September 18, 2020

Introducing the St Croix Cleaners mobile app!

You can now manage your dry cleaning and laundry on-the-go!

With one simple touch, you have your personal St Croix Cleaners account at your fingertips.

Our mobile app puts you in control with instant access to your contact information, payment methods and cleaning preferences. You can monitor your dry cleaning and laundry orders as they are processed and completed.

The app is available FREE on the App Store or Google Play. Download yours today!

 

 

 

Check out these THREE features in our app, designed to make your Dry Cleaning & Laundry experience a little extra rewarding and more convenient than ever!

 

ON MY WAY
Use the app to let us know when you are on your way to pick up your order and we will have it ready and waiting for you! You have the ability to make the process even faster by putting your credit card on file.

PICKUP REQUEST
If you are a Home Pickup and Delivery customer, simply request a pickup on our mobile app and we’ll let you know the next available date. If you’re new to the service, once you have confirmed your address to enable our Delivery Service, we will verify that you are in our delivery zone and set up your FREE Pick-Up & Delivery Service.

REFER A FRIEND
Our Referral Program provides a cleaning credit on your next order for each new customer that you refer. Once you download the app, simply share your personal referral code. Both you and your friend, will receive $10.00 when your friend uses St Croix Cleaners for the first time!

 

Why wait? Download your app today from the App Store or Google Play.

Please visit StCroixCleaners.Com to learn about all of our available services.

October 22, 2020

Costume Care 101: Properly Clean & Preserve

Halloween is right around the corner, and it’s one of St Croix Cleaners & Treasured Garment Restoration’s favorite!

Halloween Costumes and Costumes in general, can certainly end up being a really big expense which is why it’s so important have them properly cleaned and cared for! No matter if its a Halloween costume for yourself or your child, chances are you want to keep it in great shape so you can wear it more than once! We understand the importance of cleaning and preserving to get the most out of your investment. That’s why we want to share with you…

Top tips in order to keep your costume protected for future use:

  • Before storing a costume, or any garment for that matter, always clean it first.  Dirty garments tend to attract insects and bugs.
  • Be sure to check the care label and follow its instructions.
  • One of the best methods to ensure your purchased Halloween costumes are cleaned and properly taken care of is to utilize a professional dry-cleaning service. Having your Halloween costume dry-cleaned by professionals helps to preserve the fabric and material.
  • Visit one of our locations if you have questions about the instructions. We’re happy to take a look and let you know if it can safely clean it at home or if it requires professional cleaning.
  • Once it’s clean, store it in a clean, cool, dry, and dark location.

Check out some of these cool costumes we’ve cleaned in the past! Can you pick out where they might be from!?

Our Nationally Renowned Cleaning Specialists have some pretty unique things in their workshop this time of year.  As the premier cleaners for Costume Rentals, Inc, The Guthrie Theater, The Children’s Theater, the Minnesota Opera and dozens of other theaters throughout the Twin Cities metro area, we have worked with some pretty elaborate costumes over the years.  Many times, the costumes must be hand-cleaned due to the amount of beads, unique fabric, feathers & fur that might be part of these exquisite costumes.

The Specialty Cleaning team also has the opportunity to clean many mascots – many of which you’ve probably heard of!  Almost all of the mascot costumes are hand-cleaned and can sometimes take hours to completely clean.

How creative is your costume this year?
Bring it in to St Croix Cleaners for its after holiday cleaning and let us be the judge!

Happy Halloween!

February 3, 2020

Giving Back to the Community with Project Fairy Godmothers

St Croix Cleaners is proud to celebrate our 5th-year partnership with Project Fairy Godmothers by making prom dreams come true. Project Fairy Godmothers creates an opportunity for students attending school in the  Twin Cities, and surrounding areas, to select a new or gently used formal dress with shoes and accessories. All are made possible through generations from people like you at no cost. Now through March 20th, donate a new or gently used prom dress at any of St Croix Cleaners’ 15 locations.

Together, Project Fairy Godmothers and St Croix Cleaners collect prom dresses and accessories to give teens in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas access to prom dresses who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford them or attend prom. This year’s big shopping/giveaway event  is April 4th at the Summit University Teen Center in St Paul. If you don’t have a dress but would still like to be involved in this cause there are multiple volunteer positions available.

For more information on this partnership please visit StCroixCleaners.com/project-fairy-godmothers/ or give us a call at 651.351.1656 with any questions. We look forward to another prom season and helping local teens’ prom dreams come true!

October 7, 2019

The Relationship Between Shirts and Starch

Starch and sizings are laundry additives that can increase the firmness of fabrics, particularly dress shirts. A study conducted by the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute, the Association of Professional Drycleaners showed starch and sizings can both protect and harm shirts
at the same time.

Shirts undergo two types of abrasions. One type is called flat abrasion, and it refers to the abrasion that occurs when the shirt rubs against any other surface. The other type, flex
abrasion, refers to the stretching of the fibers when the wearer bends an elbow, or otherwise stretches the material.

Starch adds protection to shirts, enabling them to withstand higher degrees of flat abrasion. However, since starch stiffens the fibers and makes them less flexible, it reduces the degree of flex abrasion a shirt can withstand.

Tensile strength is the measure of how well fabrics and fibers resist breaking under tension. Evaluation by DLI’s Textile Testing laboratory found that shirts with medium starch and no starch had similar tensile strength. Variances in tensile strength were evident between shirts with no starch and shirts with heavy starch.

After 10 laundering cycles, the tensile strength results on the shirts with no starch was 29% higher
than the results on the shirts with heavy starch. Even after 25 and 50 cycles, there was still about a 20% difference between the two groups of shirts.

Heavy starch and sizing can decrease the tensile strength of fabrics not by degrading the material directly, but by increasing its rigidity.

The major function of starch is to add body or stiffness to a fabric which in turn will produce little flexibility. This lack of flexibility causes the fabric to snap when tested rather than stretch, which decreases the fabric’s tensile strength. Starched and sized shirts were laundered to remove the starch and tensile strength was retested. The results indicated a significant increase (30%) in tensile strength after starch removal.

The life expectancy of a shirt is shortened by the use of starches and sizings by reducing its ability to bend, stretch, and straighten during use, according to the IFI study. Balancing out those negatives are the bonuses of having better whiteness retention, a crisper look, and increased resistance to staining.

Another way to keep your shirts looking crisp and professional is by adding Million Dollar Collar plackets to your favorite shirts so that even without a tie your shirt stands up and never falls down. Ask your customer service representative about adding this to your shirt to try it out and then having it automatically installed when you bring in a new shirt.

Please visit StCroixCleaners.Com to learn about all of our available services.

August 13, 2019

Special Care Tips For Your Summer Whites

Summer brings out the brightest colors. Reds, pinks, yellows, purples, blues, and whites. White? Yes, white is a color.

In their natural state, many fabrics have an off-white or yellowish cast and are often bleached to remove this natural color. Manufacturers often add optical brighteners to make fabrics appear whiter and brighter. Occasionally, these agents break down, causing the fabric to revert to its natural off-white or yellowish color.

Exposure to light can break down fluorescent brighteners, causing the areas not exposed to light to be unaffected. Thus, the front of a sweater laid out to dry in the sun may turn yellow while the back remains white. Once this happens, it usually can’t be corrected.

Graying of whites is another story. Dingy-looking white is most often caused by incomplete soil removal over an extended period of time despite repeated washing.

This can be caused by any or all of the following:

  • Not pre-soaking heavily stained garments
  • Too little detergent
  • Overloading the washing machine
  • Water temperature too low
  • Sorting clothes incorrectly

 

The Drycleaning & Laundry Institute has tips to keeps your whites looking bright. To remove this soil buildup and restore whiteness, take the following steps with washable items:

  1. Use the hottest temperature of water acceptable for the fabric
  2. Add 1-2 cups water conditioner
  3. Add detergent and
  4. Add clothes and run through a complete wash and rinse cycle.

As always, bringing your items into a professional dry cleaner is the easiest and most effective way to keep your items looking and feeling their best.

We hope these tips help. If you run into any trouble with any of your garments, we’ll be happy to help!

Visit StCroixCleaners.Com to learn about all of our cleaning and alteration services at our 15 locations.

 

June 13, 2019

Summer Cleaning Tips You Can Use At Home

Summer comes with a lot of difficult stains. The Drycleaning and Laundry Institute lets you know what method you should use at home and when you need to bring it into the professionals.

Bleaching:

Bleaching is a last resort if the stain does not respond to either dry-side or wetside measures. Ordinary three percent hydrogen peroxide bleach, available at grocery and drug stores, is the easiest to use. But test the bleach first on an unexposed seam or a sample of the material. Pour some bleach on the sample piece of fabric. Wait five minutes for a reaction. Many white fabrics contain an optical brightener that will turn yellow when bleached. Very bright-colored fabrics may contain optical brightening agents as well; a bleach may cause these colors to become dull.

 

Rust Stains:

Rust stains should be approached with great care. Rust removers are sold at grocery stores. Use them only on washable garments or fabrics so they can be laundered immediately afterward. Laundering will rinse out the rust remover. If it is not removed, it can burn the skin. Do not use a rust remover on any fabric containing metallic threads.

 

Tough Stains:

Some stains don’t lend themselves to home methods. Most medicine stains, fingernail polish, adhesives, and paint are difficult to remove and should be taken to a professional cleaner.

 

Don’t Wait:

All stains should be removed before they have time to set. Time or heat can set stains. Even a professional cleaner will have trouble getting the stain out if he or she doesn’t receive the garment soon after the stain occurred.

 

Delicate Fabrics:

Do not attempt home stain removal on leather, suede, furs, vinyl, fabrics that are heavily sized like taffeta and organdy, nets, satins, and those with colors that bleed easily.

 

Invisible Stains:

Many fruit juices and drinks disappear into the fabric and leave no visible stain, though the sugars are deposited there. Drycleaning fluid doesn’t dissolve them. Heat browns them causing a stain that doesn’t come out. If you spill juice or soda on a fabric, flush it out immediately with water – even though the stain is invisible. For more specific advice, ask us, we’re always happy to help.

Visit St Croix Cleaners for information on all of your dry cleaning needs.