DLI School Graduates Complete 387th Hands-On Drycleaning Courses

Twelve students graduated the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute’s School of Drycleaning Technology’s Introduction to Drycleaning Course, March 24–28 and eight graduated DLI’s Advanced Drycleaning Course, March 31–April 11. DLI’s Introduction course consists of five days of in-person, hands-on instruction and the Advanced Course runs for 10 days. Founded in 1927, DLI’s School of Drycleaning Technology has helped shape the careers of thousands of drycleaners worldwide.

In these courses, students learned about:

  • Sorting loads for drycleaning
  • The science of drycleaning
  • Fibers and their characteristics
  • Fabric construction
  • Cleaning silk, stain, and other fabrics
  • Soil and cleaning theory
  • Operating a drycleaning machine
  • Stain removal chemistry and procedures
  • Removing coffee, ink, grease, and other stains from clothing
  • Pressing pants, coats, blouses, ties, pleated garments, and skirts
  • Using tensioning equipment to improve finishing quality
  • Using bleaches without damaging fabric color
  • Distillation procedures
  • Understanding the differences between solvent types
  • Wetcleaning wool, silk, and more
  • Designing a drycleaning plant with the most effective workflow

Bolor Boldbaatar with Purple Hamper in Ashburn, Virginia, said, “I don’t want to bring people wrinkled clothes. I took both the introductory and advanced classes. I will be more confident in returning high quality clothes to our customers and probably increase my prices,” she said. “I’m learning a lot. It’s blowing my mind how much we are learning in just a short amount of time. I can now train other people in my work who train more people. These courses, even though it’s three weeks of time, the amount of money is nothing compared to how much you learn.”

 

Weitian Chan with Presto Drycleaners in Singapore, attended the course for its structured approach. “I’m a second-generation owner in Singapore, he said. “My parents have been running the business for about 30 years. A lot of their experience came from trial and error. I learn better with a structured approach. That’s why I decided to come to the course. In terms of any stains that come in, I know what chemicals to use, whether it’s a tannin stain or protein stain, what to use instead of just guessing and I think that gave me a lot of confidence. Spotting is my favorite part of the course. I enjoy the science behind it. Just to be able to categorize the stains into different categories, and then knowing the science behind why this spotter, this detergent, will work for this particular stain.”

“I’ll be introducing a lot more training in terms of what I have learned here,” Chan said. “I’ll be able to teach my guys back in the production plant and then we’ll know the do’s and don’ts. It will not be a guessing game. We’ll increase quality.

In addition to classroom and hands-on training, students share their experiences and perspectives. “Coming here gives me exposure to what other people are doing in other parts of the world,” Chan said. “Part of it was getting us to know, how many shirts are you doing an hour? How many pants are you doing an hour? What is your production rate? That concept is not very apparent back in our factory. Just being exposed to such ideas helps a lot.”

Shamere Leonard with Nu Royal Dry Cleaners in Newport News, Virginia, said, “I’m a third-generation drycleaner, and my father and my son came to the last class. Once you get in the intro class, it’s like, wait, I want to learn more, I want to see more,“ she said. “Once I found out there would be more, I was so excited, because the intro class got me pumped and ready. I’ve learned the proper way to remove stains. We get a lot of stained material that comes into us, and just learning the proper way to care for those type of things, just makes me feel more prepared for when I return home and I feel like an expert. The courses taught me a lot of the basics that I didn’t know. I’ve learned rules, and one of the biggest things I’m excited about learning is why you do certain things to certain fabrics, why you can’t do certain things to certain fabrics, and what those fabrics are and what certain fabrics are sensitive to. I’m very excited about that in general,” she said.

“Brian’s amazing, too,” Leonard said. “He’s more than amazing. He’s very informative with the information he provides, and he keeps you engaged in the class. I went back to the shop on Saturday and I can see the difference this is going to make in the way I run the business, the way the business is set up, and certain policies and procedures that we have in place now that we definitely will be changing, and I’ve already started changing.”

 

Tyler O’Connor with The Greener Cleaner in Chicago, Illinois, attended the course to learn more about working in a drycleaning business. “I just graduated high school and I was looking for a job,” he said. “I was working the front counter at a drycleaning store, and my boss and my father came up to me, talking about this class and more information I could gain from it, especially since I just started in drycleaning. They got me into this course and it’s been going great. I definitely have a more in-depth understanding of what I’m doing now. Before it was just, ‘I’m told to do this, hit these buttons, it’s going to do this,’ ” O’Connor said. “Now I’m seeing the actual process that is going on, and this gives me a better understanding, if I need to communicate to a customer or anything, of what’s happening. I see this course helping me in my career, because I want to stay in drycleaning. I really don’t see another career that I want to get into right now, and I think that this is a good spot for me to stay in.”

Charles Edwards with Collins Cleaners & Valet in Charlotte, North Carolina, said, “I was very excited to take the courses, because I wanted to learn more about the business and the industry. We learned so much [in the intro and advanced classes]. I definitely want to use more of the spotting techniques back home and try to be more efficient with the drycleaning machines.”

Edwards said the course helped him get a better understanding of the cleaning process. “It’s given me a lot better insight of everything like the machine itself, the solvents, the detergents, the temperatures, and things like that.” He said learning about finishing was his favorite part of the course. “I really haven’t done much of it, and I’ve only watched or saw someone as they were doing it, so to get a better understanding of it helps. Taking the courses will give me more information that I could use in real time while I’m on the job, and it gives me more confidence. I believe I will be able to be more useful in all those ways.

“If you don’t have any idea what you need to work on, you will find out quickly when you take this class,” Edwards said. “For me, I had a few things that I wanted to work on, like my spotting and my sorting, but there’s so much more that has been brought to me and opened up my eyes. Be open minded and to take in the information even if it’s not your position. Take what you can in so you have a knowledge of what someone else is doing, you can be a little more compassionate of what they’re doing. But also, if you’re needed, you can help elsewhere in the business,” he said.

 

Upcoming Courses

 

DLI offers a full range of in-person and virtual courses in 2025.

Learn more about the courses at DLIonline.org/Education.

 

Photo Captions

Action and group photos are available at: Tinyurl.com/DLI387th

DLI’s School of Drycleaning Technology Graduates 12 Students in 387th Introduction to Drycleaning Course, March 24–28, 2025

Front row (left to right): Bolor Boldbaatar, Purple Hamper, Ashburn, VA; Michael Phillips, Kreussler, Inc., Tampa, FL; Shamere Leonard, Nu Royal Dry Cleaners, Newport News, VA; Jihen Ben Maaouia, The Clothing Spa, Lanham, MD; and Ty O’Connor, The Greener Cleaner, Skokie, IL.

Back row (l-r): Willie Bailey, The Clothing Spa, Lanham, MD; Dwayne Anderson, The Clothing Spa, Lanham, MD; Steve Lefkowitz, Oak Neck Cleaners, West Isplip, NY; Harris Lipton, A Cleaner World Dry Cleaners, Miami, FL; Charles Edwards, Collins Cleaners & Valet, Inc., Charlotte, NC; and Mike Puppet, Tiffany Couture Cleaners, Las Vegas, NV.

Not Pictured: Weitian Chan, Presto Drycleaners, Singapore.

Dwayne Anderson, Charles Edwards, Shemere Leonard, Haris Lipton, and Jihen Ben Maaouia attended this course for free as part of their Premier DLI Membership.

Mike Puppe and Ty O’Connor attended the course with scholarships from Kreussler.

 

DLI School Graduates Eight Students
in 387th Advanced Drycleaning Course, March 31–April 11, 2025

 

Front row (left to right): Katie Dugos, Urban Valet Cleaners, Hamburg, NY; Melanie Buchanan, Busy Bee Drycleaners, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada; Shamere Leonard, Nu Royal Dry Cleaners, Newport News, VA; and Bolor Boldbaatar, Purple Hamper, Ashburn, VA.

 

Back row (l-r): Dwayne Anderson, The Clothing Spa, Lanham, MD; Charles Edwards, Collins Cleaners & Valet, Inc., Charlotte, NC; Weitian Chan, Presto Drycleaners, Singapore; and Ty O’Connor, The Greener Cleaner, Skokie, IL.

 

Dwayne Anderson, Charles Edwards, Shamere Leonard, and Ty O’Connor attended the course for free as DLI Premier Members.

Melanie Buchanan and Ty O’Connor attended this course with scholarships from Kreussler.

 

Action Photo Captions

 

Brian Demos Pressing.JPG

Brian Johnson, left, explains the finer points of garment finishing during DLI’s 387th Advanced Drycleaning Course this April.

 

Brian in front of Class.JPG

Brian Johnson, DLI’s Director of Education & Analysis, pauses teaching for a moment during DLI’s 387th Advanced Drycleaning Course at DLI’s School of Drycleaning Technology in Laurel, Maryland, this April.

Brian Teaches Spotting Techniques.JPG

Bolor Boldbaatar (left) with Purple Hamper in Ashburn, Virginia, and Melanie Buchanan with Busy Bee Drycleaners in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, listen as Brian Johnson (second from right) teaches how to remove tough stains. Bill Kahan (right) with Unipress shared his expertise on drycleaning, finishing, stain removal, and other aspects of the business during the class as well.

 

Charles on Sankosha Shirt Press.JPG

Charles Edwards with Collins Cleaners & Valet, Inc., in Charlotte, North Carolina, uses his new finishing skills on a Sankosha shirt press at DLI’s School of Drycleaning Technology in Laurel, Maryland during DLI’s 387th Advanced Drycleaning Course this April.

Classroom Wide Shot.JPG

Brian Johnson (left), DLI Director of Education & Analysis, discusses proper solvent flow during DLI’s 387th Advanced Drycleaning Course at DLI’s School of Drycleaning Technology in Laurel, Maryland, this April.

Overview Shirt Units.JPG

Brian Johnson, DLI Director of Education & Analysis, demonstrates how to use a Sankosha shirt press during DLI’s 387thAdvanced Drycleaning Course at DLI’s School of Drycleaning Technology in Laurel, Maryland, this April.

Unipress.JPG

Bill Kahan, Regional Sales Manager with Unipress Corporation, demonstrates how to use Unipress shirt systems the company donated to DLI’s School of Drycleaning Technology in Laurel, Maryland, during DLI’s 387th Advanced Drycleaning Course this April. Kahan spent a full day demonstrating Unipress equipment and sharing his expertise with the class.

Chan Spotting.JPG

Weitian Chan with Presto Drycleaners in Singapore practices stain removal during DLI’s 387th Advanced Drycleaning Course this April.

Brian and Shemere.JPG

Brian Johnson, DLI Director of Education & Analysis works with Shemere Leondard with Nu Royal Dry Cleaners in Newport News, Virginia, on one of DLI’s Sankosha shirt presses.

 

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