Emergency Dry Cleaning

On Saturday morning at 8:15 I got an emergency phone call from the head of wardrobe from the American Ballet Theatre. It seemed that the costumes that we were  dry cleaning for Monday were suddenly needed at Lincoln Center by 11:30 for an early curtain.

Thankfully my cellphone number is on all of my business cards from Cameo Cleaners of Gramercy Park. and the wardrobe supervisor just had to call me to solve the problem.

As the best dry cleaner in New York City, I give my clients my cell phone number in case of emergency. In the past 5 years since I have been doing this my clients do not abuse the privilege.

The previous phone call to my cell phone was from a young woman who missed our closing time and was frantic to get her bridesmaid dress for a wedding the next day.

Problem solved and another happy client because of a cell phone number printed on a business card. Imagine if all companies were this easy to deal with.

Thanks for listening. Jerry Pozniak

Memorial Day

Memorial Day signals the start of the summer wardrobe season. By now the soft wools and cashmere have been stored for the season.

While pastels and linens may dominate, there is nothing like crisp white to off-set the bronzing effects of the sun.

When soiled your whites will need attention. Sent to the dry cleaner they should remain well, white. Too often whites do not remain white after a “cleaning”. Why?

Not to get overly technical, but the solution used in dry cleaning must remain clean.  At our shop anything less than “gin” clear is not acceptable.

After every load of dry cleaning the cleaning solution must be filtered and distilled. Why do I sound like a Scotch ad?

Dry cleaners looking to cut costs can easily skip this step as it is costly to distill after every load.

After just one use without distillation the dry cleaning solution can take on the color of iced tea. Anything white cleaned in dirty dry cleaning solution will come out “gray”. (Imagine taking a bath in water used by 10 people before you. Yuck.)

Cheap dry cleaning is not the bargain you think you may be getting. A dry cleaner who “cuts corners” will eventually harm your wardrobe; and that is not saving money, it’s wasting money.

As in everything in life, you get what you pay for. If you want your whites to stay “white”, find a great dry cleaner.

Thanks for listening. Jerry Pozniak

Dreams

“Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you…”, Frank Sinatra.

I digress this week. Instead of fashion, this week it’s about 1600 girls.

Girls who dream of going to their high school prom, parents out of work and money problems.

No, this is not going in that direction.This is not about negativity.

This is a thank you.

A thank you to Megan Kerrigan and Rashia Bell for their tireless efforts to make dreams come true. Their organization, Operation Fairy Dust, along with many volunteers made it all possible.

3600 dresses were collected, a high-school cafeteria transformed into a boutique and 1600 girls shopped and smiled.

Smiles of gratitude and empowerment. Girls able to pick, try on, and model. Beaming moms with tear’s streaming. Dreams realized. Problems forgotten even if just for a day.

Do watch this short video, it will make you smile. ( Operation Fairy Dust Video)

Fairy tales do come true. Kudos to Megan and Rashia, true angels.

Thanks for listening. Jerry Pozniak

Underarm

“Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration”, Thomas Edison.

“Hard work shouldn’t ruin your clothes.”, Jerry Pozniak.

Yellowing underarms are problematic at best. Caused by a chemical reaction between body salts and aluminum in antiperspirants; underarms may yellow, a by-product of your toil.

Crisp white shows off yellow best. If you can call it that.

Washed at home, many reach for the chlorine bleach but this only makes the yellowing more intense (almost a frightening orange in some cases).

Pretreatment with the correct product will solve your yellow issue. Use a detergent that contains enzymes (look for “removes grass stains” on the label) or an oxy-clean product. Wash in hot water.*

This treatment is only for washable garments. If “dry clean only” put into the hands of a professional.

Changing your deodorant may solve the issue “once and for all” without the hassle of washing, soaking and chapped hands.

At my shops our professional products make haste of yellow underarms; including the most delicate of silks and the softest cashmeres.

Underarms yellow? I can help. My shops specialize in stain removal extraordinaire. Bring me your toughest and your yellowest. If we can’t fix them, you don’t pay. All of my work comes with a “Satisfaction Guarantee”.

In NYC we are Jeeves of Belgravia and Cameo Cleaners of Gramercy Park. On Long Island, Arthur Copeland Cleansers.

Thanks for listening.

*Hydrogen Peroxide applied directly to the yellow area will also work in extreme cases. Always TEST a small unexposed area first (that’s what the pros do), peroxide may not be safe on colors.

White

“Pure as the driven snow.”

“So white it almost glows.”

Owning white in your wardrobe can sometimes be a challenge. White does not hide stains and sometimes does not stay that way forever.

In nature the thread given from the silk worm is not florescent nor is the off-white cotton puff which becomes a crisp cotton top.

Garment makers coax, tease and eventually dye these fibers to become brilliantly white.  Dye, just like the indigo which makes blue jeans blue is used to make off white fibers white.

At the counter clients holding garments cleaned by lesser dry cleaning shops all complain of whites that are now gray. But how?

Other cleaners don’t keep their cleaning solution clean, it is reused until it as dark as a Cuba Libre. Imagine taking a bath in water that ten people have used before you. It’s an easy way to save money.

There is a reason why better quality dry cleaning costs more, your whites should stay, well, white.

Over time as your white garment reaches middle-age, you may notice that the brilliance has faded. The natural break down of the dyes used to make white, brilliant white is starting to occur.

Your white garment is just trying to go back to how it started, not brilliant any more, but older and maybe just a bit wiser. Like the person who wears it so well.

If your whites are coming back from your cleaner less than white, bring them to me. I will be able to help.

My shops are Jeeves of Belgravia and Cameo Cleaners in NYC and Arthur Copeland on LI.

Thanks for listening.

Naked

“Paper or plastic?” That used to be the question at the market, now the sign admonishes you to bring your own bag. Great idea.

In France, so I am told, you are scowled upon if you don’t come to the market with your own.

Clean and freshly pressed clothes are covered in plastic for their journey from my shops to your home. The plastic is a barrier against the perils of stains and wrinkles during transport.

When asked, I always mention that clothes should never be stored in plastic. Fabric needs to breathe; plastic traps moisture and off-gases chemicals harmful to fabric.*

Naked. Your clothes look great naked. Plastic does nothing for the beauty of your wardrobe.

Buy how? Is it risky not to protect? Bring your own bag? The one from Whole Foods won’t do.

A reusable garment bag of your very own, and it is made of cloth.

Drop your bag off with your clothes and we will use it for the journey home. Your clothes can breathe and the landfills will rejoice.

Cost? About $10, but consider the benefits. For most of your wardrobe it can work. For the fussy, special pieces plastic may still have to do. At least for now.

Questions? Drop me a line. Jerry@CameoCleaners.com

Thanks for listening.

The reusable garment bags can be purchased at:

Cameo Cleaners of Gramercy Park, 284 Third Avenue, NYC 212-677-3949

Arthur Copeland Cleansers, 140 Grove Avenue, Cedarhurst, NY 516-295-2198

*Garment stored in plastic have a tendency to fade due to atmospheric gases being trapped in the plastic bag. You may notice garments in your closet that the color has lightened across the shoulder areas, this is called “fume” fading.

*Mold and mildew damage is problematic with garments stored in plastic. Trapped moisture can cause mold to grow. Only store your clothes naked or in cloth garment bags.

Moth

The moths in question may not kill, may not maim but will inflict harm. Harm not to you, but harm to your possessions.

Moths, and not the kind that flutter towards the light harmlessly, but a different variety that hops along in darkness laying her eggs.

These eggs lay dormant amongst the folds of the softest cashmere, hidden from view in warmth and darkness.

The larvae appear not all at once but over time. As they hatch they are awakened from their slumber by the uncontrollable urge of hunger.

And so they feast. Drawn to the musky aroma of late nights at the office (working of course) along with a splash of white wine from dinner they start.

They don’t stop their feast until disturbed by the harsh light of day or eradicated by immersion into cleaning solutions. But by then it is too late.

The evidence of the feast has left the softest cashmere pock marked with irregular holes, fibers weakened. The piece would never be the same.

Fixable of course, invisible weaving by the finest French method will un-do the damage. But at a hefty price.

Insurance you mutter. The only insurance is to only put away one’s precious woolens clean. And yes, you must clean if only worn once, as just one drop could start the feast.

*The moths in question are; the webbing clothes moth or the casemaking clothes moth.

*Re-weaving starts at $100 and the price quickly increases depending of the number of holes. Cameo Cleaners of Gramercy Park, Arthur Copeland Cleansers and Jeeves of Belgravia (NYC) all have wonderful weaving divisions.

*Dry cleaning your woolens before storage is the best insurance against moth damage.

Hermes Blouse

A relatively new client was at Cameo Cleaners last month with a problem. She had in her Bergdorf Goodman shopping bag what used to be a beautiful Hermes silk top.

She was upset, visibly upset. She had just walked over from the brand spanking new dry cleaner 2 blocks away. She confessed that she had brought her blouse to the new cleaner because, “they were on my way to work.” The blouse was a shadow of what it used to be.

The Hermes top was a textured silk, evoking light delicate petals of a peony in shades of charcoal and black. The top no longer fit my client, it was too large, the silk petals misshapen and haphazard. The luster of the silk was no longer there.

She handed me a letter written by the manager of the cleaner who had mishandled the cleaning of the blouse. It was filled with words such as, “manufactures fault”, “mislabeled” and “unserviceable”. All word that you don’t want to hear when you pick up your blouse at the dry cleaner. The word “sorry” never appeared in the letter.

After examination I knew what went wrong. The other dry cleaner had steamed out the blouse causing the texture silk to become flat. That’s why the blouse was too large and the petals misshapen. It also appeared that they had “washed” in an attempt to  save the blouse.

There was no way of fixing this for her as it was too far gone. I told her that I would send it to my garment analysis lab for an independent opinion. The results concurred with my opinion.

This type of business person gives all dry cleaners a bad name. Instead of solving the problem for his client, he gave the problem back to the client. He lost an opportunity to create a “customer for life”, now she’s my client, and she has sent 3 friends to me,

In my company if we have an issue with a garment and feel that it’s the fault of the maker, we solve the problem with the maker. We never ask our client to do our work.

As Coco Chanel once said, “In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.”

My staff and I run a garment care companies that are different, and I hope my clients feel that we are irreplaceable.

Thanks for listening. Jerry Pozniak