UK

The Guild of Cleaners and Launderers (GCL) recently held an online meeting dedicated to expanding drycleaners’ services to items not normally accepted as drycleanable with existing equipment, whether solvent or water rotary machines. The idea behind the meeting was to demonstrate to Guild members that there are other market opportunities that retail drycleaners can become involved with at a modest cost to expand their range of services and increase their revenue.

The retail drycleaning sector needs to diversify to survive. Since the Covid pandemic, drycleaning, almost worldwide, has failed to return to the levels achieved in the past. Many drycleaners in the UK closed after the pandemic when Europe and the UK had an energy crisis because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Costs for electricity and gas rose through the roof making continuing trading very difficult to impossible. 

Some drycleaners , however, didn’t give up and have managed to achieve better margins, rising to the challenge and finding new avenues of business to pursue. One such area which has slowly developed since the introduction of professional wetcleaning equipment is cleaning footwear. However, not all shoes can be cleaned in a rotary washing machine, and this has spurred on the development of bespoke systems for manual cleaning assisted by steam, detergents and a vacuum cleaner followed by gentle drying and ozone sanitation.

GCL Council members Ken Cupitt and Ron Davidson visited Texcare International 2024 in Frankfurt in November and saw the Bieffe Farinelli stand displaying, among other equipment, a shoe cleaning system, Scarpavapor Line, with a claimed output of a minimum of five pairs of shoes per hour (the reported average price received of €20 per pair). 

Isabella Viggiano, wife of Pietro, son of the founder of the company Biffe Farinelli, explained other benefits of the system – cleaning of handbags, cycle helmets (both motor bike and cycle) and leather jackets, plus also cleaning furniture and carpets.

Cupitt explained: “The advantage of the Scarpavapor Line system is that it is self-contained with its own boiler, which is rated below the requirement for certification as a pressure vessel.  It has its own vacuum with holding tank for soiled water, a built-in under-counter timer-controlled drying cabinet with an ozone sanitiser set at a temperature designed not to damage leather or other materials used in the construction of shoes, handbags and garments. It has a range of pipes, nozzles and rotary brushes to carry out the cleaning and drying process. There is provision for additional additive bottles for specific cleaning tasks.”

Guild members were able to find out about the equipment via an online demonstration organised by the GCL with the Viggianos during which a video was shown of the system in operation. The discussions afterwards between GCL members indicated an eagerness to become involved and to sign up to extend their range of services.

“Prior to the online meeting we learned that Julian Stone from American Dry Cleaners, London, has already decided to purchase the equipment and is going to Italy for training. Sarah and Kashif Sheikh of Elite Dry Cleaners, Edinburgh, already have a competitor system and they tell me their handbag cleaning service is doing very well,” said Cupitt.

“When drycleaners do consider this type of diversification they should also learn about colour touch up techniques if they are to clean leather hand bags and jackets because cleaning removes the dirt but makes scuff marks more visible. To ensure complete customer satisfaction cleaners can stock a range of leather colourants to rectify discoloured areas and of course charge appropriately for this service. Bieffe Farinelli are not suppliers of leather colourants but can supply the detergents and softeners that go with the cleaning equipment they supply. There are UK based suppliers of both detergents, softeners and leather colourants including The Scratch Doctor, Blackpool; The Leather Colour Doctor, County Durham, and; The Furniture Clinic, Consett.

• You can view the meeting here courtesy of the Guild of Cleaners and Launderers