Route manager Tommy Mitrani

All the research data isn’t in yet, but it’s looking as if Tom Mitrani might qualify as one of the best- educated route managers in the dry cleaning and laundry industry.

For eight of his thirteen years as a full-time employee of Classic Cleaners, Tom has been a part time student.  Now Mitrani is set to graduate from the Kelly School of business at IUPUI with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and International Studies.

No, Classic Cleaners doesn’t deliver to China or Dubai, but the sheer logistics of managing twelve routes serving several thousand customers spread out from Cicero on the north, Fortville on the east, and Pittsboro on the west demand that Mitrani makes good use of his business management education.

How does the route system work? When you sign up for the free service, you’ll be provided with special large bags for your clothing.  Most customers stick a note inside the bag with any special questions or requests. A Classic Cleaners driver visits your home or office twice weekly to pick up and deliver your items. Your clean garments are returned neatly bagged, with fluff-and-fold laundry returned in recyclable boxes. However, there’s no obligation to have anything for us to pick up at all on every visit.

If you’re not at home when the driver arrives, your clothes may be left on special hanger hooks which Classic Cleaners provides to slide over the top of your door. You may prefer to give the driver access so that you have your clothing hung in your front closet, mud room or garage – simply let the driver know your preference. Last-minute emergency? Need a garment back in a hurry?  All Classic Cleaners drivers have company cell phones meant to help accommodate special requests. 

Adult children often arrange for Classic Cleaners home delivery for an aging parent.  The reverse is also true – one mother arranged home pickup and delivery of shirts for her son, so that he’d be sure to look his best at his new job!.

Think about it – thousands of customers, thousands of different residential and office locations, tens of thousands of garments every week, on time, ready to wear – it all adds up to a challenge worthy of the best efforts of a business school graduate like Tom Mitrani!

By Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

water stains

Historic data from the National Weather Service office in Indianapolis indicate we’re in a significant dry spell. In fact, the Service explains, we’d need to go back to the summer of 1988 to find a longer dry period!

As dry cleaners in Indianapolis, Classic Cleaners professionals have more than one reason to care about weather.

• Fire occurrence along roadsides and in homes is above normal during a dry spell.  As pointed out in an earlier blog post, “after-the-fire activities often cause more damage than the fire itself.” Often Classic Cleaners technicians are called upon to treat severely water-damaged household items such as drapes and bed coverings. Smoke odors themselves pose a challenge.  The dry cleaning process will be different, for example, depending on whether the smoke came from burning wood or burning plastic.
• When precipitation does finally come, fabrics can develop water stains.  Water spots can be caused by the dislodging of sizing in a garment, according to HowStuffWorks.com.
• A special dry cleaning challenge arises when wet clothes are stored with other clothes in close quarters or in plastic bags.  Odors from mold or mildew can prove difficult to remove. In fact, although Classic Cleaners has earned a reputation for expert stain removal, it’s often true that garments with no stains need dry cleaning just to remove smells.
  

  damaged window draping

I was discussing all this the other day with one of the Classic Cleaners managers, who remarked she’d gladly carry an umbrella if it would only “rain cats and dogs” like it usually does this time of year, so that her outdoor plants could get some moisture. I realized I hadn’t heard that expression about “cats and dogs” in a long while.

The saying actually goes back to the 1500′s, I learned, when people lived in houses with thatched roofs made of straw.  Small animals would hide in that straw to keep warm in the winter. When it rained, the straw would get slippery, and the animals would fall through to the ground, and it seemed to be “raining” cats and dogs!

Whatever the weather, you can be sure your clothes will be all right (and not all wet) with Classic Cleaners expert care!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

Classic Cleaners professionals pride themselves on being able to meet all challenges in garment care.  But it sometimes happens that the manufacturer omits an important step in the making or in the labeling of clothing, and sometimes that makes it impossible for any dry cleaner to make things right. We see that a lot when it comes to “fun fur”.

Fun fur, also called fake fur or faux fur, is material made of synthetic fibers designed to resemble real animal fur. Faux furs have increased in popularity at least partially due to promotion by animal welfare organizations.  That’s more than fine with us at Classic Cleaners, the first dry cleaner in the Indianapolis area to be certified as a Certified Environmental Drycleaner from the Drycleaning and Laundry Institute.

Fake fur has several advantages over animal fur:

  Fake fur does not require cold storage.

  Fake fur is not susceptible to damage by moths.

  The manufacture of fake fur uses a fourth the energy used to raise or trap animals

 The materials out of which fake fur is made are derived from coal, air, water, petroleum and  limestone,  which,  unlike real fur, do not dry out or deteriorate.    

So what’s the problem?

• Classic Cleaners looks to the care label on each garment for instructions before selecting a cleaning solvent, a temperature for dry cleaning and drying, or to help decide if hand cleaning with steam, compressed air, or special tools is the best approach.Laundryandcleaningnews.com points out two issues that arise with care labels:

First:  The label is supposed to apply to the whole of each garment, including the trim. Too often, that rule is not followed by the manufacturer.

Second:  The care label needs to address any adhesives that have been used to affix the fun fur to the garment.  The    manufacturer might not have used the correct adhesive, and too often does not include instructions referring to the adhesive.

According to Federal Trade Commission rules, if a label says “dry clean”, ALL elements of that garment must not be altered by normal dry cleaning.  Classic Cleaners experts try their very best to hunt for clues before beginning garment care.  But every once in a while, we find ourselves  needing to point to the manufacturer’s name on the label, saying “Call them!”

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

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