A Cleaner World Blog
Why It is Better to Leave Some Stains to the Professionals
I am not a trained spot-removing professional, but I am mom to a 15-year-old boy, so I have had plenty of time to perfect the art of stain removal. Here is what I have learned over the last 15 years – I cannot remove all stains. While I have had many successes, general grocery-store spotters cannot address stains in the same manner as a trained professional with a variety of agents. By trial and error (many errors), I know that the professional stain removal technicians at A Cleaner World have the knowledge and skills required to do safely and expertly what I cannot.
Our Trained Professionals
The art of stain removal begins with the ability to recognize both the type of stain and the type of fabric, and they also need to know how both the stain and fabric will react to the substance required for removal.
Stain Removal Process
Certain stains on certain fabrics simply come out in the dry-cleaning process, but it is still important for you to point out any stains at drop off so that our technicians can determine if that is the case. This is especially true if you spill something like Sprite or white wine on a garment. These will dry clear and can oxidize and become difficult to remove, especially with time. If cleaned without pretreatment, they could become more noticeable after cleaning. If pretreatment is required, this is where stain and fabric knowledge is important. After assessment, our stain removal technicians will choose the appropriate pretreatment process so that the stain will dissolve prior to and during the cleaning process.
Required Tools
Our experts use a specially designed board, which allows them to work on small areas at a time. The board comes equipped with a steam or water hose, a vacuum system, and an air dryer for drying the fabric after the stain removal process is complete. Technicians also use tools like brushes, blotters, eye droppers, cotton swabs, and a magnifying glass.
Safeguards
The biggest challenge during the process is removing the stain without impacting the fabric or dyes. Some dyes can be temperamental, so it is important for the technician to test for colorfastness before attempting any stain removal technique. Again, fabric knowledge comes in to play here as certain stain removal agents can damage certain fibers. Many times, fiber content is listed on the care label, but when it is not, A Cleaner World has access to fiber identification test. Finally, our technicians must also identify the type of construction because certain fabric constructions can be damaged during normal stain removal procedures. Some fabrics and constructions need to be managed with great care.
With all the information at our fingertips, even the most skilled stain removal expert may not be able to remove all stains without causing damage. Things like perspiration stains, old stains, and sugar stains are troublesome. With everything that can go wrong with stain removal, now you understand why I leave the stain removal to the professionals.
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