14 FABRICARE COVER FOCUS as fancy beads, sequins, and buttons; polyurethane coatings; contrasting colors and stains; localized fading and/or wear; and chenille, fringe, and unfinished edges. If there’s any doubt that a garment will survive the cleaning process intact, test. “Test all red flags,” Suber said. “Quite often, the labels are wrong because manufacturers don’t test. I’ve seen people test the cuffs but not the lining on a silk acetate windbreaker, and the black lining bleeds. You’re supposed to be the professional, so test even if the label says ‘Dryclean only.’” “If you know how to handle an issue, you can eliminate it,” Hallak said. “You have to learn a little about garment construction and read the care label. Know that nonvisible things may be a problem. There are things that are not foreseeable, and there are others where you should know better.” Be prepared to go against care label instructions when necessary. “There are options in wetcleaning and hand- cleaning,” Hallak said. “Let’s say you have a beaded gown that really doesn’t need to go through cleaning. Take it to an ironing board or pressing machine and lay it flat. Go over it with a damp picrin towel. I tell my guys that if they are not hand-cleaning at least 20 to 30 items every day in the summertime, they are doing something wrong.” EDUCATE AND INFORM Whenever possible, drycleaners should inform the customer of the risk involved with a particular garment and the potential consequences before attempting to clean it. “It’s easier to have that conversation ahead of time than after the fact,” Johnson said. “If you try to talk to them after a failure occurs, good luck on that conversation.” Muir suggested showing the customer the appropriate DLI Bulletin to explain potential issues. “It’s better to tell them upfront,” she said. Counter staffers can ask production personnel about garments that might present problems. “Back each other up. They might not know from experience, but can recognize what they need to question.” Instead of throwing it into the general cleaning bin, Hallak’s counter reps hang any garment that looks questionable. “You can train your counter people, but the bottom line is that they are not your technicians,” he said. “Your cleaner or spotter has to have enough experience to look at something and know.” If a garment is deemed risky, operators can (tactfully) ask the customer to sign a release. “I tell the customer that I’ll take a release because I do know what I’m doing,” Hallak said. “Educating the customer doesn’t absolve you of carelessness, it’s just saying, ‘I see this and this as a potential problem.’ “You don’t want to scare the customer,” he added. “You don’t want to make it look like they’re taking their chances every time they come in. I tell them that the integrity of the garment is all I care about. If I have to hand-clean it due to the fiber content and we can only get it 80 percent better, that’s what we’re going to do.” THE FIX IS IN Even with precautions, problem garments can get past the best operators. And that’s when the drycleaner will need to reverse the damage, replace the garment, or reimburse the customer—no matter whose fault the failure was. continued from page 13 A moth snacked on the fibers of this suit, causing tiny holes that eventually enlarged. Inset: A close-up of a fiber showing a bite taken by the moth.