Spots and stains, for the rest of this article, will just be called stains, is not only a science but an art so to speak. Just like if you get grease or oil on a garment and you launder it, it doesn’t necessarily come out, the similar is true with drycleaning. Recall that drycleaning’s name, (the dry part), means without water. Drycleaning is done in a solvent or solution that is basically without any free water. This is great not only to prevent problems like shrinking or pilling or felting (things that can happen to water sensistive fibers) but drycleaning is excellent in removing of oily/greasy types of stains.
However garments can have other stains on them like the ice cream that didn’t make into the mouth but landed on the slacks as an example. These are removed many times by the spot removal technician who is trained to know what will come out in drycleaning and what needs to be “pre-spotted” (meaning treated before cleaning) or “post-spotted” (meaning after the first cleaning). Within the drycleaning solution are also what we typically call detergents but they are cleaning aids that assist in what experts call WSSR (water soluble stain removal).
You see you can break down spots/stains into some categories:
a. water soluble, those that require water (steam) to remove, these might include coffee, ice cream, perspiration, hair spray.
b. solvent soluble, these would include things like greases and oils
c. insoluble, these would include things like ground in dirt.
Of course you can take it even further with the water soluble stains, because they break themselves into two basic groups, those that are protein or alkaline in nature and those that are tannin or acid in nature. Blood and milk for example is a protein stain, as is perspiration. Tannin stains would include grass stains, coffee, drinks with sugar, etc.
And all these various categories of stains are approached differently in stain removal. And it can get even more complicated because you have combination stains which are stains like coffee with milk in it. Coffee is primarily a tannin where as milk is a protein. Or you take paint and depending on the paint (water base/latex or oil base, etc.) those also can require different approaches. Chocolate is another combination stains composed of tannin, comprised of oils and if it is milk chocolate, proteins.
The problem is that if you don’t know what you are doing, you can set the stain. This is one reason we encourage our customers when their garments get stained simply to bring them to us and don’t try home remedies, etc. because if you put the wrong thing on it, you could set it making it impossible to remove.
So how do you know how to proceed. First, if the customer has told us what the stain is, that helps. Some stains are pretty obvious, if you see red/purple stains on a table cloth that is probably wine or grape juice and the list goes on. But our staff has had not only decades of experience in handling stains but also have received extensive training through our association with DLI (Drycleaning and Laundry Institute). We have attended classes and schooling and receive other training. It costs us like $3 a day to be a member, why would you trust your garments to a drycleaner who would not want to get that information and training?
I have been in several drycleaning plants over the years, and many of them were plants that were closing or closed. What I noticed was that on their spot removal equipment, they would have only a few chemicals at their disposal. And if one of the three or four bottles they had, splashed onto the garment and steamed and air dried didn’t remove the spot or stain, it was time for the sorry tag. While I have over 2 dozen various chemicals at our spot removal board and about another 2 dozen that are located in cabinet that are used less frequently. Sometimes it takes a chemical of a different protein base or acid base or a stronger or weaker variation. And sometimes in removing stubborn stains, it takes a lot of time and combinations.
Not all stains are removable. And the fiber/fabric makes a difference. In the removal of latex paint for example, it requires the adding of a solvent and a neutral lubricant and working the paint spots with a special tool called a spatula. And sometimes you have to use mechnical action on such. But if there is that same sort of paint stain on a silk garment, you can’t do that or on sheer drape.
We had a customer who had sat on a park bench that had been recently painted with green paint and that was some sort of permanent green paint. All the normal POG (paint/oil/grease) removers and OTPR (oily type paint remover), would not touch it. I went into the cabinet and got out a special one I had that I very rarely use (because it is not as effective as what is on the spot removal board). Yet that particular one in combination with another, removed the paint. It took 1/2 hour to get all the paint off, but we had a very satisified customer.
Some stains can be really difficult. You take a mustard stain. It can be difficult to remove because of the turmeric that is in it (this is what gives it the yellow color).
Like things remove like things. You would think that if you had for example a tannin (acid) stain, you would apply the opposite an alkaline product, but no you don’t. Oily stains are removed by special oily solvents, etc.
This is just a window into the day to day. I didn’t discuss all the various types of stain removers or stains like ink but it is sufficient to say there is alot of science and art in removing stains. Unfortunately, many cleaners spend that 1/2 a minute on a stain and if it doesn’t move, they give up and move on. We don’t say this to brag, but we try to give you the best possible stain removal, realizing not all stains can be removed.