Many modern designer ranges use coated fabrics extensively and these can pose a variety of problems for cleaners. When the majority of coated fabrics were made in the UK, some performed successfully, even after normal wear, because they had been designed to withstand perc fluid and they were well bonded to the base fabric.
Now that so much manufacture has been moved off-shore, many quality control links have been broken and the number of coating failures is rising steeply.
A common problem is the use of plasticisers, not only for PVC but also for polyurethane and polycarbamide. If a plasticiser is used to make a coating soft and supple, the coating then becomes virtually impossible to dryclean successfully.
Drycleaning fluid, even hydrocarbon, progressively strips out the plasticiser leaving behind a shrunken and much stiffer result.
Even where the coating has been correctly designed, it will still come adrift from the face fabric at the main wear points around the pockets and collar fold.
These may look all right before cleaning but once the drycleaning fluid penetrates the tiny cracks in the coating surface the entire coating will lift and break down.
Some designers will get excited about a printed coating, but will never think to make simple checks on drycleaning performance. So the cleaner is left to explain to the disappointed owner that, despite following the care label, the garment is ruined.
The problems are becoming so severe that some of the more forward thinking retailers are recognising that there is an opportunity here to put some quality back into top of the market garment ranges. Unfortunately, distinguishing well made material from rubbish is not easy.
