ODC makes contribution of Bob Books to early readers.

On December 3, Old Dominion Cleaners staff had the luxury of working hand in hand with a local baker and the Lakeside Elementary School staff to bring a fun afternoon of reading to Lakeside’s preschool students.  Staff from both the baker and Old Dominion Cleaners read books to the 18 children and staff. After reading the books, the children decorated gingerbread men provided by the baker and Old Dominion Cleaners provided all the children with a set of Bob Books.  Bob Books are defined as being  a series of children’s books designed to teach reading skills acquisition . With a foundation in phonics methods, each level addresses a single stage in a child’s reading development.  Michael DeVeaux from Old Dominion Cleaners believes that the earlier these foundation are built in the children, the easier it will be in regards to development in the area of reading.

Coat Swap Flyer We just finished our 2nd Annual Coat Swap with Lakeside Elementary School. Coat Swap is an opportunity for children to trade in a lightly worn coat for a voucher. This voucher can then be used to obtain a professionally dry cleaned coat on the redemption date.
If you or anyone has the opportunity to give to anyone and uplift their current situation, do it. Don’t wait until you reach a certain plateau of success. Any minute, hour or day is fit for giving and sharing with those who have a particular need.

How do we track your clothes through the dry cleaning process?

Have you ever wondered how we keep track of your garments after we’ve received them from you? Although we don’t expect you to be as obsessed as we are with dry cleaning, we thought you might be interested in a little behind-the-scenes peek at our process. Before your garments are dry cleaned, we tag each piece of clothing so it can be easily identified. The tags we use are specially made to ensure that the ink and dye don’t wash out of them during dry cleaning. Next, we group all garments that require the same cleaning process together. This ensures we’re cleaning your clothes safely, and to your specifications. Once we’ve separated clothing into similar groups, we weigh the garments to make sure we place the right amount into our dry cleaning machines. At the end of the cleaning cycle, clothes are taken to the finishing department to be pressed on machines specifically designed to handle a great variety of fabric types and garment designs. After pressing, clothes go to an assembly area where our coworkers collect all of the items in your order and place them together for packaging. When the number of items we’ve placed together match the number of items on your invoice, the order is complete and ready to be packaged. Garments are placed in polyethylene bags, or in your EarthSmart Bag if you have one, before we attach the invoice to your order. Your clean, packaged dry cleaning is then placed on our conveyor system to await pickup. Thanks for taking a moment to better understand our dry cleaning process! If you have any questions, feel free to contact Old Dominion Cleaners. We’re always happy to help! Visit us at www.olddominioncleaners.com

Old Dominion Cleaners sponsors National Night Out in Varina.

Old Dominion Cleaners thinks that it is very important to provide quality dry cleaning services to Richmond, Virginia and surrounding counties. ODC also thinks that it is equally important to partner with the community in support of activities and events within that community. We are delighted to contribute snacks and beverages to the 10 Varina communities of Henrico County that will congregate on Canesville Ln.. National Night Out is a great opportunity to catch up with fellow neighbors, meet elected officials of the area, and celebrate unity. Visit us at www.olddominioncleaners.com

Never trust a dry cleaner with only one type of stain remover in the back.

Old Dominion Cleaners, we keep several different kinds on hand, and we know how to use each one. It only sounds like overkill. It’s necessary because every kind of stain has its own peculiarities. For salsa, you need one kind of stain remover. For gravy, you need another. You need yet another for coffee. (Coffee, by the way, is not something we recommend spilling on clothes. We’ll do our best with it, of course. But coffee is so permanent, it is used as a fabric dye.) But there’s more to it than that. You also need to how to handle each type of fabric, and each type of fabric finish. And you need to know how each type of stain remover behaves on different fabrics and finishes. A stain remover that’s perfect for removing gravy from one kind of fabric may be harmful to another kind of fabric. Just to make things more complicated, clothing manufacturers often put incorrect handling instructions on clothing tags. To be great at spot removal, you have to know when to believe what the tag says, and when to overrule it. Which means that to remove stains effectively and safely, you need to know your stuff. That’s why we don’t turn new employees loose on stains. We keep up on the science, and teach it to our most experienced people only, some of whom have been with us for years. So when you bring us a stain, you can relax. You’ll know that the person who works on it is thoroughly trained and experienced on the science of stain removal and fabric care. For more information on our services, visit us at www.olddominioncleaners.com

Dry cleaners do more than just clean.

One of my neighbors showed me a green Timberland light jacket that had an orange stain all over it. The stain came from water from a rusty pipe while he was wearing it on a EcoTourist cruise in a Honduran jungle this summer. Another jacket had also been splashed with the rusty water, but had come clean after washing it. This green jacket, however, had not come clean after washing it five times. He was concerned about whether the jacket was permanently ruined. Suspecting it was rust, I asked to take the jacket to work with the stain. At first his answer was "no." The jacket label said "Do not dry clean." Once I explained we clean all types of fabrics, washables as well as dry cleaning, he agreed to let me take the jacket. When I returned the jacket to them a few days later, the rust was gone and it looked like new. Do you have a tough stain? As your stain removal professional let us get it out, dry clean or machine wash. Visit us at olddominioncleaners.com

How do you remove coffee stains from clothes?

One of the more common stains that the professional dry cleaner encounters is the Tannin stain. Tannin is a substance found in vegetable matter, such as coffee, tea, nuts, grass and the bark of trees. Tannin stains are visible when fresh and become brown on contact with heat, as in drying and pressing. Tannin stains should not be confused with the invisible stain or also known as the caramelized sugar stain. Tannin stains are easy to identify. Often the location of the stain can be the first clue. Tannin stains will vary from a light tan to a dark brown color. The stain is absorbed by the fabric. It will not be built up or stiff and can often smell like the staining substancec (coffee) when heated with the steam gun. Tannin stains are considered a wet-side stain (meaning they will require wet-side stain removal procedures). Let's look at how to remove coffee stains. Stain Removal Agents Used In the Removal of Tannin/Coffee Stains: •Neutral Lubricant •Tannin •General Formula •Rust Remover •Oxidizing Bleach - (Bleach will be selected based on the fiber content and dye.) •Levelling agent Steps In the Removal of Tannin/Coffee Stains: 1.Pretest in an un-exposed area of the garment using the following procedures to see if the garment will withstand the stain removal procedure. 2.Place a towel under the stained area and flush thoroughly with steam. 3.Remove the towel and apply neutral lubricant to the stained area. 4.Tamp lightly with the spotting brush. 5.Apply tannin stain removal agent to the stained area and tamp lightly. 6.Place a towel under the stained area and flush thoroughly with steam. 7.If the stain remains, remove the towel and reapply the neutral lubricant. 8.Apply General Formula. (Make sure you have tested the effects of General Formula on an unexposed area of the garment, as this is an aggressive type stain removal agent.) 9.Tamp lightly with the spotting brush. 10.Place a towel under the stained area and flush thoroughly with steam. 11.If the stain remains, reapply neutral lubricant and several drops of rust remover. 12.Flush with steam. At this point, if the stain still remains, bleaching will be necessary to remove the stain. If color permits the use of bleaches sodium perborate or 3% hydrogen peroxide can be used on wools and silks. On cottons and rayons, sodium perborate or a diluted sodium hypochlorite solution can be used. Before using any bleaches PRETEST the garment on an unexposed area. Once the stained area is clear of the stain, place a towel under the area and flush thoroughly with steam, remove the towel, feather and dry, apply levelling agent and dry clean. The tannin stain is a very common stain found in dry cleaning. It is also a stain that you must be able to remove with a very high degree of success. By following these procedures you should achieve that high degree of success and be on your way to being known as the dry cleaner that gets the stains out. For answers to more frequently asked dry cleaning questions, visit: www.olddominioncleaners.com Old Dominion Cleaners, LLC. is a premier dry cleaner and launderer servicing Richmond, Virginia and surrounding areas. We offer free pick up and delivery to your home or office. We also service Chester,Va., Chesterfield,Va.,Glen Allen,Va., Mechanicsville, Va. Midlothian,Va., Quinton,Va., Sandston,Va., and Varina Virginia. Stay connected with our blog to remain informed about dry cleaning and changes in the industry.