Tips for Extending Garment Life
- Bring your stained garments into Comet as soon as you can.
- Never iron stained clothes.
- Never rub a stain. Blot it.
- Indicate any stain that may be hidden to us whenever you bring your clothes to the cleaners, before we begin the dry cleaning process.
- Protect your clothing from an excessive amount of contact with perspiration.
- Apply toiletries, such as lotions, antiperspirants, and perfume, before you get dressed. Otherwise your clothes may be prone to color change.
- Have your garments cleaned before storing them for the season.
- Protect your garments from overexposure to artificial lights and natural sunlight.
- Clean all matching pieces of garment at the same times.
- Read the care labels.
Your Clothes Count!
Of course you are able to wash your casual clothes at home, but getting them professionally cleaned results in the best situation for your clothes. Comet professionals are equipped with the skills to make your clothes look their best.
We also know that ironing can be a much disliked household task; therefore we can do it for you, with your clothes looking the sharpest. At Comet, we make garment care easy for you. All you have to do is drop your soiled items off and pick up your professionally cleaned and pressed garments. Comet offers an excellent value by providing quality work along with great customer service and convenience. Trust the experts at your local Comet Cleaners to care for your clothes as if they were their own.
We guarantee to do our best to remove the stains from our customer’s clothing. Although sometimes it may be easy, it can also be difficult. But, we are professionally trained to get the job done. In order for the stain to be removed completely, there are many factors that we must consider: the nature of the stain, the type of fabric, and the colorfastness of the dye. Certain fabrics and dyes are unyielding and resist cleaning or stain removal techniques. Some stains are just impossible to remove. However, our special equipment allows us to properly remove most stains on your clothing.
Garment Life Expectancy
Does dry cleaning shorten the life of a garment?
On the contrary, frequent cleaning prolongs the life of a garment. Not only do stains set with age, making the garment un-wearable, but ground-in dirt and soil act as abrasives, like sandpaper, causing rapid wear of fibers. Also, insects, some too small to be seen, are attracted to soiled clothes and will cause further damage that is often not apparent until cleaned.
How Long Should My Shirt Last?
Determining how long a shirt should last is difficult due to the variances in frequency of wear. The number of launderings is a better measuring method. The average shirt should have a wear life of 35 to 50 washings. This will fluctuate depending on the amount of abrasion and strain placed on the shirt during wear, the fiber content, the type of fabric, and the starch preference.
All About Shirts
Although you may think you can wear a shirt forever, shirts eventually become worn out or exhibit other problems. The Dry Cleaning & Laundry Institute says “that the average life expectancy of a shirt is about 35-50 washes, or roughly two years”. But, this obviously will fluctuate depending on different circumstances.
If you see an issue with the color running over a brand new shirt, you should consider the following information. The Federal Trade Commission’s Care Labeling Rules tell us “that all components in a garment must withstand the recommended care procedures. If one or more dyes in a multi-colored shirt are not colorfast, bleeding will occur whether you wash it at home or we launder it for you”.
Wrinkled and extra fabric in the collar and cuffs sometimes show a result of shrinking, which leaves too much outer fabric. Then, your shirt might appear to have wrinkles. The manufacturer is responsible for coordinating the proper interfacing and fabric.
If the color appears to be wrong in your pinstriped shirt, it is most likely that the colored yarns are diminishing. The colored yarns of your shirt were dyed with either sulfur-based or fiber-reactive dyes, which we tend to see degrade whenever laundered excessively. This may indicate that your shirt is reaching the end of its life expectancy.
You may question why underarms stains still appear in your shirt. Perspiration can weaken or even stain the fabric. Aluminum chlorides, which are found in antiperspirants, can also weaken the fabric under the arms. If you regularly launder you shirt after wearing it, you might be able to minimize these stains.
We do check your shirt for a cracked or missing button. Obviously sometimes they may be difficult to detect, therefore if we miss a button, bring it to our attention and we will replace it for you promptly.
Discoloration or gray specks on your shirt are due to the manufacturer improperly applying adhesive to meld interfacings with the outer fabric. We cannot prevent as we do not have the foreknowledge before the laundering process. If you think your shirt has been shrunk while being laundered, it is probably due to the poorly constructed fabric.