'Sponge and press' advice.

[India Mail]

Dear Mr Alden, Fellow Members,

Please may I solicit your definitions/opinions on the process of garment cleaning, called "sponge and press". I am loathe to attempt it on the garment myself, so would appreciate news of firms in the U.K. (preferably London) that offer the service.

I assume it is, literally, the careful sponging clean of the garment, a small part at a time, perhaps with a detergent, and then pressing the area with a cool iron. Garment concerned is a bespoke frock coat in a black 12 oz. barathea, with a black silk lining.

I beg your indulgence if this has been posted in the wrong area, and offer apologies herewith. No rush for a reply: I am off for my holiday to-morrow. May I, also, wish everyone the compliments of the season.

With thanks and best wishes,

Neil.

[ottovbvs]

I can't give you any advice on anyone providing this service in London as I don't live there any more but being a sceptic of any "service" you might want to do it yourself. How? Use a steamer and a good clothes brush. I've done it for years since under no circumstances do I take garments to conventional cleaners. There is no surer way to ruin a good suit. All you need to do is invest in a simple electric steamer. I'd lay out the readies for a proper commercial one provided you have somewhere to store it since it occupies about as much space as a vacuum cleaner. In my experience it will shake lose most conventional stains which can then be brushed off. Sometimes a very stubborn stain needs a damp sponge and wool garments are actually much more forgiving than you'd think. After steam the garment sometimes looks bit creased but don't feel compelled to rush for the iron since if you hang it in the closet for a week it usually loses any creasing. If it doesn't use a very cool iron and do not press hard or keep running the iron back and forth across the cloth. It's all a bit of tedious process but works very well.

[India Mail]

Dear Ottovbvs, Fellow Members,

A Happy New Year to you all, and thanks for such a prompt reply. To my shame, I had not come across a clothes steamer before, although I am a friend of the steam iron of long-standing.

This has made me wonder about cleaning one's suits and outer garments in general: my frock coat has no stains I wish to remove with this process, I thought merely one should clean such garments as a 'ritual', regularly. This coat is four years old, and I assumed has a 'musty odour' to it, which will attract moths, even if not troubling those about me (I can detect nothing, though). A detergent of some kind would be needed to remove the patina of grime from years of every-day wear, surely, rather than simply steaming and brushing?

Perhaps I should post this under a more general heading of 'frequency of garment cleaning', in another part of the Lounge. Please advise me if you think necessary, mr Alden.

With thanks again, and best wishes to all,

Neil.

[MarkSilber]

For years, now, I've searched for a dry cleaner in New Jersey who even heard of "rolled lapels." It finally occurred to me to go back to my roots and check out my ancestors in London. Thank goodness for The London Lounge. Do to your kindness, I found a new dry cleaner who not only knew what a rolled lapel was, he insisted on giving me a free demonstration. He took my sport coat from me, which had long ago had its lapels flat ironed, and within moments returned a beautiful rolled lapel. Stunning! He told me the old fashioned way is with a lapel "buck," which is a specially shaped pressing machine with a form for pressing men's lapels. It runs $2,500 US to $5,000 US, depending on whether you purchase it new or used.

However, he also explained that the newest digital eco-friendly machines come with a large form on which many different items can be pressed, so there is no longer a need to purchase a dedicated lapel buck. I asked him about dry cleaning, and surprisingly, he repeated to me the concept of sponge and press, and spot clean when and where necessary. This dry cleaner is literally around the corner from me, only blocks away.

Thank you for your wonderful forum. You've changed my appearance forever!

Mark Silber,
Metuchen NJ

[Jordan Marc]

India Mail:

Steamers are the last thing you want to use on clothes. You may get the wrinkles out of barathea, but you'll damage the canvas interlining, padding, pockets, lapel facings and trousers beyond repair. By the same token, avoid dry cleaners altogether. What you need to do is find a presser on whom you can rely. Any good tailor has a presser in house who can be trusted. They use heavy dry irons, never steam irons, and they know how to coax the fabric back into shape. Don't do it yourself; find a professional.

JMB

[A.Hacking]

You might try Stephen Haughton of Burford Valet Service for a S&P in London. Email stephenhaughton@aol.com

I have not used them yet myself but I understand that they are used by one of the London tailors which does not provide the service in-house

A

[stubloom]

As the owner of a high-end dry cleaner and shirt laundry specializing in bespoke and made-to-measure garments, I'd like to respond to some of the comments made in this thread:

1. Sponge and press.

It is appropriate to consider a sponge and press during the season and a clean and press at the end of the season prior to storage.

While I fully understand the disdain expressed by some members for conventional cleaners (or what I call ordinary cleaners), members should recognize that there are a few cleaners out of the 26,000 dry cleaners in the USA who specialize in bespoke and made to measure garments. These cleaners are familiar with the quality of the materials that went into your garments, they understand the collaborative process that went into the construction of your garments, and they understand the damage that can be inflicted on your garments by cleaners who wouldn't know an Attolini from an Abercrombie, who wouldn't know a three button/roll to two from a cinnamon roll.

For additional information on this subject, please refer to following:

Ask Andy About Clothes tutorial: Stu Bloom on Caring for Bespoke Garments
http://askandyaboutclothes.com/Tutorial ... spoke.html

Made By Hand guest post: Stu Bloom on Garment Maintenance
http://tuttofattoamano.blogspot.com/201 ... nance.html

Ask Andy About Clothes tutorial: Stu Bloom on Professional Garment Care
http://askandyaboutclothes.com/Tutorial ... tCare.html

2. The use of a hand held steamer.

Steaming is not pressing. You might be able to remove some of the more obvious wrinkles with steam (such as the wrinkles in the crotch of a trouser or in the elbow area of a jacket), but you can't press a garment with steam alone. Fact is, poor steaming can wreck the shaping and molding of the fabric imparted by your tailor.

For additional information on this subject, please refer to the following:

RAVE FabriCARE blog post: The myth of pressing a garment with steam
http://ravefabricare.com/true-quality-c ... steam.aspx

3. Garment care is a technically skilled craft.

Fine garment care is all about the careful integration of technical skills, equipment and specialization. No amount of "digital eco-friendly machines" as described by Mark Silber will compensate for a lack of technical skills (even though I have plenty of that fancy equipment in my 7,500 square foot fabricare facility).

4. Not all dry cleaners are alike.

There are 26,000 dry cleaners in the USA and the overwhelming majority haven't got a clue what garment care is all about. Many forum members have developed their opinions about dry cleaners based on their own personal (negative) experiences and on anecdotes they've heard or read about. I'd ask forum members to keep an open mind when it comes to dry cleaners. In much the same way that not all carpenters are the same and not all doctors are the same, it is also true that not all dry cleaners are alike. A technically skilled dry cleaner can be a great ally in keeping your bespoke and made-to-measure garments in prestine condition for years to come.

This is my first post on London Lounge. I look forward to answering any questions relating to garment care in general or relating to any of these 4 topics in particular.

[India Mail]

Dear Fellow Loungers,

I must apologise for neglecting the L.L. for so long. I can blame only 'events' last year, with 2011 turning out the same. However, all is well relatively, and I hope to spend some time going through the links and advice you have been kind enough to supply, from Private Messages, and the posts above. I have not taken any action with the coat, and am crossing my fingers that my colleagues are not having to endure a 'smelly old man' as a result. The name supplied is most helpful; I will keep you posted. Thank you so much for all your help.

With best wishes,

'I.M.'