Welcome Spring!  Looks like it’s time to put away all those sweaters, coats, gloves, and hats~

What’s the easiest thing to do?  Throw them all in some container and forget about it… But not the best idea~~

So what should you do?

1. Clean all items thoroughly.  (We can help with that)
2. Do NOT use containers or bags that will not allow clothing to breathe (such as plastic or nylon bags)
3. If you use mothballs, make sure you wrap them so that they are not in direct contact with your clothing.  For example, wrap them in newspaper.  Cedar or lavender are great alternatives.
4. Most clothing will store better when folded.  If clothing must be hung, make sure you use well-shaped hangers and let them to flow freely.
5. Make sure your storage area is clean and dry.  Avoid direct sunlight.
6. Boots and other shoes should be stuffed to maintain shape.

Todd Layne Cleaners is happy to provide these great tips for you, but please note we are not responsible for any damaged clothes. We offer these tips as a suggestion, so please use at your own discretion.

• Hours: Monday – Friday 8am to 8pm, Saturday 10am to 6pm, Sunday 10am to 5pm

• Phone: 212.671.1946

• Email General Questions to: uppereast@toddlaynecleaners.com

• Email Special Requests to: concierge@toddlaynecleaners.com

• twitter: @ToddLayneClean

• Foursquare: Todd Layne Cleaners

• Location: 242 East 77th Street (bet. 2nd and 3rd Avenue) New York, NY 10075

• Delivery: Available throughout Upper East Side

• Our store is located on the Upper East Side at 242 East 77th St. (bet. 2nd and 3rd)
• Click on the INFO tab for important delivery information
• Click on the SCHEDULE PICKUP tab to arrange for your pickup/delivery

• We are the affordable, green cleaners in NYC

Here are a few tips on hand washing your “fun” wear:

• Hard water?  You may wish to first add a spoonful of borax to the washing water
• Use lukewarm water and mild, non-alkaline soap
• While rinsing add a few drops of hair conditioner to the final rinse water for extra silky feel
• Soaking silk for any more than a few minutes should be avoided
• Do NOT use harsh detergents that contain bleaches or brighteners
• Do NOT wring or twist; roll in towel to extract water
• Hang dry – but avoid direct sunlight, radiators, and wooden hangers/racks

Todd Layne Cleaners is happy to provide these great tips for you, but please note we are not responsible for any damaged clothes. We offer these tips as a suggestion, so please use at your own discretion.

Let’s start off by you dropping off your garments. First they are inspected and entered into our computer system. We keep track of the color, brand and any damage or stains that we may see (we like our customers to know that all garments are under video surveillance and tagged so that we can prevent them from getting lost). We keep track of your garments by identifying them with an invoice number, customer code and piece count. For example, if a customer drops off 6 pieces of dry cleaning, we will attach tags to all garments with the number 6 and also a customer identifier number like 123. In this scenario, after all of the garments have been inspected and tagged they are then ready for their field-trip to our plant.

As for the cleaning process, all garments are inspected in our plant again for missing buttons, stains or damage. Any garments that have stains are treated by our Spotter, who is a Certified Specialist that is experienced in the safest techniques to remove all stains, including oils, ink, food, blood, perspiration, water rings, grass stains, etc. It is important to note that most dry cleaners do not have a Spotter in their plant. After the garment has been spotted, it is sent for cleaning with one of our two eco-friendly cleaning methods. One of these cleaning methods is called Wet Cleaning. While traditional dry clean machines immerse garments in a chemical solution like Perc, Wet Cleaning uses water and specialized detergents. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Wet Cleaning is the safest professional method of dry cleaning. The EPA states that it does not use hazardous chemicals, doesn’t generate hazardous waste or air pollution and reduces the potential for water and soil contamination.

Like most, I wanted to know more about Wet Cleaning so to explain the process in further detail; garments are placed in computer-controlled washers and dryers. It is important to note that these are very sophisticated machines and bear little resemblance to the washers and dryers found in a typical household. Natural detergents, fabric softeners, dye-setting agents (to protect color) and fabric-finishing agents (maintain garment body and crispness) are used to effectively clean the garments. Temperature and humidity levels are held at very specific levels to prevent any garment shrinkage, seeing that most people prefer that their clothes don’t come back to them in miniature size. Drying time is kept to a minimum and garments are hand-finished with specialized pressing equipment. In addition to the environmental benefits, there are many benefits for the consumer. Since the majority of stains are water-soluble, the Wet Cleaning process is better at removing these types of stains. White garments are whiter and darker colors remain brighter. There is no chemical smell and garments have a longer lifespan since they are not immersed in harsh chemicals.

After the cleaning process, the garments are steamed, hand-finished and placed on hangers with protective covers. The field-trip is now over and the garments are sent back to our store and inspected once again by our counter person. They make sure the garments have been cleaned, pressed, and inspected for any missing buttons, and for stains that hadn’t been removed. Then they proceed to separate the garments into either our delivery section or pick up section.

We always want to give 100% to the dry cleaning process and keeping it Green, as well as having a quick turn-around time. The other beauty behind our cleaners and what we pride ourselves in is that we get to know our customers. By this, I mean after a few times of dropping off your clothes our counter person tend to remember you and your order requests. We aim to have you in-n-out, but at the same time if you want to stop and chat we are ok with that too. We hope this is no longer a mystery for you! But if there are any questions you have been wondering about and I just didn’t get to them, please comment and let us know and we will be happy to answer them.

Have you ever had the misfortune of getting a stain on your expensive silk tie and not being able to get it out? If so, I am sure your first reaction was to try and rub it out with water. When you do this, you are doing more damage, water could make your tie pucker and become discolored. Remember water is the enemy to silk! We recommend to leave the stain alone and act quickly by going to your local dry cleaners (for those of you in Manhattan we hope your local cleaners is Todd Layne Cleaners) and having it treated by their Spotter. We hate to say it but the average dry cleaner puts it in their dry cleaning machine and hopes for the best.  We are one of the few cleaners who have a Spotter, so if you are not using us (which we hope that will change) then please make sure to ask your cleaners if they do in fact have a Spotter. If you wondering what exactly is a Spotter, a Spotter is a Certified Specialist that is experienced in the safest techniques to remove all stains, including oils, ink, food, blood, perspiration, water rings, grass stains, etc. So if you are using our services, once you get the tie to us we will mark the spot and have our Spotter professional treat the silk stain. Of course, we cannot guarantee that the stain will be completely removed; it is all based on how quickly you get the tie to us and how much the stain has bonded to the fibers. Stains on silk can be the trickiest of stains and sometimes hard to completely remove.  But we will definitely try our hardest and only use the best to treat your silk stain. If you have any questions regarding this process or any other questions please leave a comment below and we will make sure to answer your question.

• First and foremost, try to avoid using chlorine bleach due to the chemicals being harsh on clothes and harmful to you. It is best to avoid most commonly available bleach, sodium hypochlorite, a moderately toxic chlorine salt that can bond with other chemicals to form cancer-causing organochlorines in the wastewater system. “Natural oxygen safe bleaches” are found primarily in the health food stores, and are based on hydrogen peroxide. The best choice is to buy store-bought commercial brands, such as Seventh Generations’s Non-Chlorine Bleach–Free & Clear because this includes oxygen bleach stabilizers to help reduce the product’s reactivity in the environment.
• Lemon juice has also been known to help whites stay bright, white and smelling fresh. Just add ½ cup of lemon juice to the rinse cycle of a medium load. To make this technique more effective, hang dry your clothing. The use of lemons is not only beneficial for your clothes but is also a great household eco-friendly tool. Click on the link below to read about 24 handy lemons tips. http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/136/1/24-handy-lemon-tips.html
• One culprit that makes your clothes gray (that you might have never known about) is minerals in hard water. Some of you might know if you have hard water in your household. To help you detect if your water has an overabundance of minerals here are some clues: Dishes will have water spots on them, your soap won’t lather well, and your white clothes will look dingy. You may also notice white, crusty sediment on your fixtures, a recurring bathtub ring, or rust-colored stains on your clothes, silverware, or porcelain fixtures. If you do have hard water all you need to do is add ½ cup of vinegar to your rinse water. If you do not have hard water, to brighten your clothes, the use of minerals in your wash cycle will help. Add ½ cup borax or washing soda (both can be found in the laundry section of your supermarket) to a medium load of laundry.
• Lastly, please make sure to always read your care tag on your clothing. Some may state to dry your clothes in direct sunlight. Just keep in mind that natural fibers love the sunlight and hanging them outside to dry is to their benefit. Some people living in NYC will find it hard to hang dry if you do not have a line outside of your apartment and if that is the case, try to hang dry in your apartment where the sun hits.

Please keep in mind, if your white clothes care tag states to dry clean please try to follow those instructions so that your clothes stay looking new. If these tips help, please leave us a comment letting us know or if you know of any other good tips, we would love to hear them. We hope you have fun keeping your whites bright and fresh and to keep en eco-friendly household try out some of the handy lemon tips included in the link we posted.

Enjoy!

Todd Layne Cleaners