Category: cleaning tips

Wedding dresses hold treasured memories and are one of the most complex items for dry cleaners. Delicate fabrics, beads and lace all present challenges so they need a cleaner with extensive experience. Whilst most dresses have a dry clean only label, if you’ve added beads or had them altered in any way, dry cleaning may not be suitable.

Deciding where to go to is complex. So, to help, we provided some information on the cost of cleaning your wedding dress in either our Peterborough and Stamford shop.

At Peters’ Cleaners we have nearly 60 years of experience in dry cleaning wedding dresses – even those without care labels. Both our shops are open 6 days a week and all cleaning is done at our Lincoln Road cleaning hub.

The first thing we do is look at each dress carefully. We will call you if we think plastic beads will melt or lace may come apart to discuss the best cleaning process. Mud, alcohol and other stains need careful pre-treating. We don’t use harsh chemicals as the fabrics are delicate.  If dry cleaning is the right process we clean the dress on its own on a delicate cycle, often in a bag to ensure no damage from friction of other fabrics loosening any embellishments.

After cleaning we go over it with a fine toothcomb to ensure every mark is removed to the best of our ability. If marks remain we put hand treat them and if necessary clean again. Our attention to detail will give you confidence that we give the best service.

Our turnaround is 4 weeks, but we will contact you with updates having conducted our 4 processes to thoroughly clean your wedding dress.

We do offer a press only service if you want to give your wedding dress a quick spruce up before the big day.

All wedding dresses are folded and packaged in a handmade, breathable box with acid free tissue paper. Boxes come from The Empty Box Company and ensure the dress staying in pristine condition. Ensuring the box is breathable is essential in wedding dress preservation because otherwise the dress will discolour and turn yellow. However, we do provide a £20 discount if you choose not to have your dress boxed.

Not only that, but we can clean veils, wedding shoes, bridesmaid dresses, and mother of the bride outfits. For more on how we clean wedding dresses see our Wedding Dress service page.

We are a month into lockdown as a result of COVID-19, a virus that has changed our daily lives. With a vast majority of the population spending their days at home, many are taking advantage of this extra time. Some are choosing to complete DIY projects or household tasks that might have fallen to the wayside pre-lockdown.

Many of us have opted for picking up paint tins and refreshing the walls, but with paint now in short supply; it may be time for you to look at getting your curtains cleaned, to give your room that ultimate new look. Most households in the UK have some form of curtains to help block out sunlight, reduce heat loss, promote privacy or purely for aesthetic value. Despite how common they are, however, they are not easy to clean and can suffer from several issues.

It is common to encounter unlabelled curtains, especially if curtains are bespoke. The main issue for a dry cleaner is that there is no guidance on the best way to treat the curtain, and some problems may arise if the fabric is not colourfast or prone to shrinking. Peters’ Cleaners has nearly 60 years of cleaning experience but asks clients to sign a disclaimer if they want curtains cleaning that do not have a care label.

Shrinkage:
By far, the most common issue faced by dry cleaners is shrinkage. The release of tension inadvertently set into the textile during manufacture is what causes shrinkage. Only the textile manufacturer can control tension in the weaving process and thus how much relaxation is likely to occur. The British Standard states that some relaxation is inevitable and allows a 3% shrinkage. In the event this happens, Peters’ Cleaners can use steam to stretch the fabric back, so it’s always worth checking with us.

Sunlight damage:
Curtains will invariably encounter some level of sunlight damage during their lifetime, and dry cleaning is the perfect medium to reveal this. Effects can range from fading, which can result in vertical banding to the lining or curtain to ‘shredding’ of the curtain or lining due to rot caused by sun damage. Plastic backed ‘blackout’ linings are particularly likely to suffer damage due to generally being hung in sunny windows, and the adhesive attaching the plastic coating to the lining degrades during dry cleaning.

At Peters’ Cleaners we recommend that you clean your pillow twice a year and your duvet annually although many people clean their duvet when they swap it for a lighter or heavier one to suit the season. You should clean them more often if the sleeper is ill or has allergies or look into using a pillow protector or two pillowcases to provide some protection for your pillow.

Most pillows and duvets are either polyester or feather and can be washed in a conventional washing machine, although they may be too big for your washing machine at home! Drying items correctly is extremely important; if moisture is retained, pillows and duvets will start to smell. If you can’t fit them into your machine at home, take them to a reputable dry cleaner or launderette.

Some wool and silk duvets and pillows recommend dry cleaning, but at Peters’ Cleaners, we do not recommend that you dry clean bedding that is close to your nose and mouth as dry cleaning uses perchloroethylene (perc) which is carcinogenic. Also, dry cleaning is the best method to remove water-based stains or smells, so if your dog or cat has piddled on your bed, dry cleaning is not the answer.
Ask your dry cleaner for advice as they may be able to wet clean the item.

A mattress protector or topper is an excellent way to protect your mattress and keeping it in good condition. A washable cover will protect your mattress from stains, and you can also buy covers made from purpose-made ‘barrier’ fabric if you have a dust allergy.

Heavily padded ones can also improve the comfort of your bed. Good dry cleaners can clean these for you when required.

One other way to freshen up your mattress is to give it a good hoover every now and again. A great way of getting rid of dust!

Bedbugs are small insects that live off human blood and usually bite at night. Don’t be fooled by the name, bedbugs are not confined to beds and can hide in many places, including on bed frames, mattresses, clothing, furniture, behind pictures and under loose wallpaper.

If you have:
• bites – often on areas exposed while sleeping, like the face, neck and arms,
• spots of blood on your bedding – from the bites or from squashing a bedbug,
• small brown spots on bedding or furniture (bedbug poo).

There is a possibility that you have bedbugs, so how can you get rid of them? Bedbugs can be resistant to some insecticides so:
• contact your local council or pest control service,
• wash affected bedding and clothing using a hot wash (60C) and tumble dry on a hot setting for at least 30 minutes or put affected clothing and bedding in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer (-16C) for four days as an alternative to hot washing,
• clean and vacuum regularly – bedbugs are found in both clean and dirty places, but regular cleaning will help you spot them early.

Reproofing is a hydrophobic chemical treatment that causes water to ‘bead up’ and run off before it can permeate the fabric itself. This surface coating needs replacing from time to time in the form of reproofing, which can be done at home using a spray or wash, or by a reputable dry cleaner.

Reproofing does not make an item completely waterproof. In most items, waterproofing is provided by a waterproof membrane or waterproof coating which is either bonded to or beneath the outer fabric. It is this coating that acts as a physical barrier to water for the life of the jacket unless punctured or damaged.

If there is a waterproof membrane – why do you need to reproof?
Reproofing stops water soaking into the outer material of the item which:
1. stops it getting heavy,
2. prevents it from attracting dirt particles which affect its breathability,
3. stops it getting wet ion the inside.

Water vapour can’t pass through the fabric if it is saturated with water, meaning you’ll find yourself getting wet from the inside through perspiration. When the inside of an item gets wet, it is commonly assumed there is a leak, but this is rarely the case and the majority of the time reproofing is the solution.

How often do you need to reproof an item?
There is no firm answer to this as it varies according to the amount of wear, type of wear and conditions that the waterproof item is subjected to. You can tell when it’s time, as you will begin to notice that your waterproof jacket or trousers are not shedding water as effectively as they did when they were new, even after washing. Rain will start to soak into the fabric in a process known as wetting out, and when that happens, it’s time to take action.

Why reproof furniture?
Reproofing is the application of a hydrophobic chemical surface coating that is effectively a barrier against moisture and dirt. Furniture is exposed to dirt daily – food or drink that may be spilt, dirt that has transferred from people or pets and general day-to-day dust. By reproofing the fabric, you will not stop it looking dirty over time, but you will prevent the dirt from getting ingrained in the fibres of the fabric, meaning it will come much cleaner when cleaned. A reproofing spray works well.

Bring your clothing and furniture covers to Peters Cleaners and we can reproof your items.

January is the month that is often associated with the phrase ‘out with the old and in with the new’. It’s the perfect time to refresh your wardrobe in the January sales and spend that Christmas money, as well as recovering from the over-indulgence and intense partying of December.

For those that think the party is over, however, you may have overlooked Burns Night with its neeps, tatties, haggis and whisky. Burns Night is celebrated on 25th January each year to celebrate the birthday of that most famous of Scottish poets, Robert Burns. The tradition started a few years after the poet’s death in 1796, and the Burns Supper has now become a nationwide event that is celebrated in Scottish communities around the globe.
Scotland is, of course, famous for its tartan which came back into fashion, especially in December and January, after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert bought and re-furbished Balmoral Castle.

Tartan is a woven woollen cloth consisting of a criss-cross pattern, known as the sett.

As for other woollen fabrics such as cashmere, lambswool and angora wool, here are some tips for you to help care for them:

Moths:
Moths seem to love your expensive items of clothing, and unfolding your favourite sweater to find a small hole or two is extremely frustrating. Small moth holes can be repaired, and for more complex items such as tartan, a complete re-weave service can be provided, although, this is an expensive option. Try to avoid damage by airing your clothes regularly, storing your items in a chest with tight-fitting drawers, or storing your items in plastic. However, this is not advised for long periods.

Pills and Fuzz:
Pills are those annoying little bumps that show up after wearing a sweater once. Research shows these show up more on items made with cheap fibres rather than good quality filaments. A battery-powered ‘fabric shaver’ will remove these, as will a good dry cleaner.

Wash vs Dry Clean:
As a general rule, washing makes wool fibres shrink and go hard, whereas dry cleaning encourages the fibres to relax and stay soft. That doesn’t mean you can’t wash at home, but if you do, use cool water and do not hang it to dry; instead, lay it out flat, so it doesn’t stretch. We always recommend that you follow the care label just in case your item is not 100% cashmere or has beads, buttons, or leather trim that may be better to suited to being washed or dry cleaned.