Cleaning in a one-tank machine
Along with the development of new
technology came modern, state-of-the-art leather drycleaning
detergent conditioners like Royaltone Detergent Plus
Conditioner that make it possible and practical to dryclean
suedes, leathers, furs and cloth combinations in any
drycleaning machine including a single tank drycleaning
machine.
There are three variations to the way in
which a one-tank machine can be used to clean suede, leather,
fur and fabric trimmed articles.
First variation
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In this variation, the drycleaning fluid
in the entire system is charged with a 6 percent concentration
of a the detergent plus conditioner. The drycleaning system in
this case includes the base tank, the filters, the pump and all
the connecting piping.
The 6 percent concentration of detergent
plus conditioner makes it possible for the machine operator to
clean all dark and bright colored suedes and leathers, all
heavy textured furs, all cloth-trimmed with dark and bright
colored suede, leather or fur, on filter and in the same way
cloth items are drycleaned, without fear of color loss, fading,
stiffening or drying out of the skins.
The 6 percent concentration also makes it
possible for the machine operator to clean light and pastel
colored suedes and leathers as well as cloth items trimmed in
any combination or configuration of light colored suede,
leather or fur.
This 6 percent concentration will also
produce excellent drycleaning of cloth items with the added
bonus of stabilizing the colors in the cloth so that
practically all color loss is eliminated.
In addition, almost all swales will be
eliminated on silk and rayon articles and essentially all
blotches are eliminated on down filled articles.
Filter life is significantly increased
and pressing is made easier as garments come out of the drying
cycle with fewer wrinkles and are easier to press.
The 6 percent concentration will not have
any ill effects on the garments being dry-cleaned as long as
good drycleaning practice is followed and the drycleaning fluid
is maintained in good condition by normally accepted filtration
and/or distillation practices.
Second variation
The second variation to the way that a
one-tank drycleaning machine can be used to clean suede,
leather, fur and fabric combinations is more demanding of the
machine operator and affords less flexibility.
In this variation, the drycleaning fluid
in the entire system, including base tank, filters, pump and
piping, is charged with a 2 percent concentration of the
detergent plus conditioner.
This 2 percent charge makes it possible
for the machine operator to clean all light and pastel colored
suedes and leathers, light textured furs (like rabbit fur) and
cloth trimmed with light and pastel colored suede or leather
and light textured fur on filter in the same way regular cloth
articles are drycleaned without any apprehension about causing
the skin to become dried out or stiff or faded.
This 2 percent concentration will also
produce excellent drycleaning results on regular cloth articles
as does the 6 percent concentration with the same added bonuses
of eliminating color loss, swales on silks and rayons, blotches
on downs, while increasing filter life and making cloth
garments more wrinkle free and easier to press.
The 2 percent concentration will not have
any ill effects on drycleaned cloth garments or other cloth
articles.
Of course, the drycleaning fluid should
be kept in good condition as always by the usual methods of
filtration and distillation.
Selecting this second variation requires
the single-tank machine operator to clean the dark and bright
colored suedes and leathers and the heavy textured fur and
cloth combinations by the batch method.
The batch method, in this case, requires
the operator to first fill the wheel of the cleaning machine to
a low level that comes to the top of one of the ribs in the
wheel, using the 2 percent drycleaning fluid that is in the
single base tank.
Then the operator must increase the
concentration of the high tech detergent plus conditioner in
the drycleaning fluid in the wheel from a 2 percent to a 6
percent concentration before placing any dark, bright colored
suede or leather or any heavy textured fur in the wheel in
contact with the drycleaning fluid.
After the charge in the wheel has been
increased to a 6 percent concentration, the dark bright colored
suedes and leathers and the heavy textured furs can be placed
in the wheel and batch cleaned with only the 6 percent charged
drycleaning fluid in the cleaning wheel coming in contact with
the items being cleaned.
This can only be accomplished if no
additional 2 percent or uncharged drycleaning fluid comes into
or flows out of the wheel of the drycleaning machine during the
time the dark and bright suedes or leathers or heavy textured
furs are cleaning.
At the completion of the batch leather
cleaning cycle, the 6 percent charged drycleaning fluid in the
wheel of the drycleaning machine may either be dropped into the
2 percent charged single base tank and filtered or it can be
dropped to a still if the machine is so equipped.
If it is dropped to the base tank, none
of the detergent plus conditioner is lost or wasted and the
increase in concentration will mean that less will have to be
added when fresh or distilled makeup drycleaning fluid is added
to the single base tank.
Third variation
The third variation is the most demanding
of the machine operator and gives the least flexibility of the
three variations.
In this variation, the drycleaning fluid
in the entire system is charged with a 1 percent concentration
of the detergent plus conditioner for drycleaning only cloth
articles.
This 1 percent concentration will provide
excellent drycleaning results with regular cloth garments with
the same bonuses of elimination of most color loss problems,
most swales on silks and rayons, most blotches on down filled
items, most wrinkles in drying, for easier pressing and
increased filter life.
However, to clean light and pastel color
suedes and leathers, light textured furs and cloth trimmed with
any of them, the machine operator must use the batch method as
already described and increase the percent charge of the
detergent plus conditioner in the wheel from 1 percent to 2
percent before placing any of them into the wheel in contact
with the drycleaning fluid.
At the end of the leather cleaning cycle,
the 2 percent and the 6 percent charged drycleaning fluid in
the wheel of the drycleaning machine may be dropped to the 1
percent charged base tank and filtered or it may be dropped to
a still if the machine has one.
The batch drycleaning fluid can be safely
dropped to the base tank and used for drycleaning because the
high tech detergent plus conditioner itself does not contain
any materials like fatty acids, that will contaminate the
drycleaning fluid.
Only suede lint coming from the suedes
and leathers being cleaned is undesirable and it is easily
removed from the drycleaning fluid by either using a fine nylon
mesh screen that can easily be placed in the button trap or by
installing and using a lint filter unit.
Author’s Note: Do not attempt to
use products that are not specifically formulated for use on
suede, leather and trimmed cloth items as they can cause color
loss, color bleed, color transfer, stiffening of the skins and
matting down the nap. Products other than those mentioned in
this article if used to dryclean suede, leather and cloth
trimmed with suede or leather, may not give the same results if
used as described in this article
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