Clothing Care Label Symbols Defined – Washing

The symbols on a clothing care label can provide valuable information about the best way to clean the garment, but only if you understand what they mean. Here are a few common labels and their definitions. 

Machine Warm

Garments with this symbol on their care label can be safely machine washed in warm water.

Machine Hot

Garments with this symbol on their care label can be safely machine washed in hot water.

Hand Wash

Garments with this symbol on their care label can be safely hand washed in lukewarm water.

Do Not Wash

Garments with this symbol on their care label should not be washed in water.

Chlorine Bleach

Garments with this symbol can be cleaned with chlorine bleach safely.

No Chlorine

Garments with this symbol on their care label should not be cleaned with chlorine bleach.

Does frequent dry cleaning shorten the life of a garment?

No, unlike washing your clothes in water, dry cleaning does not cause the fabric to slowly fade and does not shorten the life of a garment. On the contrary, frequent dry cleaning actually extends the life of a garment for the following reasons.

1. Dirt Removal – Frequent dry cleaning removes ground in dirt that acts like abrasive sand paper and causes rapid wear to the fabric’s fibers. As it wears down, the fabric becomes thin, weak and vulnerable to rips and tears. The damage usually shows up first in the crotch area of pants and under the arms of blouses and jackets.

2. Stain Removal – Frequent dry cleaning removes certain stains that, if left untreated, could oxidize and cause yellowing. With the passage of time, stains from food, beverages, and oily substances can oxidize and turn yellow or brown. Known as “tannin” stains, once they become yellow or brown, these stains often cannot be removed.

3. Prevent Insect Damage – Frequent dry cleaning prevents moth and other insect damage. Insects are attracted to soiled clothes. Usually appearing as small holes, damage is caused when insects feed on spilled food or perspiration on the fabric.  A good “full service” cleaner can mothproof your garments. Mothproofing is a chemical treatment that provides protection from insects without making your clothes smell like mothballs.

4. Restoration & Preservation – A good full service cleaner will offer Restoration & Preservation service. Often done for antiques or family heirlooms,  through a special restoration process, dry cleaners can restore very old garments to like new condition. It’s not uncommon, for a cleaner to restore a wedding gown originally worn by the bride’s grandmother well enough that the bride can wear it in her wedding. After the wedding, the cleaner can then provide preservation service to the gown. Preservation is a special type of storage that helps prolong the life of a garment. Cleaners often say that they aren’t just preserving a customer’s garment, they’re preserving a memory.

Is my dry cleaner really green?

Since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides no standard definition of an environmentally friendly cleaner, and has no approved cleaning solvent or process, professional cleaners can call themselves “green” regardless of their practices and policies. Some cleaners erroneously claim to be green simply because they use one type of solvent over another. This practice of “green washing” their business is simply a sales gimmick. Being “truly” green actually has very little to do with which solvent they use. Being truly green is a multi-faceted combination of environmentally responsible policies, programs and practices.

So how can you tell if your dry cleaner is green? There are several main factors to consider and to ask your cleaner about.

Responsible Waste Disposal – Regardless of the cleaning process they use, when cleaners remove the dirt and grime from dirty clothes, they create environmentally hazardous waste. A green cleaner will dispose of their waste in an environmentally responsible way. They will hire a waste management company, like Safey-Kleen, to remove and dispose of the waste using a “closed loop” model.

Recycling – Many cleaners will accept the return of your used wire hangers and plastic packaging. But what do they do with them?  They should reuse any hangers that are still in good condition and send the rest to your city’s recycling program, along with all the other recyclable waste generated by their operation.

Proper Machine Operation – If properly operated and maintained, the new 4th and 5th generation dry cleaning machines recycle over 96% of the solvent they use. They are designed to keep the solvent inside the machine and out of the air and ground water. However, machines that are not maintained properly will not operate as efficiently. Leaky or broken component parts should be repaired or replaced immediately.

Carbon Footprint Reduction – There are many things a cleaner can do to reduce their carbon footprint. Switching to flourescent bulbs, insulating pipes, and replacing antiquated machinery with new more energy efficient models will reduce their energy bill and reduce CO2 emissions. However, by far the biggest way to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions is to provide pick-up and delivery service. Every order of clothes that the cleaner delivers is one less round trip to their store for their customers. The typical van can service over 300 homes a day, 6 days a week, 50 weeks a year, eliminating thousands of time & energy consuming trips.

Why is dry cleaning so expensive?

Dry cleaning doesn’t have to be expensive! By shopping around and asking a few key questions, you can find a cleaner in your area that is offering the best value.

Dry cleaning prices are very “elastic”. In most major metro areas, you can find an extremely wide range of prices being charged for dry cleaning. I’ve seen ranges as wide as $1.99 to $24.99 being charged to clean the same garment. Why such a big difference in price? Because, not all dry cleaning is the same. Dry cleaning is very “labor intensive”, so the majority of the production cost is directly attributed to the labor expense. So, along with the prices, you will also find an extremely wide range in the level of quality and service being provided from cleaner to cleaner.

So, before you race off looking for the cheapest cleaner in town, don’t forget the old adage “you get what you pay for”. Keep in mind, there are countless ways to cut corners in a dry cleaning business and, in order to make a profit, the lower priced cleaners are forced to cut a lot of corners. At these “discount” cleaners, they may be using dirty solvent or not adding detergent to it. So, the dirt, grime, and nasty from other people’s clothes may transfer to your clothes. They may not attempt to remove stains by hand. If a stain doesn’t come out in the machine, they’ll just slap a “sorry” tag on it. You can usually forget about getting a button replaced or any other minor repair work done complimentary. They won’t have time for that kind of service. They sometimes don’t even press your clothes. They use “steam tunnels” instead of presses. The effect is similar to hanging your clothes in the bathroom while you shower. Some of the wrinkles may fall out, but its a far cry from professional pressing. They most likely won’t use any “sizing”. Sizing is an expensive additive that does for your clothes what conditioner does for your hair. They’ll probably skip the deodorant additive and the anti-static chemicals as well. So, your clothes may come back with a funky chemical smell or be covered in lint.

On the other hand, there is absolutely no reason to over pay for dry cleaning. The best value for your dry cleaning dollar can usually be found near the “middle range” in price. The cleaners charging average prices are often providing “full service” at a reasonable price. As you shop around, you should interview the cleaners you try. Here are a few bold questions to ask them. A good cleaner, worthy of your patronage, will not be insulted by these questions and they should be able to answer them.

1. I’m shopping for a “full service” cleaner. Could you please walk me through the basic steps that you will be taking with my clothes?
2. Does your spotter work on stains before and after they go into the machine?
3. Do you replace missing buttons and do minor repair work without being asked?
4. Do you have an inspector who checks the quality before the clothes are packaged?
5. If I’m not happy with the way my clothes come back, will you reprocess them free of charge?
6. Do you offer free pick-up and delivery service to my home or office?

When striking a balance between price and service, don’t forget to consider the substantial savings and benefits you get from free delivery service. Having your clothes delivered will save you the time, the hassle and the gas of going to the cleaner yourself. In addition to full service cleaning, a good cleaner should provide twice a week delivery service, require no minimum order, and offer monthly billing, all at average prices. The best thing about free delivery is always having a closet full of clean clothes. Once you get in the habit of sending in a small order once or twice a week, you’ll never run out of clean clothes again!

Chlorine in Drinking Water The Good, the Bad & the Ugly News

by Nancy Hearn

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The addition of chlorine in drinking water has been the standard in water treatment in the United States since 1904.

Thus, for over 100 years we have trusted and relied on chlorine to purify our water and kill off any waterborne pathogens.

The good news is that chlorine has done a good job in killing off most microorganisms in the water.

In fact, the United States has one of the safest water supplies in the world, and I am truly grateful for this.

Without chlorine (or some other form of water disinfection treatment), millions of people would die from devastating infections such as cholera, salmonella, and others.

The Bad of Chlorine in Drinking Water

The bad news is that chlorine treatment does not absolutely ensure that by the time our drinking water comes out of our home faucet it is free of unhealthy microorganisms.

Dangerous bacteria (such as e-coli and coliform) are still found in chlorinated tap water on occasion. When this happens it is primarily due to problems related to the treatment system itself or to the transport of the water to our homes.

Thus, relying on chlorine disinfection alone is a false guarantee that the water from your tap is safe to drink.

Even minimal exposure to these types of bacteria can cause symptoms similar to the flu, such as headaches, diarrhea, cramps, nausea or vomiting.

Thus, I highly recommend a tap water filter at the point-of-use (your water faucet) to ensure adequate filtration of unhealthy micro-organisms, as well as other many other contaminants, that could end up in your drinking water.

The Ugly Side of Chlorine

The ugly side of drinking chlorinated water has only recently been documented.

And it has to do with the long-term health effects of chlorine and itsdisinfection by-products (DBPs).

What the studies have found is that chlorine itself is not the main problem; rather it has to do with what happens when the chlorine mixes with any type of organic matter in the water.

In the 1970s scientists discovered that when chlorine is added to water, it forms Trihalomethanes (THMs), one of which is chloroform. THMs increase the production of free radicals in the body and are highly carcinogenic (cancer causing).

Chlorine and THMS have been linked to various types of cancer, kidney and liver damage, immune system dysfunction, disorders of the nervous system, hardening of the arteries, and birth defects.

Negative Effects of DBPs and Chlorine

Unfortunately, we are learning the hard way that our attempts to prevent illness by adding chlorine in drinking water has contributed to another problem—the increase of cancer and heart disease. Check out what the experts have to say:

“Cancer risk among people using chlorinated water is as much as 93 percent higher than among those whose water does not contain chlorine,” according to the U.S. Council of Environmental Quality.

According to the BreastCancerFund.org,“One common factor among women with breast cancer is that they all have 50 to 60 percent higher levels of these chlorination by-products (THMs) in their fat tissue than women without breast cancer . . .”

"Long-term drinking of chlorinated water appears to increase a person's risk of developing bladder cancer as much as 80 percent,”as documented in a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Some 45,000 Americans are diagnosed every year with bladder cancer.

"The drinking of chlorinated water has finally been officially linked to an increased incidence of colon cancer. An epidemiologist at Oak Ridge Associated Universities completed a study of colon cancer victims and non-cancer patients and concluded that the drinking of chlorinated water for 15 years or more was conducive to a high rate of colon cancer," according to Health Freedom News, January/February 1987.

But drinking chlorinated water is only half the problem. Bathing and showering in unfiltered tap water is just as bad as drinking it, according to the Journal of Public Health and numerous other scientists and doctors. See "Chlorine in Tap Water - Why Use a Bath and Shower Filter?"

A Better Way to Disinfect Water

The primary reason adding chlorine to water for disinfection has become so widely accepted is not because it is the safest or most effective way to disinfect water — it is the cheapest.

Is there a better way? A handful of cities such as Las Vegas, Nevada, and Santa Clara, California, have begun treating their water through a process called ozonation. It is more expensive for the city, but the side effects are minimal.

Ozonation is a step in the right direction for these large cities and I would like to see other cities follow their example or find other non-toxic disinfection solutions.

For those of us who don’t live in these cities, there are a few options. The most powerful and cost-effective way to get chlorine-free water is to invest in a whole house water filter or to purchase a drinking water filter and/or bath and shower filter for your home.

A Final Thought

Do you know what happens when you put chlorine into a fish bowl?

All the fish die. That is why fish tanks come with a de-chlorinator. So then why are we drinking and showering in this chemical that kills another organism in a matter of hours?

Spring Breakers cleaning up trash after Facebook page goes viral

GULF SHORES, Ala. — WPMI Spring Breakers in Gulf Shores are cleaning up trash after a Facebook page went viral showing garbage covering the white sands. A Facebook page called Spring Break Nightmares Gulf Shores surfaced this week. As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, more than 4,000 people have liked the page.

Pictures posted showing beer cans and garbage all over the beach, even right next to trash cans, some drivers not wearing seatbelts while allegedly speeding, and others urinating on the beach.

The page quickly went viral. The administrator for the page posting 13 hours ago that the page had gained more than 2,000 likes in less then 24 hours.

Wednesday morning, a new type of picture surfaced on the Facebook page. Spring Breakers are cleaning up all that trash.

We'll keep an eye on the page and report any new information that surfaces.

Seven Common Cleaning Terms That Are Losing Steam

Now that the professional cleaning industry is evolving faster than ever before, some terms traditionally used in the industry are becoming less common or being replaced. According to Ron Segura, president of Segura Associates, who works with large organizations and cleaning contractors to help them operate in a more efficient and cost effective manner, these seven jan/san terms are fading away:

Chemical-Free Cleaning: This describes a type of cleaning using water and no chemicals. It is being replaced with the term "engineered water," which more accurately indicates how water is mechanically changed to act as an effective cleaning agent.

Strip-and-Wax: This term had its heyday in the 1980s; it has now been replaced by "refinished."

Buffers and Burnishers: Buffers traditionally referred to low-speed floor machines and burnishers high-speed equipment. Today, most industry professionals simply refer to these machines as either low- or high-speed equipment.

Spray-and-Vac: While this is the official ISSA term to describe systems that apply chemicals to surfaces, rinse clean these areas, and then vacuum up moisture and soils without touching surfaces, most industry professionals refer to this as no-touch cleaning and leave it at that.

The Old "Sustainability": The term sustainability, originally defined as protecting today's resources for future generations, now refers to organizations that use resources responsibly, fairly treat their workers, and give back to the community-all while ensuring economic growth.
 
Extraction: More commonly used than most of the other terms listed, instead of extracting carpets, many technicians now use the term carpet "restoration." Restoration refers to the most thorough, restorative cleaning possible for carpeting.

Chemicals: While it has served us well, the term "chemicals" now conjures up a number of thoughts and feelings, from chemical abuse to chemical reactions. Because of this, the word is losing favor in the industry, being replaced with the term cleaning "solutions."

"And just as some jan/san words are disappearing or being replaced, new ones are growing in importance," says Segura. "For instance, the term 'group purchasing organization' is now on the lips of many more [cleaning] contractors looking to reduce their cleaning supply costs."