2010 – 2011 winter was certainly UGG season for Classic Cleaners Carmel customers, with many already taking advantage of our new boot-cleaning service, which came about because of the enormous popularity of sheepskin boots. So, whether you own footwear made by designer boot company UGG® or any other brand of tanned sheepskin boots, now that the big snows are behind us (we all fervently hope), it’s time to freshen up those boots.

Both UGGs and UGG look-alikes are made from tanned sheepskin with the fleece attached, and have rubber soles. And, while dry cleaners – in Carmel or elsewhere – don’t typically get involved with shoes of any kind, with the approval of UGG® Australia, Classic Cleaners now extends its “modern craft of clean” to boot-freshening.

“Sheepskin boots are a casual type of boot…exceptionally warm and great for cold weather,” advises about.com. “However,” the article continues, “they should not be worn in excessively muddy or wet conditions.”

We at Classic Cleaners were rather amused by a question posed by one reader to Yahoo! Answer : How do you get rid of wet sheep small from UGG linings? Yahoo’s answer: make sure the boots are dry.  Our customers are more worried, we found, about how to get rid of foot smell in boots after a long, hard winter of wear!  

For fresh-smelling, fashionable footwear, ready to take you places next winter season, bring your sheepskins in for freshening.  That way, roomies and relatives will have no reason to think “‘Ew, Ugh”, when they really mean “Oh, UGG”!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

“Sing me no song! Read me no rhyme! Don’t waste my time, Show me!” sings Eliza Doolittle in the musical My Fair Lady.

Recent Classic Cleaners blog posts have featured MuseumCare™, our wedding dress preservation system, guaranteed by all members of the worldwide Association of Wedding Gown Specialists.

Summerlot dress before restoring

While we love singing songs and reading rhymes, in today’s blog post we’re going to show

Summerlot dress after restoration

and tell you about the very special linen and lace wedding dress brought in to Classic Cleaners by customer Virginia Summerlot. Virginia’s daughter, a California resident, is getting married next year and plans to wear her mother’s 47-year old restored gown, matching gloves, train, and all. This promises to be a wedding story with not one, but two happy endings! (Who knows? With proper care and preservation, there might be more encore performances in store for this gorgeous garment!)

The special hand cleaning and preservation treatment system used on the Summerlot gown was showcased by Classic Cleaners at the

Classic Cleaners' Booth at the Scottish Rite Bridal Fair

bridal display at the Scottish Rite Cathedral on January 8th and 9th of this year. Our table features awards, photos, and the acid-free, archival quality wedding dress box we use for heirloom preservation.

Sing you no songs, you say?  Read you no rhymes?  Any time, we’ll show you!

By Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

With snow on the ground and cold winds blowing outside, there’s nothing more comforting than, well, a comforter, especially if it’s a bed comforter made of down, right? “Of course right!”, as Yenta the Matchmaker from Fiddler on the Roof might say. Ah, but, down feathers in a comforter can bring comfort only if those feathers stay where they belong!

“Down is the soft inner plumage of waterfowl such as ducks and geese,” explains Supercomfort.com, adding that” down has numerous light, fluffy filaments extending in all directions, without a feather’s quill shaft.  Down keeps birds cooler in summer yet warmer in winter, and provides breathable comfort.”

Classic Cleaners’ expertise in bedding cleaning extends to quilts, bedspreads, and down pillow rejuvenation, along with cleaning of down comforters.  Our technicians always follow the instructions given on the manufacturer’s care label of each item. In the rare instances where problems arise, those problems are due to poor construction of the comforter. The typical comforter is made from cotton fabric stuffed with goose down.  Intersecting stitching lines keep the down properly distributed throughout the entire area of the comforter.  However, if there is an inadequate amount of stitching, the tumbling action during the dry cleaning process can stress the fabric, so that the feathers pop out or become bunched in one spot.

The Federal Trade Commission says care labels must explain one safe cleaning method for each garment or item, but, if the comforter is not properly constructed to begin with, it may still break down even when the prescribed method of care is used.  Feathers poking through the fabric on a down comforter? That almost always means the responsibility lies with the manufacturer. Right? Of course right! by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

Different dry cleaners handle clothes differently. But which of those differences – differences in processes, differences in equipment, and differences in expertise –  are going to matter most when it comes to helping your family’s garments lasting their longest and looking their best?

Take this simple ten-question test to see just how much you know about dry cleaning….

1.  Table linens should always be laundered in water that is 110º.

 ___True                           ___False

2. The certification for environmentally responsible dry cleaning practices is
 called Green Dry Cleaner.

  ___True                           ___False
                  
3.   To preserve wedding gowns, you should store them in special boxes treated with  acid.
 

___True                           ___False
                 
4. If a garment has studs or beaded buttons, the buttons should be detached prior to dry cleaning and reattached.

___True                           ___False

 
5.  Home dry cleaning never rinses out the spotting solution.

 ___True                           ___False

 6. If you get bubble gum on a garment, scrape the gum off the best you can before
 bringing the garment to the dry cleaners.

 ___True                           ___False

7. When drapes have smoke damage, homeowners trying to clean them on their own will only smear soot into the fabric.
 
 ___True                           ___False

8. Dry cleaned clothes should be kept in their plastic bags until you’re ready to put them on.

___True                           ___False

9. Zippers should be left open when clothes are hanging in the closet, in order to allow fabric to “breathe”.

 ___True                           ___False

10.  If a garment label reads “fire retardant“, the dry cleaners must use special non liquid cleaning agents on that garment.

___True                           ___False

How did you do on the test? At Classic Cleaners,” the modern craft of clean” combines the latest in equipment and technology with decades of experience in caring for clothes. Nothing less than a ten out of ten will do for our customers!

 
Answer key: (Click on the link for each question to find the full explanation.)
True: 4, 5, 7, 10
False: 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team