TEXTURES

Drycleaning offers the opportunity not only to maintain a fabric’s original texture but also to enhance its feel and handle – and so delight the customer. The key lies in moisture and temperature control, the use of the best chemicals and shrewd finishing techniques using well-maintained equipment.

Moisture plays havoc with wool and any hair fibre such as mohair, angora, cashmere or lamb’s wool. It encourages scales on individual fibres to rise so that they take on the appearance of a barbed spear. This means that they can be pushed in one direction but will not withdraw when the garment tumbles the other way in the drycleaning machine cage. Continued mechanical action with the fibres in this condition produces a compacted mass of fibres rather like a piano felt – hence the term “felting”. The surface texture becomes rough and harsh and on a woven fabric it is no longer possible to see the individual interwoven threads.

Silk yarns and fabrics will “crack” when agitated in the presence of moisture. The fibres swell and make the yarn deform sharply as the fabric moves. This results in very tight creases, which often cannot be pressed out, no matter how skilled the presser.

Polypropylene will swell in perc drycleaning solvent, so that when a fabric containing polypropylene is dried, the swollen fibres pull back on the surrounding ones, causing excessive shrinkage.

Acrylic and modacrylic fibres are thermoplastic and will shrink in drycleaning and also in pressing. Just a few degrees too high on the drying thermostat or an inadvertent blast of steam on the press or the former are all it takes to cause shrinkage or deformation.

We look at some common problems with fabric texture and how to deal with them.

Silk dress goes limp

Fault: This expensive silk evening dress was cleaned in perc, which removed the soiling, and there were very few stains. However, the dress now had a limp and lifeless texture and it looked quite unlike the vibrant silk that went into the cleaning machine.

Cause: The main problem here is that the solvent has stripped the yarn oils from the silk, leaving it dry and lifeless (and also very faded). The standard technique for avoiding this result is to dose the drycleaning machine with a good cationic detergent. This is attracted to the silk surface in the final bath, in the same way as a laundry fabric softener bonds to a garment in laundering. The effect can be maximised by increasing the detergent dose to the maximum allowed by the detergent supplier.

Responsibility: The responsibility here lies with the cleaner because all types of silk can generally be handled very successfully in perc, using the correct techniques and chemicals.

Rectification: It is worth attempting to re-clean the dress with a little suede oil in the final bath – about one-third the dosage needed for a suede. For best results, shorten the final spin to 1 – 2 minutes, in order to maximise the oil left in the garment.

Ironing flattens wool pile

Fault: This wool pile coat was fine after cleaning, but during pressing on a professional finishing table the surface became flattened in all areas with which the iron came into contact.

Cause: The damage here has been caused by a combination of too much pressure in pressing and inadequate resilience of the press cladding. If the cladding is allowed to get damp, it becomes hard and compacted so that it can no longer accommodate the double thickness parts. The result is excessive pressure on the seams. This cladding was so compacted that even the single thickness areas were glazed.

Responsibility: The presser should be taking the blame here, together with whoever has the responsibility for maintaining the press in good condition.

Rectification: This fault cannot be rectified, although re-cleaning, correct pressing and then light brushing might improve matters.

Drying heat spoils fun-fur

Fault: This fun-fur-trimmed coat was drycleaned in perc solvent on a “delicates” cycle, with the drying thermostat set to 45C. It came out with the previously smooth fur matted and looking horrible.

Cause: This coat was labelled as having a modacrylic fun-fur trim. This requires that the drying thermostat be set to only 40C. The extra 5 degrees makes all the difference. If the fur is examined under magnification, the ends of the fibres can be seen to be hoop-shaped where the heat has curved them. This is what has created the matting and harshness.

Responsibility: The blame for the change here lies with the cleaner.

Rectification: None is possible.

Beware acrylic on former

Fault: This knitted wool-acrylic mix drycleaned well and was finished on the steam air former. The owner reported shrinkage, distortion and very rough handle.

Cause: Wool fabrics can be finished on the steam air former without any problems but acrylic fibres are heat sensitive. They will soften and allow the garment to be blown out of shape. The degree of deformation can be gauged by counting stitches per cm in each area of the garment. A 20% variation in stitch count was found here. The rough handle commonly accompanies this fault.

Responsibility: This garment carried the correct fibre content label, so the responsibility for the roughness and deformation lies with the cleaner in this instance.

Smooth pile turns bobbly

Fault: This red wool coat had a fine smooth pile before cleaning. It came out with unsightly bobbles where the pile fibres had clumped together. This revealed the base weave and felt rough.

Cause: The wool pile has been cleaned with too much moisture in it. The scales on the wool fibres have risen and helped the fibres to interlock with adjacent ones to form the clumps, aided by the mechanical action, which is a necessary part of the cleaning process.

Responsibility: The blame here lies with the cleaner. This garment needed airing for a couple of hours in a warm dry place to avoid this fault.

Rectification: This garment cannot be rectified.