Classic Cleaners experts are on site to help.

At Classic Cleaners, our aim is for you to command – that is, command attention in your clean, well-pressed suit!
 by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

Put metal edges next to clothing and what do you get? Snags.

At Classic Cleaners, we see snags of every sort.  Sometimes, a wood splinter or a broken fingernail is the culprit, but more typically, garment snags are the result of metal things that go “pinch” or “pull”.

When the prongs on jewelry are loose, not only can precious stones be lost, those loose prongs can be very bad news for clothes.  Quick! Take your ring to your jeweler, while your dry cleaning professionals make the needed repairs to your garment.

Ladies, even your not-so-precious costume jewelry, especially if it hangs below the neckline, can snag your clothing.  Earrings that dangle can cause amazing damage as clothing is pulled over the head. Gentlemen’s and ladies’ belts can include metal edging or clasps that go “pinch” and “snag”.

The jury is still out on cell phone use being bad for human health. For sure, though, cell phones can be bad for clothing: the clips on belt cell phone holders often cause snags in the waistbands of skirts and trousers. Pin-on – and clip-on – name badges at business meetings? Those can snag woven fabrics of tops and sweaters.

Metal hoops in Civil War-era dresses

Repairing fabric tears is just one of the services Classic Cleaners provides, along with patching jacket elbows, replacing buttons, fasteners, and zippers, and hemming dresses, skirts, and pants.  With our decades of combined experience, you can bet those fasteners and zippers no longer go “pinch” in the night – or in the day, for that matter! 

 by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

Don't sing the Holiday Stain Refrain!

Some things just seem to go together.  At Classic Cleaners, two of those things seem to be holidays and stains on clothing!

This July 4th weekend, it was independence and ice cream stains.

On Labor Day, it’ll likely be barbecue sauce stains and blouses.

No doubt, Thanksgiving will combine with turkey gravy stains.

And, after the winter holidays, we’ll see water spots on velvet, and green and red (or blue and white, depending upon customers’ religion!) candle wax on tablecloths.

No matter what the season, the professionals at Classic Cleaners stand ready to put their stain removal skills to the test.

Often, though, what makes the difference between success and, well, less-than-perfect, is time. The sooner you bring your stained garments or table linens in for professional laundering or dry cleaning, the better.  To paraphrase an old saying, a Classic Cleaners stain removal in time, saves nine (out of ten garments).

If there’s a “never-never” for dry cleaning customers, it’s this:

Never, never put away a garment or tablecloth for the season without having it cleaned first!

Before the holiday glow has a chance to fade – or the stains to set in – bring those clothes and linens to Classic Cleaners.

That way, you’ll never be singing the “holiday stain refrain”!

 by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

Thread Count Counts at Classic Cleaners!

If you learn nothing else about suits, askmen.com wants to be sure you learn about thread count.

  The higher the thread count, the finer the weave and delicacy of the wool fabric – a count higher than 300 signifies a fine fabric. Closer to 180, though, may mean your suit is “tougher” and that the fabric might hold up longer.

Askmen.com was talking about all-wool suits, but quite often, the business suits turned in for dry cleaning at our Indianapolis, Westfield, and Carmel Classic Cleaners locations are made of a blended fabric. Sometimes suits contain a blend of natural and man-made fibers. The care label will offer a recommendation for method of cleaning that is based partially on the fabric blend.

It’s interesting.  We generally mistrust the statement “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you”, but, as an Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet on textile sciences explains, most consumers consider care labels a desirable form of government regulation. At Classic Cleaners, our professionals begin by deciphering the label on each garment, and then proceed to study each stain. 

With decades of combined experience, the Classic Cleaners team has assembled an arsenal of tools and techniques. Thread count matters, because the finer the weave, the more delicately the suit fabric must be treated.

Thread count matters on bed linens and tablecloths as well. But, as one eBay Guide explains, there are other factors to be considered as well, such as the quality of the yarn itself, the construction, and the finishing.

Whatever the thread count of your suits or linens, you may be sure no thread will be left unraveled as Classic Cleaners treats your fabrics to professional care!

It seems like only yesterday that Delores Godwin left her position as RCA group manager to manage the Classic Cleaners store on 62nd and Allisonville Road.  Thankfully, the rest isn’t history, because, 22 1/2 years later, Dee’s still very much an important member of the Classic Cleaners management team.

Now district manager at Classic Cleaners, Dee is greeted with hugs when she stands

Dee Godwin smiles for customers, not for spots!

in at the counter at any of the eight district stores and is spotted by longtime customers. Biggest change in the business she’s noticed over the years?  The new fabric blends.  (In Dee’s early years at Classic Cleaners, most of the clothing was pure wool, silk, or cotton.) One thing that has not changed at all in Dee’s world – the importance of customer service.  “Be friendly, outgoing, and let your customers know you really care about them and their clothes,” Dee teaches new employees.

Asked to identify her favorite aspect of working for a dry cleaners, Dee immediately mentioned stain removal.  “It’s like being a detective.  You don’t always know what the stain is, and you’ve got to use clues, then try the right combination of chemicals and techniques to get that stain out.”

Dee recalls her very first day on the job, when Classic Cleaners’ founding partner Carl Arnold called her attention to something at the back of a machine which he was illuminating with a flashlight.  “Do you see that?” he asked.  “Will you tell me what I’m looking for?” she replied.  Inside the machine, Carl pointed out, was cleaning solution that needed to be “cooked down” to take out dyes and oils and impurities so that the solution could be reused.  Carl was teaching Dee to recognize what level in the machine the solution needed to reach so she’d know it had been fully purified. That lesson would be useful to her for the next twenty two and a half years!

Dee resides with her husband of 46 years, James Godwin (now retired from the former Allied Grocers), and with their two female Jack Russell terriers, P.J. and Peety-Boo. Meanwhile, at work, Dee helps carry on the company’s culture of customer service that helped earn the Classic Cleaners’ “ Best Dry Cleaner in Indy” rating.

The famous Lady Macbeth line from Shakespeare is “Out, Out, Damned Spot!”. But, unlike the evil Lady Macbeth, Dee Godwin is interested in doing her very best to serve Classic Cleaners’ customers!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

Taking care of your flag

There’s nothing we like better at Classic Cleaners than a clean, bright, red-white-and-blue American flag flying proudly in the wind.

 In fact, one of the special things we do to earn our “Best Dry Cleaners in Indy” rating is to clean any American or state flag (3’x5’ or smaller) free of charge.  (That’s not one of the famous Classic Cleaners monthly specials – we do flag-cleaning all year ‘round!)

 This month is the perfect time to have your flags cleaned, though. After all, we’re smack dab in the middle of flag season, what with Memorial Day a couple of weeks ago, then Flag Day this week, and Fourth of July coming up. Sure enough, at Classic Cleaners we see a lot of flags being turned in every June.

 There are actually dozens of “flag days”, including:

•  Inauguration Day (January 20)
• Lincoln’s Birthday (February 12)
• Army Day (April 6)
• Labor Day (first Monday in September)
• Constitution Day (September 17)
• Navy Day (October 27)
• Veterans Day (November 11)

 But, as capital flags.com reminds us, as a U.S. citizen, you may display your flag any day you like!

 Our Classic Cleaners’ professionals can help guard the colors of your flag and remove dirt and stains, but guarding against tears is often something the owner needs to do. It’s important not to fly your flag where it will come in contact with tree branches, wire cables, or even nails and hooks protruding from a building’s walls.

 Capitalflags.com advises protecting your flag from exposure to storms and abnormally high winds, because any of these things can shorten a flag’s life.  While many flags today are made of weather-proof material, high winds can tatter any flag.  At Classic Cleaners we want to add that, if your flag gets wet, spread it out to dry before bringing it to be professionally cleaned.  Putting the flag into a bag while wet can cause some of the colors to “bleed”.

 At Classic Cleaners, we want to help you keep those American – and those Indiana State – flags flying high and proud!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team