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

Table linen care at Classic Cleaners

If you’re like most families, it’s not an everyday occurrence, dining at home on a table spread with tablecloth and fine cloth napkins, that is.  Still, there’s no denying the fact – nothing adds elegance to a meal like crisp, clean, perfectly pressed table linen. 

And, at Classic Cleaners, we know table linen.  We give linens the old one-two-three :

1.   Our first task is removing stains. We’re so proud of our stain removal process that we guarantee removal of 100% of fresh stains (or the cleaning is free)!
2. Next comes laundering the linen in a special cleaning solution that helps restore the original beauty of the cloth.
3. At Classic Cleaners, drying and pressing happen in a single stage, which is possible only because of our large, professional press. Try as you might, it’s impossible to duplicate our process at home.  In fact, most dry cleaners cannot provide this kind of finish for table linens.

Two important reminders for you:

• Linens are breathers, too! Avoid storing clean table linens in plastic bags. (Tip: Clean pillowcases make great storage bags for fine linens.)
• It’s important to bring in all the pieces of a matching set to be cleaned at the same time.  Even if only seven of the dozen matching napkins were used, it’s best to bring in the entire set. As yourvalet.com points out, the same advice  holds true for matching sets of drapes and seat covers, sets of bedspreads, pillow shams, and drapes, and the top and bottom halves of suits. 
  

With Classic Cleaners’ professional expertise, you can be sure the color will be a perfect match! 

 by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

Yellowing is a big dry cleaning challenge, no doubt about it.  And I don’t mean just a yellow spot, but when an entire section of a garment or even the entire thing, has turned from white to a sickly shade of yellow.

To be sure, Classic Cleaners’ professionals have been able to chalk up some major successes in the battle against yellowing.  Blog readers may recall Regina Mattson’s wedding blanket, the pair of lace wedding shoes, and Brooke Hynds Mackin’s 62-year old, third generation wedding gown.

According to fibre2fashion.com, “yellowing of textile fabrics is one of the oldest and most widespread quality problems known.”…”As a general statement, yellowing…is an indication of unintended chemical degradation.” Fibre2fashion lists several factors that can cause fabrics to yellow:

• Exposure to excessive heat and light (sunlight or fluorescent light)
•  Chemical additives in softeners or brightening agents
• Contaminants from boxes or bags (we wrote about the importance of acid-free containers just the other day)
• Perfumes and body lotions
• High humidity

Some of the time, in fact most times, our experienced technicians have won the battle against yellowing on garments and linens. There have been times, though, when garment are just too far gone for us to restore. (Almost always, though, when you bring in a garment for a consultation, we can predict how well it’s likely to turn out.) 

From a treasured garment’s point of view, it’s just not easy being yellow!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

“Shorts are a garment worn by both men and women over their pelvic area, covering the upper part of the legs,” begins a Wikipedia write-up. “They are called ‘shorts‘ because they are a shortened version of trousers, which cover the entire leg.”

Yes, we know. 

the long and the short of - shorts!

IN FACT, THE JUNE MONTHLY SPECIAL AT CLASSIC CLEANERS
IS $3.00 OFF EACH PAIR OF SHORTS!

Shorts styles have changed over the many years our Classic Cleaners technicians have been taking care of clients’ clothes.  Whatever type of shorts you can name – you can bet we’ve cleaned or laundered shorts just like those. (At Classic Cleaners, we check the care label instructions on each garment to see if your shorts belong with your fluff-and-fold laundry order or should be dry cleaned.)
 
Cargo shorts? You bet our professional dry cleaners in Broad Ripple have handled those!.  (Cargo shorts have numerous pockets – don’t forget to search the pockets before turning them over to be dry cleaned or professionally laundered and pressed.)

Bike shorts? Check.  (Originally worn by cyclists to reduce thigh chafing, bike shorts have been adopted as street wear for women under tops or under skirts, our dry cleaners in Carmel. see quite a number of these.)

Jeans shorts? Of course.  (Made out of denim,  jeans shorts may also be called “jorts”. Jeans shorts are popular with both men and women, our Indianapolis dry cleaning technicians report.)

Board shorts? Even those.  (Board shorts were originally designed for surf boarders, but men often wear this easy-going combination of shorts and a bathing suit. Our Classic Cleaners pickup route in Cicero often brings in board shorts.)

Zip-offs? Yes.  (Zip-off shorts are long pants that zip off at the knee, so the wearer can go from pants to shorts and back as the weather changes.)

Flood pants? My, yes.  (These go down as far as the calf, so they’re sometimes called “shants”.)
 
Skorts? Rarely, but yes. (These shorts have a piece of fabric in front that makes them look like a skirt.  The style shows up at our Carmel dry cleaners location every so often.).  

From creased khaki shorts to plaid golf shorts and everything in between, the long and the short of it is this:

When it comes to shorts, at Classic Cleaners, we’ve seen ‘em all!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

In cleaning their clothes, Civil War soldiers knew that, to avoid shrinkage, they had to be aware of three elements:

•   Mechanical action
•   Moisture
•   Heat

The stains on their uniforms, which were made from wool or a cotton-based (denim-like material), generally fell into three categories:

• Grass and mud stains      
• Black  powder
• Food stains

Civil War re-enacting is a fun hobby and a terrific way to study history.  Classic Cleaners’ partner Steve Arnold certainly thinks so. Posing at the far left of the photograph below, Arnold was taking part a  2001 re-enactment of the first major battle of the Civil War, Manassas, which took place in 1861 in the state of Virginia. The uniforms worn by the re-enactors  were actually reproduced on 100-year old looms, copied from photographs of the original uniforms of the Liberty Hall Volunteers from Lexington, Virgina. 

Clothing back in Civil War days was made to last for many years. Garments would be reworked and repaired until they were threadbare, and yet people took a lot of pride in the appearance of their clothing.  Needless to say, battlefield solders had to make do, brushing their uniforms as best they could, as well as washing their garments in lakes or streams.

Hand-brushing garments, as a matter of fact, is still one of several hand-care techniques used at Classic Cleaners today for treating challenging stains and for restoring “nap” to fabrics (although black powder is rarely a problem nowadays!).  In place of the crude lye soaps of Civil War times, skilled Classic Cleaners technicians have available an assortment of specialty cleaning chemicals to help restore and clean garments of every vintage!

Classic Cleaners' Steve Arnold in Civil War Re-enactment at Menasses Battlefield

Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

When you arrive at Classic Cleaners, you know you’ve come to the right place to find premium dry cleaning and laundry services.  But, if you’ve got a little time to listen, you’ll find that, along with their specialized expertise in taking care of your clothes and household items, many of our employees have some very unusual life stories to share.

Plant manager Rosa Benevidez

Production Manager Rosa Benavidez is a perfect example. A proud member of the Classic Cleaners family for going on sixteen years, Rosa has managed the Bash Road plant for the past twelve of those years.

As children, Rosa and her eleven siblings became migrant workers, following the tomato crops along with their parents.  With her entire academic history consisting of two weeks in the third grade, Rosa “learned from life”.  “We were proud people”, she explains.  “Nobody owed us anything – we had to survive and make our own way.”

After years of working as a presser in various dry cleaning establishments in Virginia, Rosa and her husband, a former commercial fisherman, moved to Indiana sixteen years ago. Hired as a shirt presser at Classic Cleaners, Rosa had found a “home”, working her way up to her present managerial position.

“My five bosses”, she says, “they give good opportunities, treat you fairly, and make us feel special. I’ve been working all of my life, and this is the best place I’ve ever been.”

Benavidez shared her ideas on good business management: “Morale must be high.  You can be a manager, but if you don’t have happy workers, you’re nobody,” adding that “We’re all in this together, and at Classic Cleaners, we’re all about keeping our customers satisfied.” 
  

It’s our anniversary, but you get a present!

As a thank you to all our loyal Classic Cleaners customers, we’re having a one-week, 50% off sale on golf shirts (in fact, on any knit shirts), beginning on Easter Sunday April 4 and continuing through April 10.

CyberLinksGolf.com reminds golfers to keeping moving every day in order to stay healthy, and recommends eating five small meals each day. 
Our Classic Cleaners team, meanwhile, reminds you to drop off those knit shirts and take advantage of our anniversary special!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

At Classic Cleaners, we know it really does take a “village”.  Delivering premium dry cleaning and laundry services to all our customers in Westfield, Carmel, and Fishers, Indiana – well, that truly requires specialized skill on the part of many different employees.

Ohi Suhri

One very special Classic Cleaners team member is Gobsuk “Ohi” Suhre, who marks her eighteenth year as CC’s Manager of Alterations. Under Ohi’s expert leadership, we’ve been able to offer complete alteration services. Most dry cleaners provide limited services such as repairing fabric tears, replacing buttons, fasteners, and zippers, and patching the elbows on jackets.  We do all of that and also hem dresses, skirts, and pants.  But, at Classic Cleaners, when we say “complete” alteration services, we mean just that.  We let out. We take in.  We can re-tailor even pants, leather jackets, tuxedos, and quilts. We restore and preserve heirlooms and wedding dresses.

Ohi Suhre manages all these services and more. Originally hired for the front reception counter, Ohi soon demonstrated that her experience and expertise in sewing and tailoring could be of extraordinary value to Classic Cleaners’ customers. 

Born in Bangkok, Thailand, Ohi met her husband Jeffrey Dean Suhre in Athens, Greece. The couple were married in Japan. Years later, with Jeff retired from the U.S. Army and serving as an Army Reservist, the Suhres settled here in Jeff’s hometown of Indianapolis, where Jeff now runs a trucking business.(Ohi’s stepson serves in the Air Force; her daughter is a dental assistant.)

While Ohi’s parents are gone now, she visits Thailand every year to reconnect with her bothers, cousins, aunts, and uncles there. 

Ohi Suhre is very proud of her Classic Cleaners “village” and of being able to restore the beauty of clothes she “couldn’t believe could be cleaned”. Ohi speaks no fewer than five languages (Thai, Greek, Japanese, English, and even a little German), and is trying to learn Spanish. 

Whatever language you speak, though, Ohi says it all in one short sentence:  “My goal is to make customers happy.”

Who truly enjoys washing clothes at home? Here’s some good news: You don’t have to do it yourself! Classic Cleaners offers the best laundry service (fluff and fold, family wash) in Indianapolis. Here’s how it works:

• Simply take all of your unwashed clothes and put them in your Classic Cleaners laundry bags (if you don’t have your own Classic Cleaners laundry bags yet, come on in for VIP-level customer service!).
• Put items to be dry-cleaned in separate bags–we’ll take care of those for you too!
• Bring your bags into your favorite Classic Cleaners location.
• Or use our FREE home delivery route to have your laundry picked up–and then dropped off once it’s perfectly clean and fluffy!

You’ll save lots of time and hassle! Try it today–you’ll be amazed by the convenience!

–Matt
The Classic Cleaners Blog Team

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