Drycleaners; Launderers Laud Monopoly Piece Change

In a move that shocked half the planet this month Hasbro announced they would be replacing the iron game piece in their popular Monopoly game. “Replacing the iron is exactly what drycleaning and laundry professionals do,” said Mary Scalco. Scalco is CEO of the Drycleaning and Laundry Institute, a trade association for professional drycleaners and launderers.


“No one likes irons or ironing. We were overjoyed to learn there would soon be one less iron in millions of homes around the world, even if it is a miniature replica game piece,” Scalco said. “Way to go, Hasbro!”

In today’s world, people want to look good but they don’t want to have to iron their clothes to do it. Drycleaning and Laundry professionals help eliminate the need to do tedious ironing. Readers may identify a professional drycleaning or laundry service in their area at www.DLIonline.org.

Eco-Friendly Dry Cleaning: What's in it for you?

Have you been wondering what the phrases “Eco-Friendly”, “Earth Friendly” and “Non-Toxic” really have to do with dry cleaning?  And why it should matter to you?

To put it in the simplest of terms, ‘earth friendly’ means that non-toxic solvents (that’s right, solvents that are NOT toxic) are used in the dry cleaning process to clean your garments.  By using this different type of cleaning solvent, you will notice substantial improvements to your wardrobe including:

  • Softer feeling clothes
  • No color loss (colors actually stay brighter, longer!)
  • Garments last longer
  • Better care and cleaning for delicate fabrics and embellishments
  • Your clothes will no longer have that “dry cleaner” smell

green-dry-cleanersIn addition to using non-toxic solvents, we also use bio-degradable plastic bags, online billing methods to save paper, recycle hangers, have the ONLY water-conservation system for a dry cleaner in Minnesota and try our best to design our home delivery routes to cut down on gas usage.

All of this contributes to decreasing your carbon footprint, and to helping you feel great about preserving the environment for future generations!

The Grinch is Green and so are WE!

On December 6th we had a special visitor at our IDS Center location!  The infamous “Grinch” from The Children’s Theater Company’s production of, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” came out to visit our store, take photos with customers and passersby and to give away tickets to his show.  It was a great kick-off to the Holiday season, and we hope to do a lot more!  Check out more photos on our Facebook page!

Such a brave little guy!

Such a brave little guy!

Supercharging Green Cleaning – The K4 System

At St Croix | White Way Cleaners we’re always looking for ways to improve the quality of our cleaning, while still keeping with our earth friendly mission.

Since building our new plant in 2007, St Croix | White Way Cleaners has been using a solvent known as Hydrocarbon. Hydrocarbon is an odorless, biodegradable compound, that works very well (Just look at our five straight Seal of Approval wins from the DryCleaning and Laundry Institute!) with the added benefit of being earth friendly.

Recently though, we discovered an exciting new solvent package that has all the environmental benefits of Hydrocarbon, but that cleans garments even better : SystemK4!

Before we get into what makes K4 better though, we should probably explain what Dry Cleaning itself really is.  It isn’t actually the act of cleaning your clothes when they are dry.  They still are saturated and become ‘wet,’  just not from water.  For over 100 years, Dry Cleaners have primarily used a chemical called perchloroethylene, also known as “Perc”, as the solvent in the dry cleaning process.  This is a harsh chemical which cleans your clothes very well, but with each wash can fade the colors and roughen the fabrics  Perc is also responsible for the chemical smell most people associate with Dry Cleaners.

But besides just bad smells, Perc is also considered a hazardous chemical and some researchers have declared it to be a carcinogen. It is taxed by the government to use, and must be disposed of properly.  Every dry cleaner in the nation must pay into a drycleaners’ “superfund” for hazardous waste cleanups (even if the dry cleaner doesn’t use Perc!).  If there is a spill in a dry cleaning facility, it can be very expensive to clean up.

K4 has no such risks; K4 is completely non-toxic, 99% organic and 100% biodegradable.

One of the benefits of Perc was its aggressiveness against oil, fat and grease based stains. While Hydrocarbon could clean such stains, it wasn’t as effective and sometimes required multiple cleanings.

K4 on the other hand, tackles those stains as well as Perc did, something our dry cleaning geeks love!  It also cuts down on the need for pre-spotting because previously hard to get stains lift out on the first wash.

Other K4 benefits include:

  • No Color Loss
  • Extended Garment Life
  • Softer Feeling Clothes
  • Safe on Delicate fabrics, beads, sequins and embellishments.
  • Dermatologically  tested

As you can see, K4 is a “win win” for us at here at St Croix | White Way; we get the cleaning power of Perc and the environmental friendliness of Hydrocarbon. We’re thrilled to be using such a state of the art system,  and think you’ll be just as thrilled when you see the results for yourself!

Help St Croix | White Way Meet our Hanger Recycling Goal!

As we’ve talked about before, on this very blog, being environmentally friendly is more than just lip-service for us here at St Croix | White Way Cleaners.

We have been leaders in “Green” dry cleaning technology; from our state- of- the- art water circulation system to the use of earth friendly solvents, St Croix | White Way has been committed to do our part.

Now though, we need some help from our amazing customers as well!

We are excited to announce our participation in the Drycleaning and Laundry Institute’s “Cleaners Care: Hanger Recycling Program.”

DLI’s goal is a big one, as the group is looking for its member drycleaners to recycle 25 Million hangers in 2012.

To put that into context, 25 million hangers is roughly equivalent to 750 tons of steel -enough to create six Statues of Liberty!

So far, along with us, nearly 300 environmentally-conscious drycleaners from around the world have pledged to reduce, reuse, and recycle more than 19 million hangers and the resources it takes to make them. With your help, can we make it to 25 million?!!

So be sure to drop off your extra hangers with us on your next visit, and remind others to do so too! With your help, and continued support we’ll be able to meet our goal, and DLI’s!

Go For a Dip! Swimwear Tips!

We don’t know if you noticed, but it’s been a bit WARM lately! From swimming to skiing, here at St Croix | White Way we know that nothing beats the heat like some quality water time.  That’s why we have a few tips for keeping your swimwear in tip top shape, in between us cleaning it for you, of course!

  • Wet down your bathing suit with tap water before taking a dip in the pool. Remember: Two things can’t occupy the same space at the same time, so a ‘pre-wet’ bathing suit won’t absorb as much chlorine from the pool water as a dry suit will.
  • Remove and rinse your suit in tap water BEFORE you lay down to sun bath.  The UV rays from the sun will accelerate the deleterious effects of the chlorine in your suit.  Or better yet, rinse your suit well and put on a fresh, dry suit for sun bathing.
  • Bathing suits that are 100 percent polyester will fare best in a hot tub.
  • Watch for suits that say “chlorine resistant” on the label. These suits tend to last a bit longer as the less Chlorine, the better!
  • Never wash a bathing suit in the washing machine. The agitation will break down the Lycra and the bra cups; hand washing or dry cleaning is your best option!
  • Never put a bathing suit in the dryer. The heat will cause the elastic to break down faster.  Always dry it away from the sun, FLAT on a drying rack.

We know these tips will help keep you and your swimwear cool this summer!