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The gender politics of buttons.
Why left handed buttons for women? In Victorian times, right handed maids did most of the buttoning for fashionable women. Left-handed buttons indicated wealth (you had enough to pay a maid to do the tedious work). As with everything, there’s an answer on the Internet. By the time sewing machines and patterns became popular in…
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Save the memories.
Everyone has an heirloom item made of fabric. Wedding gowns are such popular heirlooms we offer special preservation services. But the same careful cleaning and archival storage can benefit any textile. Grandmother’s lace tablecloth, Dad’s letter jacket or uniform, antique tapestries or christening gowns. We’ve seen it all and can recommend the right procedures and…
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Hanger humps.
We’ve all seen sweaters with humped shoulders from incorrect hanging. Sweaters and knits should be folded and hung over the padded hanger bar. Better yet, stored flat on a shelf or in a cedar-lined drawer. The weight of the fabric pulls and stretches, even while wearing. Hump not: we can get garments blocked back into…
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Out, out darned spot
Our dry cleaning service would be incomplete without our expert spotters. They know how to treat stains without damaging the fabric, the color or the texture. Home cleaning might work on jeans or a golf shirt, but bring your valued garments to us for prompt treatment when there’s a spill. Silk just can’t be treated…
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Dull duds
Do your clothes look dull after you take them out of the wash? Home laundry products often react with hard water and leave residue behind that builds up on your clothes. Combat the dinge with baking soda. Mix ¼ to ½ cup into the water before you add detergent or clothes. The baking soda softens…
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Daylight Savings starts Saturday night.
You’ll lose an hour to Daylight Savings but you can make up for it with our time-saving cleaning and laundry services. Whether we pick up and deliver or serve you from our counter, let us take care of your all your household linens and garment cleaning and ironing.
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Wax on, wax off.
Removing candle drips from table linens is often easier than you’d guess. Remove the tablecloth and freeze it. That’s right, the cold will make the wax brittle and if it doesn’t just pop off the cloth, scrape with a credit card. Now just treat the spot with stain remover, like Shout!, and toss it in…
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The missing care instructions
Are you trying to figure out the best way to clean a tie, hat or handbag, but can’t find the care label? Manufacturers are not required to put care labels on items such as those because they are not considered “washable.” Bring them to us for expert evaluation: we can clean most fabric and leather…
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Ink load
Did you forget to empty your pockets when doing the laundry? Nasty ink stains on your favorite khakis or towels? Try not to re-wash the items — the heat from the process will set the ink permanently. Bring inky items to us for stain treatment and dry cleaning, pronto. We have special stain removal technique…
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Button, button, who’s got the button
Broken buttons are the most common damage to shirts, sweaters and blazers – but damaged specialty buttons can be difficult to match unless you saved the extra buttons stitched into new clothes. Without matching replacements, you may have to to replace all if one or two begin to crack. If it is a favorite fashion…