Being truly green is a multi-faceted matter, explains Darrell New, who, for the past 21 years, has worked with the dry cleaning industry to improve quality and services. “Green cleaning is a combination of environmentally responsible policies, programs, and priorities,” New adds.

At Classic Cleaners, we know.  As the very first dry cleaners in the Indianapolis area to earn the designation Certified Environmental Drycleaner from the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute, we are proud to put a checkmark next to each one of the items on Darrell New’s how-to-tell-if-your-dry-cleaner-is-green list:

Responsible waste disposal:
None of the chemicals used at Classic Cleaners ever go into city sewers or underground tanks.  Used-up cleaning agents are saved in above-ground tanks to be removed by licensed chemical companies, who either recycle the chemicals or dispose of them through state-approved processes.
 

 Recycling:
 As New points out, many cleaners accept used wire hangers and plastic bags, but the question is – what happens from there. At Classic Cleaners, we gather hangers (not just ours, but any hangers customers collect). We reuse some, and have the rest professionally recycled.   

We encourage our customers to return plastic bags to us by putting them into the cleaning bag with the next order.  Classic Cleaners has contracted with a green recycling firm to turn that plastic into trash bags and other reusable items.     

Proper machine maintenance:
At our Classic Cleaners processing plants, the machinery is constantly being updated and replaced with energy-efficient, cost and labor-saving models.  Keeping the building itself in tip-top shape in terms of insulation and repairs helps further reduce energy costs. 

Carbon footprint reduction:
The biggest “carbon footprint” reduction of all, though, comes from reducing our customers’ need to drive their cars to drop off and pick up their laundry and dry cleaning!  Our free and convenient pick-up and delivery route service adds convenience while reducing carbon emission from automobile travels.

In this case a plus and a minus equals – green!  Not just green, but true green.  At Classic Cleaners, we don’t mean to boast, but we can’t help crowing about our Indiana 5-Star Environmental Recognition award!

By Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

At Classic Cleaners, we’ve never met a button we didn’t like. On the other hand, we’ve prepared ourselves to deal with some of the special challenges buttons can pose in the course of dry cleaning and laundering your garments.

• We have a special Classic Cleaners button guarantee: Should there be any broken or missing buttons on your laundered shirts, we sew on new ones!
• If one of your garments has very delicate buttons (rhinestone buttons on evening clothes, studs, or beaded buttons, for example), our Classic Cleaners seamstress Ohi Suhre may carefully remove those buttons, then re-attach them after the dry cleaning process is complete.

Did you know that buttons were first used as ornaments rather than for fastening? The earliest known button, dating back 5000 years, was found by archeologists in the Indus Valley.  According to SocyBerty.com, the Greeks took the button a step closer to use as a fastener by creating a loop for it out of strands of thread. Mass production of buttons came about during the industrial revolution, and the rest is button history!

One really fascinating aspect of buttons has to do with the feminist movement. In the course of campaigning for equal rights, women gradually adopted men’s clothing styles. But for some reason (there are different theories about why this is so), women’s clothes have always buttoned to the left, while men’s garments continue to button to the right!Whether you fasten your clothing east to west or the reverse, as a Classic Cleaners’ customer, you may be sure your clothes will be returned to you clean, fresh, and ready to –  button!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

Blame the manufacturer....

The WXNT announcer is careful to explain that the opinions of Indianapolis radio talk show host Abdul Hakkim Shabazz are his own, not necessarily those of the station or its owners.  So, concludes the disclaimer, “Don’t call us….call HIM!”

Kimberly Fusaro, writing in WomansDay.com, remarks that dry cleaners across the country would often like to tell their customers “Don’t call us…call the manufacturer!”  That’s because many of the problems that arise during the dry cleaning process were the fault of the clothing manufacturer, not the fault of the dry cleaner.

Here are just a few examples that we see with garments brought into Classic Cleaners stores:

• Puckering of collars and cuffs, or linings that hang below the hem of the garment. These problems are caused when the interfacing shrinks, because the manufacturer didn’t select an interfacing compatible with the garment fabric.
• Shirt buttons that crack during pressing. Often this happens because a manufacturer used lesser-quality buttons. (At Classic Cleaners, we replace chipped or cracked buttons.
• Colors that bleed into each other.  The FTC Label Rule dictates that all components of a garment must be able to withstand the recommended care procedure. 

According to Federal Trade Commission rules, if a garment’s label says “dry clean”, ALL parts of the garment must not become altered during cleaning.  That includes:

 - the outer shell
 - the lining
 - the interfacing
 - the fusing material
 - the trim

If a problem occurs, responsibility lies with the manufacturer, who did not properly test the garment before labeling.

At Classic Cleaners, we’ll never tell you “Don’t call us.”  But WomansDay.com is right: Every so often we find ourselves wanting to point to the manufacturer’s name on the label, saying to our customer, “Call HIM!”

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

Sometimes you’ve got to take back in order to give, that’s all there is to it!

Dry cleaning plastic bags

One of the small but very important ways in which Classic Cleaners fulfills the dry cleaning industry’s highest standards of environmentally responsible practices is how we handle – bags.

It’s simple.  Plastic bags help keep clothes clean and fresh while they’re being transported from our plant to customers’  homes.  But, as the first dry cleaners in the Indianapolis area to receive Certified Environmental Drycleaner certification, we know throwing away those plastic bags isn’t good for the environment.

Some 89,000,000,000 plastics bags are used each year in the U.S.. According to Earth911.com, plastic bags are produced from natural gas.  When bags are recycled, the energy is available for new products, not only for bags, for products such as composite lumber and decking.  A five-year long study by the Ocean Conservency found that plastic bags make up 9% of the debris found along U.S. coasts.

We make it easy for our loyal customers to do the right thing, reminding them to return those plastic bags (and, wherever possible, hangers as well) to us by putting them into the cleaning bag along with their next order.  Classic Cleaners has contracted with a green recycling firm to turn that plastic into trash bags and other reusable items.

Our Classic Cleaners team has made a commitment to the environment.  We believe keeping our planet a safe place to be is every bit as important as producing quality cleaning. Plastic bag recycling is just a small part of that commitment.  We stay up-to-date on environment regulations of all sorts for proper waste handling and dry cleaning operating procedures and follow them all to the letter.

 At Classic Cleaners, we’re proud that we’ve never been cited for an environmental violation, and that we’ve never been required to clean up any of our sites.  You can bet, everyone on the Classic Cleaners team is proud of our “clean” environmental record!

Bags to give back, anyone?

Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

Have you every wondered what exactly happens to your clothes between the time you drop them off to be dry cleaned and when you pick them up again? After being carefully checked for special label instructions, loose buttons and fasteners, and foreign objects (things such as plastic pens that might dissolve in the solvent and cause problems) by our Classic Cleaners professionals, your clothes will actually be spending some time in a drum!

Dry cleaning machines look something like a combination of everyday washing machines and
dryers. Inside the machine, the clothes are held in a “drum” or inside container within an outer shell. The dry cleaning solvent is in that outer shell, and the liquid feeds into the drum while the clothes are being gently agitated inside. The dry cleaning solvent separates the soil and stains from the garment. Afterwards, the solvent is removed and distilled so that soil particles cannot be absorbed back into the clothes. During the drying cycle, your garments are tumbled in warm air that circulates throughout the drum. Finally, a deodorizing aeration cycle cools your clothes and removes the last traces of solvent. 

High tech machines can do a lot these days, but we also use professional hand tools such as steam guns and specialized brushes, and choose carefully from among tens of  different stain-fighting solutions.  It takes that Classic Cleaners combination of high-tech and high-touch to ensure your clothes are returned to you looking their absolute best so that you can look your best!

Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

These days, people are concerned about the environment and want to do business with companies that operate in an environmentally responsible way. Rightfully so, since few things are more important than the health of our planet!

You can be confident that Classic Cleaners adheres to the highest standard of environmentally responsible dry cleaning practices. Not only have we never been cited for an environmental violation but we have earned Certified Environmental Drycleaner (CED) certification from the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute International.

According to the official website,

CED must demonstrate knowledge regarding environmentally appropriate ways of operating drycleaning equipment, disposing of hazardous wastes, and industry-related EPA and OSHA regulations.

This is a voluntary certification that not every dry cleaner chooses to receive. Classic Cleaners, however, was the first company in the Indianapolis area to receive the certification because we recognized how important it is to do right by the environment.

When you use Classic Cleaners, you don’t just get great dry cleaning; you get a great company, too. That’s why I’m proud to be a customer and proud to be a member of the blog team.

–Matt
The Classic Cleaners Blog Team

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