The result is that the table, which should be the cleanest piece of equipment in the plant, is in fact the dirtiest.
In addition, many cleaners use high pressure water sprays to spray detergent which adds to the contamination, to say nothing of health and safety issues.
To overcome the problem, pre-spotting should be done on a separate flat-topped table, using appropriate kit spotting products and soaps/detergents.
The use of straight chemical reagents such as 10% acetic acid and a 5% solution of ammonia on the post spotting table will prevent the build up of greasy dirty deposits, so enabling the cleaner to keep the table spotlessly clean and avoid clean garments being contaminated.
Silk and delicate fabrics are particularly at risk if the table is not spotlessly clean.
Pure chemical reagents do not contain non-volatiles and therefore evaporate completely without leaving a deposit. There is also a much lower risk of the colour being affected during stain removal operations.
Water used in high pressure sprays will normally remove at least 80% of the stains that remain on garments after drycleaning, provided the stains are of a manageable size. A single drop of washing-up liquid in the water can lower the surface tension and enable water to penetrate fabrics more efficiently.
