It is our intent at Gilman's Cleaners to bring as much information to you about the care and cleaning of your garments as we can. This is in keeping with our service commitment to our clients and our professionalism.

    Helpful Hints:

    • for Leather and Suede
    • for Draperies
    • for Bleeding of Dyes
    • for Shade Variance in Outfits

 

Leather and Suedes:

    At the time of purchase - read care labels and hang tags carefully... Save them!

    Question sales people before making your purchase.

    Be sure of decoration...keep it simple due to the mechanical action, fancy decorations may not stand up during the normal cleaning procedure.

    Buy from reputable stores.

    At the time of wearing - Wear a scarf around your neck to prevent the garment from becoming soiled by skin oils.

    Avoid cleaning fluids, shoes creams and saddle soaps.

    Do not allow a leather garment to become over soiled.

    Avoid storing in areas of extreme temperature. Do not store in plastic bags; leathers must have air circulation to keep them from drying out. Do not store soiled garments.

    Wet garments should be allowed to dry out naturally. Do not put the garment in heat.

    Grained leathers may be cleaned by wiping with mild soap and lukewarm water and then drying and buffing with a soft cloth.

    Suedes can be brushed clean with a sponge, rubber brush, or special suede brush. Heavily soiled suedes should be professionally cleaned.

    Press suedes and leathers with the lowest setting on the iron. Do not use steam. Press with heavy brown paper between the material and the iron, constantly moving the iron to avoid hot spots.

    At the time of cleaning - Genuine suede and leather requires special processing to preserve the finish, feel and color.

    Care labels and hang tags should accompany your garments when taken to be cleaned.

    Unless all pieces of a multi-piece outfit are processed at the same time there cannot be a guarantee that they will match after cleaning.

    Advise your cleaner of stains and spots, whether visible or not.

    It is good practice to remove buckles, ornaments and hardware or ask your cleaner for special handling

    Remove articles from pockets.

    After cleaning - Inspect your garments immediately.

Draperies:
Because of the invisible factors that might affect both the life and appearance of draperies and curtains, the retail store cannot guarantee how long they will last nor can the dry cleaner always determine what the result of the dry cleaning process will be. You the consumer, however, will benefit by remembering the following hints.

    Know the fiber, weave and finish of a drape or curtain you select.

    Examine the quality of construction

    If possible, rotate curtains and draperies from sunny windows to an unexposed side of the house; or vary window treatments to equalize the environmental effect.

    Inform your cleaner of the fiber content in your draperies or curtains.

    Remember the life expectancy of lined draperies is five years; unlined four years; sheer fabrics three years. However, exposure to sunlight and certain atmospheric conditions in the home will substantially shorten their life.

    Send your draperies and curtains to reliable dry cleaners or launderers.

Bleeding of Salt and Pepper Dyes:
Many fashionable garments, especially men's sport jackets, contain both white and colored yarns in a random or tweed-like weave, commonly known as salt and pepper. Sometimes, upon contact with moisture in any form, the dye of the colored yarns will migrate into the white yarns.

    Can it be prevented ? - The only method of prevention is through a better selection of dyes that are colorfast to water during the manufacturing process.

    Who is responsible ? - Contact with moisture is an expected condition of normal use. The manufacturer is responsible for these dye disturbances due to a poor selection of dyes which are unable to withstand expected conditions of use and later care.

    Is there a remedy ? - Due to the type of weave, where the dark colored yarns are interwoven with the light colored yarns, there can be no attempts at restoration without further dye disturbance.

Shade Variances on Outfits:
 The problem occurs when only certain pieces of a matching outfit lose color in dry cleaning.

    What does it look like ? - After cleaning, one piece of a matching outfit will be noticeably faded in comparison with the other piece in the ensemble.

    What caused it ? - Fading such as this occurs when the dyes or pigments applied during manufacturing are not colorfast to dry cleaning solvent. The dye or pigments in other components of the outfit do not experience objectionable fading because they are constructed from different bolts of material. In some cases, pieces of an outfit are manufactured in different countries using fabrics that were dyed under different conditions.

    Can it be prevented ? - The cleaner would have no means of detecting whether various pieces of a matching outfit are constructed from different bolts of material and therefore, are not able to withstand dry cleaning without a noticeable shade variance. Only the manufacturer of such 'separates' is able to prevent this type of damage by incorporating tighter quality control conditions.

    Is there a remedy ? - There is no means of restoring the color on the faded garment to satisfactorily match the other pieces of the outfit once the damage has occurred.