Professional Stain Removal

Have you ever purchased an over-the-counter "all purpose" stain removal product, or tried a "home remedy" and had disastrous results? If you answered yes, you are in the majority. Stain removal is a tricky business. Drycleaning businesses like us use complex procedures and special stain removal chemicals to remove stains.

Our drycleaning service employs individuals who specialize in stain removal. These stain removal technicians have the knowledge, ability, and finesse to do the job accurately and professionally.

Stain removal professionals are trained to recognize stains by their color, location, and reaction to stain removal substances.

How We Remove Stains
We remove stains by dissolving them with specific substances. Some stains dissolve in drycleaning solvent and some stains dissolve in water. Some stains require the use of chemical agents while others are removed by breaking them down.

Tools of the Trade
Every trade has its tools. Following are some of the tools used by stain removal technicians.

The Stain Removal Board
The stain removal board is the central stain removal tool in a drycleaning plant.

Stain removal boards have a hard, smooth work surface, usually made of glass, marble, or Masonite. Glass is frequently the preferred surface because it is easy to clean, but commercial rust removers may damage it.

Towels are used to absorb water and cleaning solutions from garments, absorb stains and spots flushed from a fabric, and more.

Brushes are used for tamping, or tapping. Tamping helps the stain removal agents to penetrate into the fabric and break up stains.

The spatula is flat and has smooth edges with a point at one end. It is used to work stain out of the fabric.

Cheesecloth is used for removing pickup dirt, testing for colorfastness, and wrapping brushes for delicate fabrics. Cotton swabs are used to apply stain removal agents to a small area of fabric.

Tweezers are used to hold small samples of fabric when testing for fiber identification, or flame-retardant and flame-resistant attributes. 

Eyedroppers are used to apply small amounts (1-2 drops) of a stain removal agent to fabric.

A magnifying glass is used to identify fabric construction, check for color loss, color change, stains, and fabric damage.

Litmus and pH paper are used to insure that all stain removal agents have been removed from the fabric and to test the acidity and alkalinity of the stained area.

Gloves provide hand protection when using harsh chemicals during stain removal procedures.

Time is of the Essence
Because of the nature of some fabrics and the type of stain, even the best stain removal technician may not be able to remove all stains without damage. This is especially true with perspiration stains, old stains, and sugar stains. With all the knowledge and resources available to the stain removal technician, it is easy to see that leaving stain removal to the professional is a good idea.

The sooner you bring a stained garment to us, the better chance we'll have of removing it.