Once your stained garment has actually arrived at Classic Cleaners, you know it will receive the most expert of care. That’s because Classic Cleaners’ specialists are among the best in the country at identifying and scientifically removing stains.

After determining whether the stain came from oil and grease, dirt and grass, blood, ink, paint, cosmetics, or food, our technicians use a wide range of tools – steam guns, compressed air, specialized brushes, and tens of different stain-fighting solutions to carefully and skillfully remove the stain and restore the fabric.  And that advanced stain removal process holds true for bedding, window treatments, and table linens as well as clothes.

But, what about that crucial in-between time, when a spill has occurred and you don’t want the damage to “sink in” before you have a chance to get the item to your Classic Cleaners’ store or driver? Are there things you can do that will help and not hurt?

Thankfully, there are.

DO: Scoop and scrape
When ice cream, shoe polish, cosmetics, vomit, or any other “guck” gets on fabric, use a blunt instrument such as a butter knife or spatula to get rid of the excess. “Make sure the process is carried out in a well-ventilated area,” advises cleaningtips.net.
DO: Blot
Lay the stained area down on a couple of layers of paper towels to blot the backside of the stain and help the offending substance leech onto the towels. Blotting can be used with liquid stains – coffee, tea, urine, wine.
DO: Chill
When chewing gum is stuck to a garment, you can place the garment in a plastic bag and put the bag in the freezer.  The gum may then harden and separate from the fabric.

DON’T: Wait too long to get to Classic Cleaners.
As howtogetridofstuff advises, “The first thing you should always do before trying to remove stains from an article of clothing is to…make sure you’re not going to destroy it during your efforts.  If it’s dry clean only or you’re not sure, you’re better off taking it to the dry cleaners – why take the risk?”

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

One of the all-time great “songs about ephemeral someones” listed in Erin McHugh’s book Who? asks the question, “Who put the bomp in the bomp ba bomp ba bomp?”; another asks “Who threw the overalls in Mrs. Murphy’s chowder?”

We don’t claim to know the definitive answer to either of those musical mysteries, but at Classic Cleaners we’re always asking “what” and “when”, rather than “who” questions, when it comes to removal of stains on our clients’ garments, bedding, table linens, and window coverings.

And, while Classic Cleaners specialists are armed with many tools, including steam guns, compressed air, specialized brushes, and more than twenty different stain-fighting solutions, in advanced stain removal, the most important tool is information:

• What is the fabric? Different fabrics lose color, fade, or shrink when improperly handled. You may know the general category of fabric, such as cotton, silk, or rayon, but there are many subcategories that dry cleaning professionals recognize, each requiring specialized treatment.
• What made the stain? Different stains require different treatments. Two basic types of stain are solvent-soluble and water-soluble; our stain-removal technicians are trained to administer different processes for each, based on the very latest in dry cleaning technology.
• How much time has elapsed since the staining occurred? It’s best to get stained garments in for treatment as soon as possible.

  So, who DID put that stain in the bomp ba bomp ba bomp? We’ll understand if you’re not sure or don’t want to confess, but please, when it comes to the “what”, the” how”, and the “when” of stains, Classic Cleaners needs to know!

 by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

 ”Spotters vs. Toughies” might have been the title of Classic Cleaners’ latest film. The challenge – a white wedding dress with a big red wine stain.  The goal: demonstrate the Classic Cleaners expertise in stain removal. 

The profession of dry cleaning has challenges.  Some common “toughies” are:

• “Toughie” trimmings: beads, sequins, vinyl, feathers, fur, mesh
• “Toughie” fabrics: leather, suede, wool with spandex, cottons with silk
• “Toughie” stains: mustard, ink, caramelized sugar, oxidized oils
• “Toughie” reds – red garments, beet stains, and…wine stains!

When the going gets tough, Classic Cleaners gets going, and, as you can see from the before-and-after photos, the score was 1-0 in favor of the spotters. 

Savvy post-”game” commentators on the Spotters vs. Toughies might have mentioned several points:

1. Classic Cleaners spotters knew the stain was from red wine. The toughest stains are often those the customer forgot about; the dry cleaner needs to solve the “mystery” before deciding how to treat the stain!
   
2. The stain was recent. The sooner a stain can be treated, the better the chances for success in removing it without damaging the fabric.

toughie wine stain on wedding dress

Wine stain gone

In the famous Edgar Allen Poe short story, The Telltale Heart, the murderer was convinced he’d covered his tracks.  “There was nothing to wash out – no stain of any kind,” he’d told himself.

Have you ever spilled something and had the stain disappear, leaving no sign of champagne, soda, or food? 

Telltale Stains Too Late To Fix

Weeks or even months or years later, a yellow or brown stain magically appears at the very spot of the original spill. How did that happen?

At Classic Cleaners, we see many such unwelcome “encore appearances” of stains.  Clear alcoholic beverages often don’t appear to have done any damage at the time they’re spilled on a dress, jacket, or trousers.  But, stealthy as ”telltale hearts”, back come the telltale signs of  past spills of tea, coffee, soda, or champagne, white wine, or fruit juice.

Speaking of fruit, you’ve seen a peeled apple turn brown. No real mystery,  just science – the brownish color is a result of the sugar in the fruit oxidizing or “carmelizing” when it’s exposed to air.

The problem with carmelizing on clothes, though, is that time and heat help set in those reappeared stains, and the more time that passes, and the more heat there is, the harder it becomes to ever get those stains out of the fabric.

Spills happen on the happiest of occasions.  But for there to be a happy ending to your Telltale Stain story, remember these three rules:

• Blot – don’t rub! – the stain when the spill happens.
• Even if you see no signs of the spill on your garment, as soon as possible, bring it in for dry cleaning!
• Tell all!  Make sure your dry cleaning professionals know exactly what happened.  That way, the stain can be pre-treated before the garment is exposed to any heat in the dry cleaning process.

The murderer thought he’d gotten away with the crime, but the Telltale Heart “reappeared”, revealing the terrible truth.

That’s why Classic Cleaners’ word to the wise is:

If YOU don’t tell the truth about your stains, your stains will tell the story for you.  And, by then, it might be too late to restore your special garment!