National Clothesline

The Wisconsin Fabricare Institute and the International Fabricare Institute will be working in conjunction to present two hands-on finishing seminars in March.

The first will be held on March 11 at Klinke’s Cleaners Thierer Road location in Madison, WI. Klinke’s Westbrook Shopping Center plant in Waukesha, WI, will serve as the host site for another session on March 12.

IFI instructor Brian Johnson will lead both seminars. His extensive background in drycleaning includes a 13-year stint as route operations and multiple plant manager for a Maryland-based cleaning operation.

Johnson currently keeps busy by offering personalized in-plant training, outreach seminars and in-plant consulting, and regular writes articles for IFI’s Fabricare and Clothes Care Gazette magazines.

He will teach participants techniques for finishing pants, coats, skirts and sweaters from 8:30 a.m. until noon in each seminar; afternoons from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. will be spent focussing on finishing blouses, dresses, pleats and pile fabrics.

Attendees are encouraged to bring in their own garments for finishing.

The seminars will cost WFI/IFI members $99 for the first applicant and only $89 for each additional applicant. Non-members pay a rate of $129 each. Lunch is included in the cost.

To register for one of the seminars, call the WFI office at (414) 529-4707.

Cleaners wanting to be “On the Spot” with their stain removal skills will have an opportunity on Saturday, March 12.

The Indiana Drycleaning & Laundry Association and Fabritec will sponsor the event, which takes place from 8:30 a.m. until noon at Morellis Cleaners, 6404 Rucker Rd., Suite 101, in Indianapolis.

The seminar will be presented by Jeff Lenz, an area manager with over 22 years of drycleaning experience. He has delivered over a hundred seminars altogether in the U.S. and Canada.

He will discuss the fundamentals of safe spot removal, how to classify and identify spots, understanding fibers and fabrics, plus the proper techniques for spot removal. Lenz will also offer a hands-on spotting approach using dryside/wetside chemicals and an advanced segment on the proper use of bleaches, digesting and restoration.

The cost is $50 for members and $35 for each additional member. For non-members, the cost is $75 for first-time registrants, then $60 per additional non-member. To register, call the IDLA office at (800) 401-0703.

Henry and Jan Parker of Safety & Environmental Compliance Consultants are slated to speak at the Chicago Cleaners Association dinner on Thursday, March 3.

The Parkers, who received the IFI’s Meritorious Allied Trades award in 2001, own a firm that assists employers with employee dealings, such as those that are OSHA- and EPA-related.

The meeting will be at Berghoff’s Restaurant at 17 W. Adams Street in Chicago.

To make reservations, call (773) 878-8828.