Flushing away those stains

DOING LAUNDRY has been a common household activity for years. Whether the technology was beating the garments on rocks by the river or pushing buttons on programmed washin machines, this process depends on water and a mechanical action usually assisted by soap or an alkali.

The purpose of an alkali is to saponify the oils and dislodge ordinary soil and other matter. More often than not, the soapy agent holds soil in suspension as it becomes loose during the wash cycle, and is subsequently flushed away during the rinse cycle and centrifugal spin.

The drying process for doing laundry at home is either hanging clothes on a clothesline or tumblin them in a gas- or electric heated dryer.

Dry cleaning, on the other hand, is different. It’s a process that cleans clothes without water. The cleaning fluid that is used is a liquid, and all garments are immersed and cleaned in a liquid solvent - the fact that there is no water is why the process is called ‘dry’.

We will take a behind - the - scenes look at the dry-cleanin process so that you can understand what happens to your clothes after you drop them off at the cleaners! When you drop your clothes off at the cleaners, the employees follow a pattern that holds true at just about any dry-cleanin operation running today. Your clothes go through the following steps:

1. Tagging and inspection - Some method, whether it is small paper tags or little labels written on a shirt collar, is used to identify your clothes so they don’t get mixed up with everyone elses. Clothes are also examined for missin buttons, tears, etc. that the dry cleaner might get blamed for otherwise.

2. Pre-treatment - The cleaner looks for stains on your clothes and treats them to make removal easier and more complete.

3. Dry cleaning - The clothes are put in a machine and cleaned with a solvent.

4. Post-spotting - Any lingerin stains are removed.

5. Finishing - This includes pressing, folding, packaging and other finishin touches.