American Drycleaner - January 2018

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Our Foundation

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Faster Counter Operations

Replication

Continuing Education

Drycleaning Stain Removal Has Never Been So

Spray improved EasyGo onto soiled areas before drycleaning. Stains and soil disappear right in the wheel. For more difficult stains, use on the spotting board before or after cleaning. EasyGo is also an excellent leveling agent. EasyGo now flushes freely in all drycleaning solvents, including GreenEarth®, Perc, Hydrocarbon and K4.

And it's still eco-friendly...California compliant, chlorinated-solvent and NPE free, biodegradable and non-combustible. Drycleaning stain removal has never been so EASY!

57th Annual Plant Design Awards

Brothers Cleaners, located in Raleigh, N.C., is the winner of the Grand Prize in American Drycleaner’s 57th Annual Plant Design Awards. However, Brothers isn’t the only winner this year. Also receiving award notoriety in 2018 are CD One Price Cleaners, from Illinois, for Outstanding Renovation; MW Cleaners from down Texas way, winning for Outstanding Strip Location; and Valet Today Cleaners in Montana, saddling up as Outstanding Central Plant.

Start

With The Heart

Coats for Kids, The Cinderella Program, The All Dressed Up Program, The Breast Cancer Coalition, Special Olympics, The American Cancer Society, The Ronald McDonald House, and Hope Hall. Drycleaning owners and operators give of themselves and use their business resources to support all these good causes, and so many more. In this feature, we share the stories from three owners from around the country who open their hearts to help their communities.

Tim Burke, Editor

Scan this QR Code for help in finding the hidden hanger on this month’s cover. Good luck!

(Cover photo: Brothers Cleaners)

“Business has never been better.”

“The support from CBS was great. Even before we signed up, they were responsive and flexible in their approach. They have helped our team become more efficient.”

“We’re moving faster. We’re moving better. We’re moving more efficiently. That means profitability”

How is Your Me?

Adrycleaning owner posed this hypothetical to me just recently: “Are you ‘working your plan’ or just working your butt off?”

That individual was comparing a business operator who works toward a strategy, and another who is so darn busy, they don’t even have time to — for lack of a better word — be the owner.

The example was meant to point out to me how fabricare owners could be utilizing all available resources and, most importantly, using their time to get new business, explore partnerships and think about the future.

Some owners build time for a little introspection, and a little dreaming. And that’s good. It’s important to visualize your growth and expansion. Time spent “envisioning success” is vital. You know I’m talking about the whole “dream it, be it” thing.

The person makes a valid point. Are you running at all hours and hustling from task to task? If that’s you, then maybe it’s time to incorporate a little Me Time into your new year.

Give the ol’ “work smarter, not harder” saying a try.

It makes sense: Strive to be a better operator, especially in giving yourself time to be an executive, to set long-range plans, to dream your dream.

This issue, we bring you the American Drycleaner 57th Annual Plant Design Awards starting on page 14. See in those winning plants the dreams and aspirations of drycleaning owners like you. They took time to pause, assess their accomplishments, and enter our yearly contest that highlights new builds, designs and renovations. This year, Raleigh, N.C.-based Brothers Cleaners is the Grand Prize winner for Best Plant Design. Also this issue, we bring you stories from three cleaners around the country about giving back to their communities through humanitarian efforts in Start With The Heart Plus, there’s also a special feature about the journey of a solvent to the U.S. market, and more.

It’s 2018. Make it the year your Me bursts forth! Ready? ADC

American Drycleaner (ISSN 0002-8258) is published monthly except Nov/Dec combined. Subscription prices, payment in advance: U.S., 1 year $46.00; 2 years $92.00. Foreign, 1 year $109.00; 2 years $218.00. Single copies $9.00 for U.S., $18.00 for all other countries. Published by American Trade Magazines LLC, 566 West Lake Street, Suite 420, Chicago, IL 60661. Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, IL and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER, Send changes of address and form 3579 to American Drycleaner, Subscription Dept., 440 Quadrangle Drive, Suite E, Bolingbrook, IL 60440. Volume 84, number 9. Editorial, executive and advertising offices are at 566 West Lake Street, Suite 420, Chicago, IL 60661. Charles Thompson, President and Publisher. American Drycleaner is distributed selectively to: qualified dry cleaning plants and distributors in the United States. The publisher reserves the right to reject any advertising for any reason.

© Copyright AMERICAN TRADE MAGAZINES LLC, 2018. Printed in U.S.A. No part of this publication may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher or his representative. American Drycleaner does not endorse, recommend or guarantee any article, product, service or information found within. Opinions expressed are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of American Drycleaner or its staff. While precautions have been taken to ensure the accuracy of the magazine’s contents at time of publication, neither the editors, publishers nor its agents can accept responsibility for damages or injury which may arise therefrom.

American Drycleaner, January 2018

Publisher

Charles Thompson 312-361-1680 cthompson@ATMags.com

Associate Publisher/ National Sales Director

Donald Feinstein 312-361-1682 dfeinstein@ATMags.com

Editorial Director

Bruce Beggs 312-361-1683 bbeggs@ATMags.com

Editor Tim Burke 312-361-1684 tburke@ATMags.com

Digital

nfrerichs@ATMags.com

Tim Burke

START WITH THE HEART

Giving back to your community

The heart isn’t supposed to really “feel” things. It’s a muscle, they say.

But when you go beyond what’s expected, they say you’re “showing a lot of heart.” And when you are empathetic to others, you are said to “have a heart.” And when you reach out to help your community, you are “opening your heart to others.”

Drycleaning owners and operators reach out to their communities in many ways, and the heart they show is in the form of volunteerism, donations, and charitable causes to help their communities and assist the needy.

Let’s look at three examples from cleaners around the United States and see how they involve themselves and their business operations to help others in need.

“Our cleaners has supported the local Coats for Kids for 18 years in conjunction with the Volunteer Center in Fort

Wayne; collecting, sorting and cleaning over 50,000 coats that have been distributed in the community through this program,” says Steve Grashoff, president of Peerless Cleaners, Fort Wayne, Ind., also the Certified Restoration Drycleaning Network (CRDN) of Northern Indiana affiliate.

The program he mentions has grown to include not only used coats but new coats purchased through community donations.

“We also have been involved with the Cinderella Project for over 16 years with the Fort Wayne Medical Alliance,” he relates, “collecting and distributing gently used prom dresses to young ladies in our community, 400 to 600 distributed per year.”

By Tim Burke, Editor (continued)

Giving back includes all the different ways drycleaning owners open their hearts to help the needy. Those efforts build strong and supportive community ties.

(Photo: Bart Larue/Unsplash)

Grashoff says that his business also sells discounted gift certificates to local churches and schools that they can resell at full face value as a fundraiser. But that’s not the only way it reaches out.

“Through our CRDN restoration division, we have had the opportunity to clean the textiles for an Extreme Makeover home and donated all the cleaning of the textiles of the home for a young boy that was returning home with a rare immune illness, and everything in the home needed sanitizing before he could return from the hospital.”

Many charitable deeds start close to home, so to speak, right in the dry cleaners’ neighborhood, helping community groups.

Steve Klinke, president of Klinke Cleaners, along with his brother Richard, vice president, are third-generation dry cleaners based in Madison, Wis.

“We are involved with many community events and

charities but the two programs that we support directly with our cleaning expertise is that of Koats for Kids, which runs from September to October each year, and All Dressed Up, which runs in February each year.”

Their grandfather, Maurice Klinke, started a chicken hatchery to supply chickens to the war effort in World War II. After the war, he converted the chicken barn into a retail shopping center and started a Laundromat, later adding coin-op dry cleaning, then finally in 1958 offering cleaning and pressing of drycleaning garments and dress shirts.

Their father, James Klinke, became president of the company in 1968 and led expansion of the company from one location into multiple locations and eventually into multiple package plants.

Steve and Richard Klinke joined by 2000 and have continued to expand the company into the Milwaukee market and add more locations around Madison.

“The Koats for Kids program,” Steve Klinke explains, “collects between 5,000 and 10,000 winter coats each year, which they give to a local organization that distributes the coats to the less fortunate of Dane and Waukesha counties who would otherwise not be able to afford a winter coat.”

Klinke also talks about the All Dressed Up program, which collects prom dresses, “where we clean and press them for high school girls who would otherwise not be able to attend prom due to the high cost of purchasing a dress. We partner with the Junior League of Madison and they put on a fantastic distribution event each year,” he says.

“We’ve been involved with Koats for Kids for 31 years and All Dressed Up for 14 years. It has always been a part of our DNA to be connected with, and contribute to, the communities in which we are located.”

Regarding Koats for Kids, he says he doesn’t typically get to meet the recipients of the coats but, “I can tell you the gratitude we feel from the community is tremendous. Whenever I meet someone, they tell me, ‘Hey! I love Klinke Cleaners and I always donate to Koats for Kids.’ It is so rewarding to be a part of a 30-plus-year tradition with which the whole community helps pitch in.”

And regarding All Dressed Up, he notes he has attended a dress distribution and was overwhelmed with joy at seeing the amazing program that the Junior League puts on for the high school girls. The girls get a local celebrity assistant to help them pick out a dress, shoes and accessories.

“There are tailors who donate their time to help fit the girls into their dresses,” he says. “The girls

“The Koats for Kids program collects between 5,000 and 10,000 winter coats each year,” says Klinke Cleaners President Steve Klinke (right). He and his brother, Vice President Richard Klinke (left), are owners of the Madison, Wis.-based operation that has supported many charities, including this program, over the years. (Photo: Klinke Cleaners)

“ We are honored and humbled to serve our local neighbors.” — Steve Klinke, president, Klinke Cleaners

were just smiling ear to ear. Some mothers were so happy for the program that they teared up with joy that their daughters were able to go to prom.”

Belonging to a community is obviously more than just having an address and a residence or business location, as these drycleaning operations exemplify. It’s looking around and taking action in so many ways and opening your heart to care for those who need help right in your own town and county.

OPEN ARMS

Many drycleaning operators have families and often have homes in the same communities their business is located in, treating their localities like an extended family, ready to help with arms open.

Enter Steve Tucciarello, owner, Colony Dry Cleaners, located in Gates, N.Y. He was born and raised in the suburban Rochester town of 28,000 where he lives today with his wife and two children.

“My favorite organizations to give to are ones that are in town and focused on children, the grass roots hometown organizations,” he says.

back has no real boundaries.

“We also give to organizations that we really feel can use our support, some regularly, others occasionally,” he points out.

“Our charitable partners include: the local Police Keystone Club, our local Fire Department, the Special Olympics, Ronald McDonald House, Theresa House (hospice), IACC Women of Excellence Gala Event, Town of Gates Recreation & Parks Dept., Genesee Valley Concern of Police Survivors, Relay for Life (American Cancer Society), gifts for military children, and Dream Factory.”

His business, which has two stores, along with retail routes to customers’ homes and offices and also wholesale routes, has made bigger contributions and promotions to the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester, the YMCA and Hope Hall.

“Hope Hall was, I believe, the first organization we gave to,” Tucciarello says. “At the time, I was volunteering as a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals.

“One day, I was having a conversation with my mentor, Town Supervisor Ralph Esposito. I had asked him about community service and giving back. He gave me his in sight and perspective by saying that he was so grateful for all this community has done for and meant to him and his family. He attributed so much of the better

Tucciarello notes that his business gives to Little League, football, softball, soccer, and just about any other childfocused organizations. It doesn’t stop there, of course, as giving

This photo was taken during an event at the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester (BCCR) office in Rochester, N.Y., circa 2015, notes Steve Tucciarello, owner, Colony Dry Cleaners, located in nearby Gates. Pictured from left are Holly Anderson, executive director of BCCR; Patricia Cataldi, chair of the BCCR board; Tucciarello; his mother, Pauline Tucciarello, a breast cancer survivor; his father, Stanley Tucciarello; Lee Cordero, Town of Gates councilman and founder and chair of the BCCR Annual Golf Tournament; and Brien Bigelow, operations manager of Colony Dry Cleaners. (Photo: Colony Dry Cleaners)

One of several charities that Colony Dry Cleaners supports, Coats for Seniors, had a photo op at the Monroe County office building in Rochester, N.Y., in October. At center is Cheryl Dinolfo, local county executive. Steve Tucciarello, owner of Colony Dry Cleaners, is on the right. (Photo: Colony Dry Cleaners)

parts of his life and the happiness that he and his family received, as members of the community.

“Then he told me to go visit Hope Hall and meet with Sister Diana Dolce, SSJ, and that would be a good place to start,” Tucciarello says.

Hope Hall, according to its website, provides a multisensory, supportive learning environment for students with Auditory Processing Disorders, Autism, ADD, and ADHD, and serves approximately 160 students in grades 3-12. They note there is a 100% high school graduation rate.

“After meeting Sister Diana and visiting Hope Hall, I decided that I really wanted to do something that would be fun, build a donation and create awareness. We printed a whiteboard that basically said that for every paid order over $20, we would donate $1 to Hope Hall, and we would have customers sign the board; we left it up for the entire month of October.

“We were able to make a nice donation to Hope Hall, which was accompanied by the whiteboard covered in

signatures, and we created a lot of awareness for Hope Hall,” he says.

Also, he notes that for the past 10 years, “we have joined in with our county executive and Office for the Aging in the Coats for Seniors coat drive. I have spoken at most of the kick-off press conferences and together with the partners in the event have collected over 8,000 coats. I also belong to local civic organizations and attend many functions and events.”

Drycleaning owners also recognize it takes lots of helping support in their communities, as found in Tuc ciarello’s words of appreciation for Colony’s program partners: “For Koats for Kids, that’s WISCTV3, Com munity Action Coalition and Magic 98. For All Dressed Up, our partner is the Junior League of Madison. These organizations help make these programs the successes that they are!”

There are so many ways to get involved and help, and not just as fabricare industry professionals, but as neigh bors, friends and good citizens on display. Sometimes the help comes in rolling up sleeves or sharing expertise or the giving of time.

Grashoff gives an example of this when he says, “Ear ly on after my wife and I purchased the business, we were approached by many organizations to donate mon ey. We just did not have the resources to get involved in our community in that manner but found organizations that we could give of our talents.

“We find that these type of projects get our entire company involved instead of us just writing a check, which builds teamwork and goodwill.”

Klinke concludes: “You can’t feel connected with a community until you give back. We are honored and hum bled to be able to serve our local neighbors, and this is one of many ways we can show our appreciation.”

Being so connected to his town, Tucciarello says, “I have always strived to do things that make our community better every day. I ran for office and served a full 10-yearterm representing Gates in the Monroe County Legislature and rose to the position of majority leader. After serving the maximum time in the Legislature, I became a Gates town councilman, a position that I currently hold.

“I give back to the community, not only as an elected person but also through connecting and advising people and businesses, and giving donations.”

The two magic words here aren’t magic at all: giving back. But what they really mean is spreading love. It only takes one thing. Drycleaning owners have it, show it and open it often — heart.

Steve Grashoff, owner of Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Peerless Cleaners, which has supported the Cinderella Project prom dress collection for 16 years, as well as other charities, poses in his operation’s plant. He says his business also sells discounted gift certificates to local churches and schools which they can resell at full face value as a fundraiser.

(Photo: Peerless Cleaners)

Best Plant Design

Up From the Ashes

Brothers Cleaners • Raleigh, N.C.

Our overhead storage conveyor was on fire. “Three minutes later, our entire 24,000-square-foot plant was engulfed in flames.

“There were no injuries, thank goodness,” explains Bob Hilker, one of two co-owners since the mid-1970s, with twin brother Tom, of Raleigh, N.C.-based Brothers Cleaners.

He’s describing the fire that all

but laid waste to their drycleaning operation in November 2015. All of his 49 employees were safe.

Family-owned Brothers Cleaners, with four locations in the Raleigh area and offering pickup and delivery service in the region, was founded in Raleigh in 1916 by Emil Hilker, a German immigrant.

Emil Hilker’s twin sons, Jerry and Jim Hilker, assumed ownership of the business after his retire-

ment and ran it successfully until the mid 1970s, when they went their separate business ways, notes the operation’s website.

At that point, the business was handed over to current owners, twins Tom and Bob, the third generation to continue the family legacy. Representing the fourth generation in the company, Ben Hilker started with Brothers Cleaners in 2007 and is

Big, overhead view inside the plant of Brothers Cleaners, the Raleigh, N.C.-based winner of the Grand Prize in American Drycleaner’s 57th Annual Plant Design Awards. (Photos: Brothers Cleaners)

Parker Boiler Co. and Tri State Laundry Equipment Inc.

Parker Boiler Co. and Tri-State Laundry Equipment Inc. would like to congratulate Brother’s Cleaners on achieving the 2017 Plant Design award.

It has been a long, hard road since the main plant was destroyed in a fire Nov 6, 2015, from a small temporary facility, to a newly designed state of the art plant.

Tri-State Laundry Equipment Company used knowledge gathered through years of plant design and operation and applied the best of what they learned to the entire plant at Brother’s Cleaners.

At the heart of the plant is a 50 hp and 70 hp Parker Boiler. The unequal sizing was chosen for some redundancy, and better overall turndown ratios

The 70 hp was outfitted with a stack economizer, capturing free wasted heat and providing all the hot water needs of the laundry. This free energy at high fire is equal to $3.00 per hour of free hot water production for laundry.

If you would like some more information on this project, please contact Kevin Lawson at kevin@tristatelaundryequipment.com or more information on how Parker Boiler can save you some money; contact Mike Leeming at the factory below.

www.parkerboiler.com sales@parkerboiler.com

GRAND PRIZE

currently acting as customer service manager.

After the fire, the Hilkers faced a decision. With smoke and cinders still swirling in the air the next morning, “The owners and key personnel met at a gas station across the street to decide what to do,” Bob Hilker relates. “We all decided to rebuild.

“Within 24 hours, Metalprogetti was fast-tracking an assembly system, (N.S.) Farrington (and Co.) and Cleaner’s Supply were overnighting supplies.

“Our phones were blowing up with other cleaners and friends calling to offer help — whatever we needed. It was humbling and extraordinary.

“Three days after the fire, we were back processing clothes,” Hilker says.

“We used the back of our largest competitor’s plant in a third shift and used other cleaners’ plants,” he explains. “Our employees never

missed a day of pay. Thirty days later, we had a temporary office, production location, assembly location and restoration location.

On Brothers’ website, it notes services such as, ironically, fire, smoke, water, and mildew restorations, and writes that “we specialize in helping victims of fires, floods, and more restore their clothing and other household cloth items.”

Hilker notes that Brothers moved back into its original location within two weeks of the fire.

“It was magical! We still had conveyors and chillers to install but we were back! We all walked around pinching each other.

Within three months of opening our doors, we were back to prefire sales,” he says.

Hilker talks about the important lessons learned:

• Treat your employees well.

“Dedicated employees were one of the keys to our

The newly built Brothers Cleaners. Two years after a catastrophic fire (aftermath shown at left), the business has risen again in a testament to strong relationships with employees, partners, vendors and even local competitors who all helped out when needed.

The fresh, new front-counter area at Brothers Cleaners after reopening in 2017, almost two years to the day after the November 2015 fire that gutted the operation.

GRAND PRIZE

success. We worked third shifts, at home, 24-hour days, wearing multiple hats.”

• Value your vendor relationships.

“By keeping our business local and with people we have traded with for decades, they knew this was an insurance claim and literally provided us with hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment, in some cases, in two weeks.”

• Value your reputation.

“Because we have been in business since 1916, our customers, our employees, our vendors, and our fellow dry cleaners knew we were as good as our word.

“Their outpouring of support and help was immeasurable. Without them, this project would never have been possible,” Hilker says.

He also suggests making use of the web/cloud.

“We had switched to SPOT as a point-of-sale (POS) system the end of 2014. Our CFO had switched to a hosted version of QuickBooks in 2013. Had we not moved with the world into the future, all of our records and servers would be destroyed,” he says, and also notes, “We use an app through SPOT called My Drycleaner.”

This move to the cloud was invaluable to his business because of the reports that his company could generate for insurance adjusters, customer retention, and basics like direct deposit payroll, he explains.

Finally, Hilker says, “Assess your insurance coverage every year. We had just finished this and moved our coverage to Nationwide. Prior

to that, we were grossly uninsured.”

Some of the equipment filling his new plant today hails from Parker Boiler, Realstar, Sankosha, Leonard Automatics and Covers Etc.

“Our washers and dryers are Wascomat. Our compressor is a

Kaeser 40 hp screw-type plus an Atlas Copco refrigerated air dryer,” he says.

For dust control, Brothers Cleaners does a thorough manual cleaning with air hoses once a month.

Brothers’ front counters are designed and manufactured by Wilkerson Supply in Raleigh: “They are made of recycled glass bottles and resin product,” Hilker says.

“Our drycleaning solvent is heated hydrocarbon,” he notes, and “our spotting fluid is made by Stamford and Street Pro and we get them from Cleaner’s Supply.”

His drycleaning plant makes use of a Leonard steam tunnel and uses Indy Hanger

At the Brothers Cleaners plant, the Parker boiler (left) “heats our wastewater right from the flue,” the dry cleaner says.

The Brothers Cleaners plant in operation handling clothes.

GRAND PRIZE

products. Brothers’ bagger machine is a “label/bigger combo made by Metalprogetti.”

Its operation also employs fans to keep employees cool above all of the machines, and these are provided by a local supplier, he indicates.

All the while Brothers was pulling together and working hard to continue its operation, staff members were also planning,

then building, the new plant “up from the foundation,” finally fully reopening in November 2017, almost exactly two years from the date of the fire.

“Our driving force was survival,” Hilker proclaims.

“Earlier this year [2017], our distribu-

tor, Kernersville, N.C.-based Tri-State Laundry Equipment, and our plant manager, Mike Griffis, took the opportunity to design our state-of-the-art plant to maximize efficiency, light years into the future.”

The reward, Hilker notes, “is a facility where we employ generations of families and hard-working employees that will grow for generations to come.

“Our customers are ecstatic. We were able to retain 90% of the customers who had items damaged in the fire.

“Through hard work, amazing relationships and fantastic leadership, we are truly back and bigger than ever. This experience parallels none other.” ADC

Finished garments move along to customer pickup on the Metalprogetti conveyor at Brothers Cleaners.

Realstar drycleaning machines are in action at the new Brothers Cleaners.

ANNUAL Outstanding Renovation

A Refreshing New Front

CD One Price Cleaners • Countryside, Ill.

Countryside, Ill.-based CD One Price Cleaners decided to embark on an overall design “refresh” of its 3,000-square-foot store located in the Chicago suburb, the company’s ultimate goal being to refresh its 35 other stores in the next two years.

It wanted to “Spruce and update customer service areas, as well as provide merchandising opportunities to promote new products and services,” relates Nisha Karimi, chief customer officer.

This location, with 31 employees, presents design elements, fixtures and materials that met its merchandising goals and were both efficient and eye-appealing,

Karimi points out.

“In conjunction with the refresh program, the company also changed its coffee vendor and established a new relationship with Lavazza Coffee.

CD One Price, which started with one store in Lincolnwood, Ill., in 2001, also launched a 24hour drop window for its “Express Customers” and a “Text Ahead” service, Karimi notes, “to let our customer service staff know they are coming to pick up their order.”

The operation’s equipment comes from Columbia, Sankosha, White, Lattner, Hurst (boilers), Covers Etc., Cleaner Business Systems (POS), R.R. Street & Co.

and U.N.X. (chemicals), Starchup (app), and Leather Masters & American Weaving (specialty cleaning). Tri-Supply is distributor.

The refresh efforts were spearheaded by a team led by CEO Rafiq Karimi, Nisha Karimi, and Jonathon Reckles, the company’s director of marketing.

Nisha Karimi’s mission was to have: “A dry cleaner that would not only provide exceptional quality and service to its customers, but an atmosphere that promotes the concept of cleanliness, neatness and organization to a workspace.

“The stores should be clean in every aspect…no dust bunnies and a clutter-free working space.” ADC

Customers at the newly refreshed CD One Price Cleaners in Countryside, Ill., shown at the redesigned front counter and the new coffee station. (Photos: CD One Price Cleaners)

Owners of CD One Price Cleaners indicate they had set out to “spruce and update” their customer service areas.

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Outstanding

Strip Location

Linen-Scented, Bow-Tie Design

MW Cleaners’ 3,400-squarefoot operation in Cypress, Texas, with 20 employees, really desired to “up the game” in regards to customer experience, the company notes.

“As a customer enters the sliding glass doors, they are greeted

with the scent of fresh linen being pumped into the lobby via a Scent Wave machine,” says Kyle Nesbit, vice president of MW Cleaners.

“They are also treated to the sounds of smooth jazz to set their mood and expectations,” he adds. “This isn’t your ordinary dry cleaner.”

The lobby is nearly 100% enclosed with butt glass that separates the tagging bay, production plant, and alterations area from the main store front.

The plant layout, he notes, was done so that the two Unipress Lightnings are

MW Cleaners • Cypress, Texas

MW Cleaners’ Cypress, Texas, location was named Outstanding Strip Location. (Photos: MW Cleaners)

directly in the customer’s line of vision so they can view the laundry production.

The walls of the call office are lined with subway tile, while the floor is a black-washed wood. The front counters are customdesigned in the shape of the MW Bow Tie company logo.

“There is also a completely separate alterations area, with its own prominent and illuminated back-lit sign, along with a separate front

door access,” Nesbit says.

Once production is complete, he relates, the finished garments are loaded onto a Metalprogetti storage conveyor and keeping with the brand’s theme, the garments are then moved to a custom-built rack.

“If a customer prefers to stay in the car, there is a single-lane drivethru that is situated directly behind the tagging bay,” Nesbit says. “It’s all about a better customer experience!”

MW Cleaners’ equipment hails from Union, Forenta, Perfect (starch machine), UniMac, Huebsch, Fulton, and CP (compressor).

Gulf States Equipment Co. is its distributor.

The architect was Mark Carter, Carter Architects Inc., Houston, he adds, and the interior design and plant layout was done by MW Cleaners President (and American Drycleaner Advisory Board member) Michael E. Nesbit. ADC

American Drycleaner,

“The front counters are custom-designed in the shape of the MW Bow Tie company logo,” points out Kyle Nesbit, vice president of MW Cleaners, describing his Cypress, Texas, store.

Outstanding Central Plant

Owners Learn, Grow, Build

Valet Today Cleaners • Billings, Mont.

In the spring of 2006,” explains Jason and Stacey Frank, husband-and-wife owners of Valet Today Cleaners in Billings, Mont., “our business mentors called us and said there was a well-established drycleaning business for sale.

“We purchased Valet Today on June 30, 2006. Then spent the next few years on a roller-coaster learning to run a drycleaning business.”

They made plans for the future, too: “We spent hours researching building designs to include the colors and shapes of everything to make sure our new brand was appealing to customers.

“We visited so many paint and flooring stores that our young kids could rattle off paint brands.”

When planning their new buildings, Jason designed a state-ofthe-art workflow with precisely

chosen pieces of equipment to create the most efficient work space possible, Stacey indicates.

“We hired a local engineering and construction company, Eggert Engineering and Construction Co. (EEC), to design the perfect shell to house our production area, drop store, and offices.”

EEC was additionally hired to build matching drop stores in other parts of Billings, “making our vision come true,” the Franks say.

Valet employs 25 people at three locations, including the 12,000-square-foot plant.

Equipment used by Valet Today Cleaners comes from Columbia,

Union, Fulton, Covers Etc., Unipress (presses, spotting boards, double buck), QuickSort (assembly systems), and SPOT (POS). Central Laundry Supply is distributor.

“Our new buildings provided us with the opportunity to give our employees a much better and safer work environment.” ADC

Valet Today Cleaners’ finishing area. “Our new buildings provided us with the opportunity to give our employees a much better and safer work environment,” the owners note. (Photos: Valet Today Cleaners)

Jason and Stacey Frank, husband-and-wife owners of Valet Today Cleaners in Billings, Mont., pose in front of their 12,000-squarefoot central plant.

A Solvent’s Journey

Handful of U.S. fabricare industry pros put Sensene Class III solvent to work

By Tim Burke, Editor

My customers have noticed that my whites are brighter and that the clothes don’t have that ‘dry cleaner’ smell,” “Iron” Mike Ingalls relates in a loud, jovial voice.

He introduced a new modified alcohol Class III solvent to the U.S. market, called Sensene, made by Düsseldorf, Germany-based SafeChem, at his open house in October.

Ingalls is the owner of Iron Mike’s Cleaners located in Dade City, Fla., a small town of 6,000 residents in Pasco County, just up highway 301 about 30 miles north of Tampa.

He got a pleasant surprise when he demonstrated the new solvent at what he called his “eco-friendly event” at his store, complete with ribbon-cutting ceremony: “It resulted in zero redeposition.”

But to tell the complete story of how this solvent arrived at Ingalls’ store in this small Florida town, we have to rewind a few years, travel to Germany, and meet some of the other players.

They include Tobias Bertram, business development manager for SafeChem,

which has been a fully owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Co. for the last 25 years, becoming a standalone entity in January 2017; Stephen Langiulli, president, Columbia/ILSA, West Babylon, N.Y.; and Jan Barlow, owner, Jan’s Professional Dry Cleaners, Clio, Mich.

The story follows how a solvent landed in Las Vegas at the Clean Show this summer for a trial run, and got noticed by some dry cleaners, who are giving it a try.

“In 2016, at Texcare International in Frankfurt, Germany, ILSA introduce a solvent, invented by Dow under its then-affiliate company SafeChem,” says Langiulli, president of Columbia Dry Cleaning Machines/ ILSA Machines Corp., a manufacturer of drycleaning machines, based in West Babylon, N.Y.

“By the time of that show, there were more than 70 machines already operating in Europe with this solvent,” he says. (continued)

Mike Ingalls, owner of Iron Mike’s Cleaners, stands behind the ribbon-cutting scissors with his hand on his oldest son’s shoulder. His wife is in the blue shirt next to him as his two sons are holding the giant scissors. At this open house, Ingalls unveiled a new solvent he’s using called Sensene and a new Columbia/ ILSA machine to run it. (Photo: Richard Riley)

LIFESTYLE GARMENT CARE EMBRACES POSEIDON WET CLEANING; LAUNCHES WASH/DRY/FOLD SERVICES

A new name. A fresh brand. A state-of-the-art plant. Lifestyle Garment Care (formerly Roth Cleaners), in Midland, Mich., is transforming. Paul White, a veteran textile care expert, purchased the business from his father 30 years ago. Since then, he’s witnessed major industry changes; among them the emergence of wet cleaning and its potential in today’s society. “We wanted our business name to represent who we are and what we do,” said White. “We provide ‘Garment Care to fit your Lifestyle’.”

Spurred by enthusiasm to grow wet cleaning revenue, White outfitted a section of the new plant with a mix of Poseidon Textile Care Systems® (Poseidon) softmount wet cleaning machines and dryers. “The technology for wet cleaning has improved so much, we could operate without a dry cleaning machine,” said White. “We always do what we think is professionally best for each garment.”

We can wet clean, dry and finish a suit in one hour. Poseidon allows us to wet clean challenging garments like wool suits and wedding gowns without worry.

Lifestyle Garment Care now processes 80 percent of all incoming garments using the Poseidon wet cleaning machines; the remaining 20 percent is dry cleaned. Programmability makes it possible to wet clean everything from silks, wools and cashmeres to cottons, linens and synthetics.

- Paul White, Owner Lifestyle Cleaners

Poseidon Wet Cleaning Machines offer 20 pre-programmed cycles and up to 79 individually modifiable cycles. All variables are programmable, including water temperature by degree, wash rotation speed and duration, wash rotation combinations, water levels, bath cool-down by degree, and extract speeds up to 400 G-force. Operators

POSEIDON

just load, select a program number and press start. Chemicals are automatically injected, according to White. Items move from wet cleaning into the Poseidon Dryer, and finally, to finishing. The dryer features moisture-sensing technology, drum-rotation control and timed reversing to safely dry virtually any item type, including gowns, coats, dresses and sweaters. “Items come out of the dryer soft and wrinkle free with just enough moisture that the presser doesn’t have to do much with it,” said White. This saves time and energy over traditional dry cleaning. “We can wet clean, dry and finish a suit in one hour,” said White. “Poseidon allows us to wet clean challenging garments like wool suits and wedding gowns without worry. It allows me complete control over my equipment and my destiny.”

Amped about the future, White will soon debut Lifestyle Laundry Care — an offshoot of Lifestyle Garment Care — that caters to area residents looking for wash/dry/fold

services, pickup and delivery.

Operating out of the same location, Lifestyle Laundry Care wash/dry/fold will complement White’s already booming garment care/dry cleaning business, which is the largest in the Great Lakes Bay region. In doing so, Lifestyle Laundry Care will further harness the potential of the company’s Poseidon wet cleaning equipment.

Once launched, White expects wet cleaning revenue to significantly increase current sales volume. In a single shift, his Poseidon equipment has the potential to serve 30 families and process 1,600 pounds of wet cleaned wash/dry/fold laundry per day. Read full story at poseidonwetcleaning.com

poseidonwetcleaning.com 800-482-3400

It was developed originally, he points out, as most solvents are, for the degreasing industry. SafeChem worked closely and exclusively with ILSA to bring it into the garment care industry, he adds.

Independent testing of the solvent was conduct ed by CINET, Langiulli indicates. Netherlandsbased Comité International De L’Entretien du Textile is the international umbrella association for professional textile care (PTC).

According to its Solvetex V report on evalu ation and performance of new solvents, which members can access, it notes, “The recently introduced solvents are Ktex, Arcaclean, HiGlo, Intense and Sensene. These solvents are avail able besides the more established solvents like Perchloroethylene (perc), Hydrocarbon solvent (HCS), SolvonK4 and GreenEarth.”

The non-profit organization performs tests on solvents in a wide range of categories for chemical composition, boiling point, flashpoint, and KB value; KB stands for Kauri Butanol, adapted as a value for the “power” of the solvent.

Regarding Sensene, it writes that it is “suitable for reg ular multi-solvent or HCS machines,” and has a “cleaning performance compared to perc and HCS.”

Langiulli relates that after he spoke with several opera tors using the solvent in Germany, “I had no choice other than to try it.”

ENVIRO-MINDED

Enter Bertram, business development manager with SafeChem, Düsseldorf, Germany: “ILSA had been the initial machine manufacturer cooperating with SafeChem to test a new solvent. It all started in 2014 when ILSA received the first blend of modified alcohols from SafeChem.”

He indicates that in his company’s metal cleaning segment, “We have had experience with modified alcohols for 25 years,” and this is where SafeChem first developed a formulation for dry cleaning.

When asked if Sensene is suitable for all drycleaning applications, he responds, “Yes, it is suitable for all drycleaning applications and can be used for the universal application in the modern textile and leather cleaning industry.”

Bertram also points out this solvent can be paired with specific other detergents and chemicals: “It has a high solvency power and reliably removes a variety of stains on different fabrics. Our distribution partners Seitz for North America offer detergents to further enhance the perfor mance and reduce the electrostatic effects.

“The launch in Europe resulted in more than 150 customers using it after less than one year after market introduction,” Bertram notes.

“I was shipped the solvent and tested its merits in our warehouse,” Langiulli says. “While it showed some strengths, it still was difficult to understand in a test warehouse environment.”

So, he did not pursue testing. The journey paused. Months passed.

But, he says, before the 2017 Clean Show in Vegas, and with his sister company from Germany getting posi tive results, “I decided to ask a good customer of Columbia’s to test and critique the solvent.”

That was Barlow, owner of Clio, Mich.-based Jan’s Professional Cleaners.

He believed her tenure and experi ence in the industry was paramount. “Jan agreed to try the solvent, and give me an honest evalu ation of her own results,” Langiulli says.

So the journey kick-started once again, and now had reached the U.S.

In March 2017, Langiulli placed a new 55-pound ma chine at her facility employing the new solvent. “With in the first day, we all stood back,” he says. “Not only did it clean well, the cycle times were notably fast.”

On the second day, “we noticed dye bleeding in loads did not affect anything. By the second bath, solvent returned to crystal clear while washing. No dye transfer, and no redeposition.”

There was no garment damage, he continued. “What I

During his October open house, Dade City, Fla.-based Iron Mike’s Cleaners owner Mike Ingalls (on left) demonstrates his new “ecologically friendly and energy-efficient equipment” to Pasco County (Fla.) Commissioner Ron Oakley (center) and Bob Hatfield, representative for Congressman Gus Bilirakis, of the Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce. (Photo: Richard Riley)

Tobias Bertram

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found extremely interesting is that the learning curve from perc to this was effortless — This was a first for me.

“No problems on trims, beads, leathers, vinyls, plastics. It all came out great, with the normal workloads. I was shocked but still very skeptical, thinking this is too good to be true. I left Jan after three days of the easiest start-up I’ve had in 25 years.”

Now the journey was in Barlow’s hands.

NEXT STOP, CLIO

“I volunteered to get involved with the solvent after hearing about its performance results in Europe,” Barlow says. “The solvent manufacturer, Dow, is only about 45 minutes away from my plant in Michigan so I figured I could get local support if needed.”

She indicates that Sensene’s price per gallon is in the high $30s to low $40s range, while perc is in the $30s, but with other cost factors such as waste removal.

As chair of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 32, the group’s standard for dry cleaning, she says she had a template for assessing the new solvent, a docu ment local governments use for reviewing dry cleaners’ occupancy permits.

“Our NFPA32 Committee had just completed a five-year rewriting and updating process to reflect the changes in sol vents for our industry. Columbia/ILSA had been working in Europe with Sensene over the past three years, develop ing machines, and were ready to bring the technology to the U.S. I believe the intention was to bring it to New York first; instead, I got it.”

Barlow went about testing the solvent because, in her words, “I wanted to confirm whether it fits on our NFPA solvent chart and whether all the claims being made about the solvent held true.”

She sent water and waste samples to the lab that tests for the State of Michigan. And sent swatch samples to the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI) for color and stain removal analysis.

“We used our standard practice of weighing all of our loads to get poundage cleaning figures. What we know is that it does clean!” Barlow says. “We have excellent re sults. The solvent makes whites a brighter white, without yellowing or graying. It rarely causes bleeding.”

Her plant is still working on its poundage results and is currently at 1,513.78 pounds per gallon.

The test results of Barlow’s swatches from DLI that compared Sensene to perc in categories of graying, yellow ing, whitening, insolubility and water solubility showed

that, in her words, “We do match or exceed the perc results in graying, yellowing and whiteness.

“We still don’t have the insoluble and water soluble to match or excel the perc results. I believe that these results can be remedied with minor tweaking with the additive chemistry,” Barlow says.

About U.S. regulation of this solvent, she notes, “Sensene is just like every other Class III solvent for regu lation. The exception is New York state because of their solvent approval process.” Barlow points out it is currently finishing test results to seek New York state approval.

At NCA Texcare in October, she presented beforeand-after photos of black-and-white garments with different fabric combinations, documenting the solvent’s effectiveness, even on specialty items.

“For example, if beads and sequins are sewn on the gar ment, they are fine. On comforters, it removes perspiration and yellowing from the underside,” she says. “It works with rubber-backed drapes. They don’t peel or stick, al though if sun-damaged the backing comes off into little balls that end up in your button trap. This solvent is forgiv ing if you add water.”

THAT SMELL

“Most people remember the ‘drycleaning smell,’” she reminds. “This solvent’s smell is familiar and fresh. It lasts a short time, either until the garment is pressed or it dissipates quickly on its own.

“My millennial employees like the smell. This is the age group I was most curious about. They come from an aroma-sensitivity upbringing and they found it pleasant.”

Barlow is finding that Sensene has grease- and oilremoval capabilities like perc. “An added benefit is the per spiration and urine removal. To have the protein stain come out during the cleaning cycle is huge,” she adds.

Sensene’s journey draws in other players, including Tampa, Fla.-based Seitz, the Fresher Company Inc., es tablished as the North American distribution operation for its parent manufacturing company, Seitz GmbH based in Kriftel, Germany. Enter Kurt Wickiser, executive vice president, Seitz.

His firm became familiar with the solvent during its introduction at Texcare in 2016, and he notes, “We continued to hear reports from our German counterparts over the next year.”

Then, “Earlier this year, we were encouraged by a cou ple of European drycleaning machine importers to take a closer look at the solvent and to approach its manufacturer with regard to distributing in North America.”

A few phone calls and some negotiations later, and Seitz was appointed as the exclusive distributor of Sensene in North America.

Jan Barlow

“The timing could not have been better,” Wickiser indi cates, “as we were then able to introduce it to our market at Clean 2017 in Las Vegas.”

VEGAS, ALWAYS VEGAS

For fabricare, all roads seemingly were leading to Vegas in the summer of 2017 and the big Clean event. Sizable crowds and a re-energized market turned out to make a statement in the desert heat.

Langiulli steps back in: “With the results of Jan’s, I decided to bring to Clean ’17 a live operation of a machine running full loads of garments with Sensene to the show floor in Las Vegas.”

He says Columbia/ILSA sold many machines during the show for Sensene, and that six have been installed to date.

“Several of these new pioneers have expressed to me the same comment: that for years they needed new machines, but were reluctant to move to alternatives.

“I often hear this comment, which makes no sense to me since all alternatives in the marketplace are good and working well, when used correctly and according to the practices of each company who markets them.”

To Bertram it was an obvious move to launch at Vegas: “Being a huge textile cleaning market and with the Clean Show being a leading textile cleaning trade fair in the U.S., it was a ‘no brainer’ to introduce it to the North America

market.”

Another player involved in the journey is Kurt Skasik, second-generation owner of Skasik’s Quality Cleaners, founded in 1951, and located in Nutter Fort, W.Va., south of Morgantown — and one of the first six drycleaning operators to try out the solvent.

“I saw photos of suede and leather cleaned with the sol vent Steve (Langiulli) sent me. I had concerns: Would the EPA be happy with it? What about smell? In the end, the smell was nothing. The odor just goes away. The creases of clothing are still in place, and the feel is soft.”

“Sensene is another solvent, and has a unique relation ship to the methods of operation of perc,” Langiulli reminds.

And what is Bertram hearing these days? “We are excit ed about the feedback and opportunities in North America. We look forward to participating at several trade shows in 2018 and reaching out to many more customers.”

Now, let’s go back to the friendly little community of Dade City, Fla. and Iron Mike Ingalls: “Quite a few cus tomers have said that their clothes are soft. I’ll wait and see as sweater season is getting here in Florida.”

This has been a snapshot of the journey of one solvent, born in Europe and arriving in our competitive U.S. market to join other already proven solvents in an industry looking to refresh and reinvent itself. ADC

American Drycleaner, January 2018

Cleaners Bring NY/NJ Local Flavor

By Tim Burke, Editor

Don’t tell me New Jersey isn’t welcoming. Or green. Or fresh. Or a nice place to visit — it is!

Friendly, smiling, relaxed and with a small footprint, NCA Texcare was a burst of upbeat local flavor, and the unusually warm autumnal East Coast weather complemented the show weekend perfectly.

The thrill of nearby New York City pulled hard at attendees’ shirt tails to visit, yet local drycleaning owners by the tens of dozens stayed “home” to see speakers and exhibitors over an October weekend when the National Cleaners Association Texcare show convened at the Meadowlands Expo Center in Seacaucus, N.J.

Local drycleaning owners like Patrick DeLora, president of Clifton, N.J.-based DeLuxe Cleaners, and his wife stopped by to check out the show.

“We like this show. It’s close by for us, and we see people in our region,” DeLora indicates. ADC

Exhibitors fill ‘friendly confines’ of Meadowlands Expo Center

Drycleaning owners Patrick DeLora, president of Clifton, N.J.-based DeLuxe Cleaners, and his wife stopped by to check out the NCA show and pause for a photo op at the registration desk. Dozens of exhibitors filled a cozy exhibit hall during the October event. (Photo: Tim Burke)

SENSENE TM _ GREAT IN EVERY SENSE

SENSE FOR BEAUTY

Alcohol is the future and will be the Dry Cleaner‘s choice of solvent. This is an amazing product with a high cleaning power combined with excellent material compatibility. Finally, it‘s what we all have been waiting for!“

Jan Barlow, owner of Jan‘s Professional Dry Cleaners and former president of DLI (Dry Cleaning and Laundry Institute)

Jan is running her COLUMBIA/iLSA C 550 K S with SENSENE™

The SENSENE™ cleaning solvent has a very high solvency power and reliably removes a variety of stains on different fabrics. It is designed to prevent discolouring and keeps the bright colours of the cleaned textiles.

SENSE FOR NATURE SENSENE™ is based on a modified alcohol formulation which is inherently biodegradable and has a low aquatic toxicity, and therefore an environmentally responsible way of dry cleaning.

SENSE FOR TOUCH SENSENE™ is very gentle to the fabrics and causes relatively low wrinkling which makes ironing easier. This provides SENSENE™ cleaned textiles with a great touch.

SENSE FOR BUSINESS SENSENE™ realises an easy and smart process: textiles dry faster and the machine cycle times are shorter. In addition, the cleaning process needs less energy due to a good distillation behavior, pre-spotting can be reduced and the finishing is easier as the fabrics wrinkle less. All this saves you time and costs.

SENSE FOR SCENT SENSENE™ leaves nothing but a pleasant, clean smell on the cleaned textiles. The stable formulation keeps even your cleaning machine clean by minimising bacteria

New version of spray spotter launches

An improved version of EasyGo®, a new type of drycleaning spray spotter, is now available from A.L. Wilson

“When improved EasyGo is sprayed onto soiled areas before dry cleaning, stains and soil disappear right in the wheel,” explains Randy Schwarzmann, company vice president.

For more difficult oily stains, it can be used on the spotting board before or after cleaning, he points out, and it is also a leveling agent for controlling moisture after spotting.

Eco-friendly, California-compliant, chlorinated-solvent and NPEfree, biodegradable and noncombustible, the firm indicates, the spotter now flushes freely in all drycleaning solvents.

To support using this improved product on the board, 16-oz. dispenser bottles are now available in addition to its familiar gallon stock bottles and quart spray bottles.

“As an added benefit, we’ve seen impressive results in the field when using an EasyGo and water soak to restore black-and-white bleeds,” Schwarzmann adds.

www.alwilson.com 800-526-1188

ZIPS C EO Bechtle retires, R itger Jr. elected

ZIPS Dry Cleaners recently announced the retirement of CEO Reid Bechtle. The company’s Board of Directors elected Andrew “Drew” Ritger Jr. as the company’s new CEO effective Dec. 1.

Commenting on his retirement, Bechtle says, “I have thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated my time as the steward of the company brand. The company is larger, stronger, and more sustainable than it was five years ago when I first arrived.

“I believe now is the time for a new leader to further refine the ZIPS way and make

it the national brand that I know it can be. I am grate ful for the opportunity to lead during this phase of its maturity.”

Bechtle had served as CEO since April 2013, when he was brought on to move the company through its next phase of growth.

“My fondest memory,” he relates, “was meeting the home office staff for the first time, a group of young, smart and dedicated individuals. These were people with tremendous potential that have since proven that with a bit of leadership, motivation and confidence in oneself, incredible things can be accomplished both personally and professionally.”

He says he is proud of them and “truly privileged to have worked with them for the past five years.”

Under Bechtle’s leadership, the firm has grown from 36 to 52 locations across the country, and today has a total active franchise pipeline that stands at more than 250 stores, the company notes. ADC

Drycleaner,

Reid Bechtle

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Wartime!

10 YEARS AGO. President George W. Bush floated a plan to bail out homeowners struggling with subprime mortgages by freezing adjustable rates for up to five years. Some say that the plan punishes responsible borrowers, but the biggest criticism is that the plan doesn’t go far enough — 1.2 million homeowners may be eligible, but only about 240,000 would actually get relief.

35 YEARS AGO. The odds are most dry cleaners never knew their futures were in jeopardy. But enough industry spokespersons converged on Congress in December to stave off legislation that could have put many plants out of business. The Laundry Cleaning Council (LCC), representing all six major national associations including the International Fabricare Institute, and representatives of most state and regional associations, united through the Cleaning and Laundry Association Executives, joined forces in lock step with hordes of individual operators and allied tradespeople to stop Senate passage of S. 2432 and thus kill its sister House bill (H.R. 6307) in the recent lame duck session of Congress. The Senate bill, stiffer than the previously passed House version, involved amendments to the current hazardous waste law that would have eliminated land disposal of drycleaning filtration and distillation residues and wiped out the “small generator” exemption. Either amendment, according to LCC, could have put “an alarming number of laundry and drycleaning companies out of business.”

50 YEARS AGO. Here’s a touching tale of customer loyalty. Seems a husband and wife were customers of a cleaners in Toledo, Ohio, before taking jobs as teachers in Pago Pago. One of their extra tasks was the directing of school plays. In the course of one play, the husband’s sport coat became stained with stage makeup. And who do you suppose he sent it to for cleaning? Right! His old cleaners — 6,200 miles away in Toledo. The cleaner did the necessary cleaning and toyed with the idea of delivering it in person. But his wife convinced him that air parcel post charges of $2.15 would be better in the long run.

The NADC in WAR and PEACE! This is taken from a special 16-page wartime section that appeared in the January 1943 issue of American Drycleaner: “Wartime dry cleaning has seen, among other significant developments, the increased importance of the National Association of Dyers & Cleaners (NADC). Witness: As we write this, 684 cleaners have added their names to the membership rolls, and so many names are still coming in that the goal has been set for 1,200.”

Actually, the husband could have sent the coat to Australia or Hawaii, but he thought it would be more amusing to return it to his former cleaner. What’s for an encore — a grass skirt to be cleaned and pressed?

75 YEARS AGO. Pool for Army Cleaning! One solution to the problem of handling Army cleaning has been worked out in Riverdale, Calif. The War Production Board pooled three drycleaning plants into a non-profit corporation, and the facilities of the plants were drafted “to the extent necessary for the handling of drycleaning for the military.” This was the first pool to be formed anywhere, according to the Los Angeles and Riverdale newspapers, but “additional pools may be set up in other cities. This may result in civilians having to wait longer for their work.”

January 1943

— Compiled by Tim Burke, Editor

To read more of American Drycleaner’s chronicling of the industry over the years, visit www. americandrycleaner.com.

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When you’re looking for a boiler to fill your steam or hot water needs watch out for a “Big Foot.”That’s right! Big Foot is lurking out there, but not at Parker Boiler. Parker Boil er makes a line of small watertube boilers designed specifically for reduced floor space Even though the square footage that a “Big Foot”boiler may occupy is sometimes less; when consideration is given to manufacturer’s required clearance for maintenance and service, the Parker Boiler footprint will consume significantly less floor space. When a power burner is installed on the top of a vertical boiler, at least 11 feet of clearance may be required for removal and service of the burner and pressure vessel. We don’t know how many buildings have 11 feet of clear space above the boiler, but we do know that Parker Boilers require much less space than the “Big Foot” recommended clearance*. That adds plenty of room for your feed system, air compressor, chemical feeder, water softener, and air vacuum. So if you need a dependable, quality boiler, foruse in smaller spaces, just call your local Parker Boiler representative today.

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The Evolution of Clean

Join these satisfied customers...

Hear what they have to say...

“ is is my third Columbia, they never cease to amaze me. Each generation gets better and better with their engineering design and maintenance. It puts this end of my business on cruise control!”

“Ten days ago we made the transition from a Columbia perc machine to a Columbia SENSENE machine. Having been a perc operator for so long, I was very nervous about making the move.

Fast forward 10 days, I can honestly say I am very happy with the purchase! e learning curve is minimal, the solvent does the job as advertised, we are down to 4 spotting chemicals, the running cycle is just a little bit longer than perc, the clothes come out soft and the colors are vibrant. And when you open the door at the end of the cycle, instead of getting a blast of perc, you get a pleasant and refreshing smell.”

“I’ve been in the drycleaning business for 28 years, always using perc. I have been searching for an alternative solvent for the past two years. After researching Sensene, visiting plants running with Sensene for the past few months, it has been beyond my wildest expectations. It’s better than perc! As the owner of Ruthie’s Cleaners, Owasso, MI, I am a hands-on operator and the one that has always done the cleaning. is solvent is just phenomenal. is is my second Columbia machine. In 23 years Columbia has always been the leading company in technology and my new Columbia is a testament to that fact.”

~Robert Marks, Ruthy’s Cleaners

“Having finally bought my Columbia, I can honestly say I’ve entered the 21st Century. is machine produces exceptional cleaning and is efficient, whites are white and I don’t have to worry about anything after I hit Start. My only regret is having waited so long!”

The new solvent based on modified alcohols

~Mike Ingalls, Iron Mike’s Cleaners

~Kurt and Drew Skasik, Skasik’s Quality Dry Cleaners

~Craig Ford, Owner/Operator, SeaBreeze Cleaners