Problem:A jacket with collar trimmed in polyurethane coated fabric was drycleaned. Most of the collar coating survived in perfect condition but along the collar fold it crumbled, cracked and peeled away.
Cause:A coated fabric flexes in normal wear and tiny cracks open up in the structure at the folded or flexed areas. These do not show prior to cleaning, but cleaning fluid penetrates and lifts the coating away from the base fabric. The weakened areas crack and peel during drying to reveal the problem.
Responsibility:The garment should be able to withstand the cleaning process on the care label after a period of normal wear, not just when new. The garment maker is to blame. If the cleaner had been at fault damage would have been visible all over the collar not just the fold.
