Tulle curtains cause trouble

History

The customer brought in a pair of tulle curtains. They were drycleaned and returned to the customer without any problems.

The customer returned with one curtain a couple of days later, stating that the cleaner had put a stain on one of the curtains. The stain was similar to that shown in Pic 1.

The cleaner rubbed the stain with soapy water, which appeared to remove it, causing no damage. The curtain was then given a quick clean on its own, with a 2-minute solvent wash, total cleaning time 35 minutes. There were no rips in the vicinity of the stain on removal from the machine, but the cleaner did find rips in one area of the curtain.

One large rip shown looks worse than it might have done originally, because the cleaner has tried to glue it.

Comments

1. Tulle is an open weave net-like fabric, usually involving yarns made from silk, nylon, rayon or polyester.
2. Tulle fabrics are widely used for both garments and drapes, so although they are classed as delicate fabrics, they would generally be considered robust enough for both of these end uses.
3. There are a considerable number of stain types which are not visible at pre-cleaning inspection, but which can develop in drycleaning to become very visible after cleaning, through no fault in the cleaning process. A typical example is anything containing a sugar (such as white wine), because sugars can darken slightly with the heat of the drying stage in the cleaning machine process. This darkening then increases further with the heat in finishing. This type of developed stain could be softened and removed with soapy water, which might explain the cleaner’s apparent success with this technique.
4. There are two reasons why a tulle drape might rip in the drycleaning machine process itself. The first is a machine fault, such as a damaged or misaligned cage creating a nipping point between the rotating cage and stationary drum. Physical damage inside the cage is not uncommon and is usually associated with a heavy metal object such as a spanner striking the inner cage. Burrs in the metal cage caused by a metal strike present a major hazard to all types of delicate fabric cleaning boiler suits exposes the cleaner to much greater risk of cage damage. However, machine faults usually create problems in every load, not an incidence of rips in just one pair of curtains.
5. The second possibility is a weakened area of the item, leading to inability of the fabric in one area to withstand the normal and necessary stresses of the tumbling action in the solvent wash, the high-speed extract and the early stages of the tumble dry. This can occur in a curtain made from delicate fabric which has been exposed to atmospheric pollution or to strong lighting or normal sunlight (especially through glass). Perc solvent for example is 60% heavier than water, so the stresses can be significant.
6. Repairing a rip in a fabric using fabric adhesive is not a recommended technique, because it is rarely successful, especially if the rip is in an area where it can be seen when in use, such as a curtain at a window. Even re-weaving is unlikely to produce anything approaching an invisible repair in this instance.

Advice to the cleaner:

1. It is important to determine whether the cause of the rips to these curtains are the result of an inappropriate stress during cleaning or whether there is a weak area of fabric. Since the curtains are already ruined, there is little to be lost by conducting a few stress tests around the edges of the curtains and comparing the results with several tests in the area of the rips. Although this could be done in a laboratory using the British Standard Trouser Tear or Tensile Strength tests, a cheaper initial alternative would involve simple subjective tests.
2. First try to arrive at an agreement with the customer and do the tests in their presence. Make a short cut into the fabric in the warp (vertical) direction, then hold the fabric either side of the cut between thumbs and forefingers and gently try to extend the tear. Test near the undamaged edges first and then in the ripped area. Then repeat the tests in the weft (horizontal) direction). If the tests reveal weakness in the ripped area, then the responsibility for the damage could well lie more with weakening in use than with cleaner error. If there is little or no difference in strength, then in this particular instance the cleaner should be offering compensation. There are Fair Compensation Guidelines available, which have been prepared in consultation with the Institute of Loss Adjusters, which base compensation on today’s replacement cost (not the original purchase price) adjusted for age and condition.
3. If either the cleaner or the owner require confirmation of this advice (which is based only on the information provided and the photos supplied) then the curtains could be submitted to an independent test house, such as Drycleaning Technology Centre, Rutland Street Bradford BD4 7EA, telephone 01274 393286, which is widely reputed to report accurately and without fear or favour.

What can every cleaner learn from this unhappy tale?

1. It is important to examine all curtains carefully and completely before accepting them, looking for stains, rips, faded areas and so on.
2. When receiving curtains, warn the customer about the risk of developed stains and how you will minimise this risk (by post-spotting any stains which might appear), but cannot eliminate it entirely. Not all developed stains are removable.
3. Warn the customer about the risk of fabric tears (which is not foreseeable, simply because you cannot try testing the fabric to see how weak it is!). The risk is greatest in the central areas of curtains made from natural fibres, such as cotton, silk or rayon, which have hung at Southfacing windows. Delicate fabrics are particularly susceptible. If you are in the least suspicious and the curtains are small enough, enclose each curtain in a net bag and clean on a ‘delicates’ cycle. This applies especially to net curtains from an urban address. Alternatively, you could agree to clean them only on the basis that the customer takes responsibility for this specific risk.
4. If you have an ultraviolet lamp (such as a forged banknote detector) take the curtains to a very dark area and shine the light on them. Any splashes containing sugar will fluoresce towards bright white and you can take them out easily with a water flush or steam gun.
5. Examine the curtains completely on removal from the drycleaning machine. If they display any damage put them on one side without attempting to finish them. Don’t try to repair any damage if there is the slightest chance that the repair will be visible. Just establish the probable cause of the damage, seeking advice if necessary. Then discuss the damage with the owner and if you decide to offer a repair, obtain the owner’s agreement to abide by the outcome. Be honest. Don’t suggest that the repair will give a perfect result, when the best you can hope for is likely to be what a reasonable customer might deem acceptable.
6. Don’t repair without customer authorisation, because if there is any visible sign, the customer is likely to refuse to accept it and you have a difficult claim on your hands. It could then be too late to explain that the problem was not your fault, and you were only trying to give the best result in the circumstances. It pays to be up front and open before you do anything.

Conclusion

We all make mistakes and when that happens it usually pays to admit this and offer a route forward at no cost to the customer. This might be as simple as a reclean, or a reduction in the cleaning cost, or it might involve a repair to the curtain. Remember that in many regions (including the UK) the cleaner is entitled to make an attempt to rectify any damage. The owner might hope to simply storm out and lodge an enormous claim, but this is unlikely then to succeed. We hope that this story has opened your eyes.