01/13/2021

Why Do Some Dry Cleaners Charge More Than Others?

In the world of dry-cleaning, there are two types of providers: discount cleaners and full-service cleaners. Discount cleaners tend to use less expensive products like lower quality dry cleaning fluid, less than premium detergents, flimsy hangers, and thin poly. They often don't adhere to strict inspection processes or offer a guarantee in the event of a mistake or poor quality.

Since A Cleaner World is not a discount cleaner, let me share what a garment goes through when dropped off at one of our locations.

• When your garments arrive inside one of our plants, we ensure the pockets are empty. Then, we examine each garment for stains, make any necessary notes, tag each item, check them into our computer system, and sort them into the appropriate buggies – launder, professional wet clean, handwash, or dry clean. Some loads are further sorted by color, fabric, and weight.
• Before garments are cleaned, we remove stains based on our understanding of chemistry. We can immediately use the proper spotting agent when we know what the stain is. If we are unsure, our years of experience and training come in.
• Garments are then sent to the proper cleaning station (launder, wet clean, handwash, dry clean), where we use only Sanitone premium detergents. Detergent isn't the only product to consider here. While the dry-cleaning process doesn't use water, it does use liquid, and that liquid needs to be fresh and clean for each load. Many discount cleaners use their dry-cleaning liquid too many times before changing or refreshing it; this results in dull colors and grayish whites.
• Once clothes are clean, we again inspect them to make sure stains are removed before sending them on to pressing stations. If any stains remain, those items are recleaned before moving on to finishing.
• The finishing department takes clean garments and presses them to like-new condition. Pressing is an art and requires a discriminating eye and attention to detail. These folks are the ones that take an ordinary piece and turn it into professionally cleaned pieces.
• Finally, all your clothes are lined up on the inspection rack for one last look. If the Inspector doesn't like what they see, they send the garment back until it meets A Cleaner World standards. They are looking for proper pressing, complete stain removal, missing buttons, etc. Once our quality standards are met, all your items are assembled and bagged together and are placed on the line awaiting pick up.

We're providing this garment care blow-by-blow to help you understand that professionally and adequately caring for your clothing is involved and takes commitment. Each piece is touched by five sets of hands, sees premium products, and has a "Right the first time or it's free" guarantee. A Cleaner World will not cut corners on the quality of products used or quality of service provided, and that's why we are a full-service cleaner.

Sometimes you get what you pay for.