Latest Wrinkle in Confronting the Dry Cleaner

A ruined sweater is an aggravation, not a disaster. But I now understand consumer complaints about dry cleaners, having just had an acrylic sweater stretched three sizes and being told first, flatly, “That can’t be,” then “It’s all right now” (they tried to shrink it back) and finally “It shouldn’t have been dry-cleaned.”

Indeed, the label said washable: Consumers take such things to cleaners for special care, rarely specifying process. Unfortunately, said the independent lab that analyzed the destruction, acrylic sweaters, once stretched--by heat or hanging or both--are stretched forever.

Obviously, millions of garments are dry-cleaned without shrinkage, stretching or color changes. But the scenario above isn’t uncommon: “A lot of the complaints,” says Gary Walker at New York’s Consumer Affairs Department, “are about garments that should not have been dry-cleaned.”

Belligerent Exchanges

Nor is belligerence uncommon. “For whatever reason,” says a New York retail executive, “many dry cleaners could care less whether you continue as a customer.”

Dry-cleaning exists because of the limitations of water, which cleans fine but shrinks crepe and maybe wool, bleeds or fades some dyes and may wash out sizing (a stiffening agent), sheen or dressmaking details. Actually, dry-cleaning isn’t dry, says Bill Seitz, executive director of the Neighborhood Cleaners Assn., a nine-state trade group based in New York, “but the liquid--predominantly perchloroethylene--is without water.”

For awhile, wash-and-wear fabrics looked like they might shorten the history of dry-cleaning. But fashion brought back natural fibers and women went to work in record numbers, abandoning their laundry rooms, and the dry-cleaning industry grew from $1.6 billion in 1975 revenues to $4.1 billion in 1987.

As a business, it’s still small potatoes, although there are dry cleaners on every urban corner. Many are mom-and-pop operations, “the owners are also the productive workers in the plant,” says Seitz. No special license is required, no formal training and no industry support or solidarity; only half of the nation’s estimated 24,000 dry-cleaning plants join their trade association, the International Fabricare Institute in Silver Spring, Md.

Not surprisingly, individual dry cleaners aren’t always sophisticated in consumer relations, and they should be. To the customer, a ruined dress is “not a garment but six Saturday nights and six more to come,” says Seitz; her attitude is “ ‘I looked beautiful, and you robbed me.’ ”

Specific Regulation

The only specific regulation of dry-cleaning practices is more specific to manufacturers--the Federal Trade Commission rule that every textile garment must be labeled as to method of care. (Hats, belts, gloves and ties are exempt, as are furs and leathers, which are not textile.) Only one method--washing or dry-cleaning--need be discussed, but in detail. A “washable” label should specify machine or hand-washing, temperature of both washer and dryer, and include associated warnings (e.g. no chlorine bleach). A “dry-clean” label should specify required solvent, if any, and drying temperature, and perhaps warn against using steam.

When a garment is damaged, it could be the manufacturer’s fault--a situation the dry cleaners’ associations hammer on ad nauseum in all literature.

Sometimes there’s a faulty label: “You find things that say washable silk and the dye runs out,” says George Laumann, executive director of the California Fabricare Institute in Cupertino, Calif., “and some say dry-cleanable, and the dye runs out of them .” Cotton, normally washable, sometimes is labeled “dry-clean” because manufacturers “fear the consumer will wash it improperly and blame them,” says Bill Daddi, spokesman for Cotton Inc., the cotton producers’ promotional arm, “but in general, dry-cleaning isn’t a very good process for cotton. It can make it cardboardy.”

Some garments are made badly. They’re poorly dyed, or not preshrunk, or their glitter is just glued on with solvent-soluble glue, or the recommended cleaning method was never tested.

Such garments should go back to the manufacturer, with the retailer’s help. Any reputable store will take them back.

Damage could also (“occasionally,” says International Fabricare Institute literature) be the dry cleaner’s fault, particularly when the care label is ignored. “The dry cleaner should follow the label, no matter what,” says Alice Laban, IFI spokesman. “You can’t assume that if it can be washed, it can be dry-cleaned.”

Dry cleaners should instead “wet clean” it, says Seitz, using water “under very controlled conditions”--mild detergent, gentle action, premeasuring and then resizing the garment. Certainly they should suggest washing if the label does. “The dry cleaner is supposed to be the expert,” says Frank Hoak, whose independent testing lab in Sunland analyzes damaged garments. “They should advise you, and if you insist on dry-cleaning, should get a release.”

Fabric Expertise

Consumers naturally expect dry cleaners to know about fabrics. Few consumers know that acrylic knits are best washed but probably can be dry-cleaned if they’re not subjected to heat or hanging; or that Angora is in danger from either process, not being preshrunk; or that both fabrics, once damaged, rarely can be fixed.

The customer is responsible for some damage--moth holes, stains that don’t come out, stains that don’t show up until the garment is cleaned. Recent gin and vodka stains, for example, are colorless until they’re caramelized by the heat to yellow or tan.

Sometimes the garment must be sent to the IFI’s testing lab ($10 to members) or an independent lab (Hoak’s, for one) recommended by a regional association. These will analyze holes, tears, color loss and shrinkage; “90% of the time,” says Hoak, they can tell the cause of damage and often assign responsibility.

Critics note that the IFI’s lab isn’t exactly independent and that it often doesn’t find dry cleaners responsible. Indeed, the dry cleaner is blamed only 18% of the time, but the figure is low, admits Laban, because cleaners “don’t send something unless they think they’re right.”

Industry associations also mediate disputes and provide a formula for compensation that considers a garment’s purchase price, age and condition. Both mediation and formula, however, are useful only if the dry cleaner accepts their guidance.

Some dry cleaners, of course, aren’t interested in analysis or mediation. Short of small claims court, the customer’s only recourse is more discussion, preferably when the store is full of listeners. At the very least, one should switch dry cleaners, although it’s amazing how many don’t. “Maybe the customer has a short memory,” says the New York retailer, “or the dry cleaner is conveniently located.”