Q&A with Lynda, Rick, and Jordan: A Fabricare Specialist vs. A Dry Cleaner

Happy Friday, readers! So excited to have Lynda, Rick, and Jordan back again for another Q&A session—and this one will be a series of posts, as it is a question the Woods get asked repeatedly, and the answer is layered, detailed, and integral to understanding how to care for your quality clothing. To be honest, it’s one I had when I first learned about Davis Imperial. Essentially, I think it’s what any person asks when they starts truly investing in their closet.

Question: “In the last year, I have purchased some pricier dresses that I really want to last (considering they cost more than a lot of my other items combined!). After a quick google search, I see two kinds of cleaners—the typical dry cleaner, and “fabricare specialists”. What’s the difference, and why does it matter?” {Lauren, Chicago IL}

Answer: 

As you can well imagine, as a family owned and operated certified couture cleaner for over 56 years, many questions are posed to us each day. But the question that makes our top ten list of most frequently asked questions by a first time client is "What makes you different from the ordinary dry cleaner in my neighborhood?”

Instead of focusing on what the typical dry cleaner does not do, we think it is far more productive to discuss what a quality dry cleaner should be doing. By definition, fabricare specialists are true quality cleaners. Not ordinary dry cleaners. There is a difference. And it's not just one of semantics.

In a nutshell, we are not comparing apples and apples. It’s far more like comparing attending a cocktail party with appetizers and drinks versus sitting down to a full course dinner including dessert with the wait staff making sure that all your preferences, standards of excellence and expectations are met. Our goal is to clarify for our readers the importance of having a fabricare specialist process your favorite garments with a positive result. You may have both a $3,000 suit or dress and a pair of your favorite 15-year-old khaki pants in your wardrobe that have been perfectly broken in. Although there may have been a substantial price difference when purchased, they’re both invaluable in your eyes. At Davis Imperial Cleaners both garments are processed exactly the same way with particular attention to detail—just like every single piece that comes through the door.

Today’s answer will focus on knowledge, skills, and evaluation. Under this category, a Fabricare Specialist should:

1. Have the fashion and fabric knowledge to recognize the investment you have made in your wardrobe and household items, and accept the responsibility to protect your investment. That can only be successfully accomplished if the cleaner has the technical skills and experience, along with a combination of old world techniques and state of the art equipment and computer technology.
2. Be vigilant about security. At Davis Imperial, from the time a garment is received or delivered, it is bar-coded with a removable tag so that garment location in our facility can be immediately determined, as well as the stage of care it is at, and when it will be ready—just like tracking a package.
3. Offer a detailed inspection, including the reading of the care label upon arrival at our facility. It should also include the option to examine a garment under full spectrum light which may reveal a variety of both visible as well as invisible stains and/or fabric damage so that they can be properly addressed.
4. Properly evaluate and test fine fabrics, embellishments and trims to properly select the correct process to remove a stain (such as utilizing gentle solutions that do not strip the fabric of dyes or damage the details).

Davis Imperial follows all of these steps to ensure every garment that comes into our space is treated like the most important garment we’ve received--because, in essence, it is. And next week you’ll find out just how delicately and thoroughly we handle each piece through our second-to-none process. We can’t wait to share with you.

Wishing you and your loved ones good health and happiness always…

Thanks Lynda, Rick, and Jordan for your always informative answers and for stopping by to share with us!

And readers, don’t forget to submit any questions you have on Facebook or on Twitter @davisimperial, or you can email us at davisimperialblog@gmail.com

Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you next week!