What Went Wrong

Trims

1 July 2010



Richard Neale explains the concerns that drycleaners may face when handling trimmed articles


Trims may need special care

Buttons and trims are still causing problems in drycleaning as many care-labels only take account of the fabrics and do not include any special treatment that may be needed to protect the trim.

Polystyrene beads are still popular with makers and the garment care-labels continue to specify cleaning in perc without indicating that this is unsuitable for such beads. As a result cleaners are left with sticky failures.

The British Standards Institution has done its best to point out that the care label must apply to the whole of the textile article (see BS/EN/ISO 3758:2005).

Sometimes removing trims or buttons before cleaning and replacing them afterwards can solve the problem but there is no symbol to indicate this. Such an instruction must be clearly stated in words if it is the only way to avoid trim damage and if this method is feasible – removal may not always be suitable.

British Standards also provide a method for testing buttons

for stability to drycleaning solvent (BS 4162 method 6) and drycleaners can use a simplified version of this for testing beaded trims. Remove one bead of each type from the garment, immerse in solvent for 30minutes then remove and squash or rub between two pieces of clean white cotton. If the bead collapses or leaves coloured or sticky marks, it is not suitable for drycleaning. (Note: the laboratory method uses a slightly elevated temperature and other controls but the simplified test described here can be carried out in a unit shop, provided the cleaner takes normal precautions for handling solvent.)

Some kinds of trim damage will be the cleaner’s responsibility. Fun-fir trims commonly fail in drycleaning because the outlet air thermostat has been set above the 40C maximum and as a result the fun-fur has matted.

Fun-fur becomes tangled during drying

Fault: A ski jacket hood had a modacrylic fun-fur trim and during drycleaning this changed from a smooth “fur” into a tangled mass.

Cause: Modacrylic fun-furs dryclean well in any solvent provided they can be dried with a maximum cage outlet thermostat setting of 40C. If the thermostat is set at a higher temperature, the risk that the fibres will kink and loop increases greatly so that the fun-fur looks matted and tangled as shown.

Responsibility: If the garment was labelled with a bar beneath the drycleaning circle symbol then the blame lies with the drycleaner for not interpreting this symbol correctly. If there is no bar beneath the circle or no warning in words regarding the drying temperature, then the blame lies with the garment maker.

Plastic trim loses part of its silver coating

Fault: During cleaning the trim on this cocktail dress had lost part of its silver coating.

Cause: The coating used here had quite good resistance to the drycleaning process specified on the care label. However in some areas, the coating has been partly lost and there was a distinct pattern to this loss. This can happen when the new trim can be drycleaned without damage but no or little allowance has been made for the effects of normal wear. Such wear can include handling, leading to transfer of skin sebum, and flexing. Here the pattern of loss probably matches the pattern of handling or flexing in use.Drycleaning involves total immersion, so if some areas have survived then these are the ones that have been the least handled or flexed

.
Responsibility: The responsibility for loss of a metallic finish applied to plastic trim depends on the article and the intended use, as well as on the ease of removal. Random loss of coating when the new article is drycleaned is usually the responsibility of the manufacturer. The responsibility for localised loss following handling or flexing in use depends on the degree of use and on whether the garment was purchased as a fashion item for occasional wear, as this item might have been, or whether it was intended as a garment for everyday use.

Rectification: This is not possible.: The responsibility for loss of a metallic finish applied to plastic trim depends on the article and the intended use, as well as on the ease of removal. Random loss of coating when the new article is drycleaned is usually the responsibility of the manufacturer. The responsibility for localised loss following handling or flexing in use depends on the degree of use and on whether the garment was purchased as a fashion item for occasional wear, as this item might have been, or whether it was intended as a garment for everyday use.

Rectification: This is not possible.

Care label should apply to adhesives too

Fault: The beads on a garment, which was labelled for drycleanng in perc, had been attached with adhesive but during drycleaning they came adrift.

Cause: The fact that an adhesive cannot withstand washing does not necessarily mean that it will be OK in drycleaning. The manufacturer had failed either to specify the correct adhesive and/or failed to check that the correct adhesive had actually been used. This could have been done by test drycleaning in accordance with BS/EN/ISO 3175 part 2.

Responsibility: The blame here lies with the garment maker. All the cleaner did was to follow the care label instructions and the result was inevitable.

Rectification: Fortunately in this case the loose beads were also held by a retaining thread. They could therefore be recovered and glued back, using an adhesive that has been formulated to withstand drycleaning.

Beads were poorly attached

Fault: Several of the beads’ retaining threads broke or came undone during cleaning and some of the small beads have been lost as a result.

Cause: An examination of the remaining beads revealed that the retaining threads had not been tied off so they would eventually pull out and release more beads.

Responsibility: The blame here lies with the garment maker. The care symbol implies that the entire garment has been designed for machine drycleaning, a process that involves appreciable mechanical action. To withstand such action, every seam and bead attachment needs to be correctly tied off or otherwise secured but the garment designer or maker clearly has not understood this.

Rectification: If matching beads have been supplied or the cleaner can obtain them, then repairing the trim is straightforward but this is not always possible. If a cleaner has doubts about a garment that has a beaded trim or similar, then cleaning the garment in a pillowslip or duvet cover will minimise the risk of trims that do become loose getting lost. However, failure to do this does not make the cleaner responsible for the loss.


Main button gets scuffed by wear
Fault: The owner of a smart designer jacket noted some scuffing to the edges of the buttons following drycleaning. Some buttons were more affected than others.

Cause: Buttons can become scuffed both in normal wear and during machine drycleaning (when the button strikes the side of the rotating cage from time to time). However the buttons on this jacket were in remarkably good condition. The main fastening button at the front was slightly marked but all of the others, including those at the cuff, were scuff-free.

Responsibility: It is possible to distinguish between scuffing in the drycleaning machine and scuffing in use. When scuffing occurs in drycleaning it is random and affects all buttons equally. Scuffing that occurs during wear mainly affects the front fastening.In this case the scuff marks were only on the front fastening and so must have occurred in use.

Rectification: None should be necessary. These are good quality buttons and the damage is so minor as to be reasonable in the light of normal use. Drycleaning is not capable of reversing the effects of normal wear to create a “new” garment, whatever the consumer might hope for.




Privacy Policy
We have updated our privacy policy. In the latest update it explains what cookies are and how we use them on our site. To learn more about cookies and their benefits, please view our privacy policy. Please be aware that parts of this site will not function correctly if you disable cookies. By continuing to use this site, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with our privacy policy unless you have disabled them.