National Clothesline

WESTPORT, MA — Tailwind Systems

has unveiled a new tagging and assembly system designed specifically for those drycleaners who are doing — or want to do — fire restoration work in their plant.

The new system, called Firestorm, is available on a CD. It is a tutorial that will walk a cleaner through the full implementation of the system. The system maintains lot control throughout the processes necessary for fire work. Lot integrity is maintained at mark-in, pre-spotting, classification, ozone, cleaning, post-spotting, queuing for pressing, pressing, inspection, re-cleaning and finally, assembly.

This product is aimed at anyone doing fire restoration work regardless of volume. The full-version instructional CD is offered free of charge upon request by sending e-mail to don.tailwind@gmail.com.

MEMPHIS, TN — Loyalty Marketing Institute, LLC, has announced its marketing tool for the drycleaning industry.

Don’t Steam the Dry Cleaner, a personalized weekly newsletter created for drycleaners to give to their customers, reports fictional news and events from the drycleaning industry and uses humor to grab the customer ’s attention while delivering the cleaner’s promotional message.

Each newsletter includes the drycleaner’s logo and original, industry-related content on one side, and mock horoscopes, employee/customer recognition, genuine tips and advice, and the drycleaner ’s current promotion on the back.

The newsletter is updated each week in the format of manufactured news and is designed with an inherent flexibility to allow owners the ability to change their message on a regular basis while appearing as if it is created in-house.

According to Allan Katz, a marketing consultant specializing in the drycleaning industry and one of the publishers of Don ’t Steam the Dry Cleaner, two keys to effective marketing are grabbing and keeping the prospect ’s attention while offering a high level of perceived value. Katz said the humorous content establishes a connection between business owner and customer, softening the sales message and opening the door to better communication.

Don’t Steam the Dry Cleaner is based in part on the success of Don’t Tip the Waiter, a similar publication designed by co-publisher, Dennis Rymarz, for the restaurant industry It is available in a print version for handouts or direct mail, and in an electronic format for e-mailing to existing customers and prospects.

In addition, the publishers are offering drycleaners and their employees the opportunity to submit their own real experiences — crazy-but-true stories related to the industry — and those selected as the basis of an article will receive a free, six-week subscription to Don ’t Steam the Dry Cleaner. Submissions can be e-mailed to info@CleanerMarketingResults.com.

Limiting subscriptions to one drycleaner per zip code offers subscribers a high degree of exclusivity, so subscriptions will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

RONKONKOMA, NY — Irving Weber Associates has announced its new guaranteed issue group life insurance program with the following the benefits:

Employers: $100,000 guaranteed issue at a quarterly premium of $111, including accidental death and dismemberment coverage, which reduces to $50,000 at age 70.

Key employees: $50,000 guaranteed issue at a quarterly premium of $55.50, including accidental death and dismemberment coverage, which reduces to $25,000 at age 70.

Employees: $25,000 guaranteed issue at a quarterly premium of $27.75, including Accidental Death and Dismemberment coverage, which reduces to $12,500 at age 70; or $10,000 guaranteed issue at a quarterly premium of $11.10, including accidental death and dismemberment coverage, which reduces to $5,000 at age 70.

Eligibility requirements for the program, underwritten by First Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company, are as follows:

• Employees must be actively at work and on the employer’s payroll for a minimum of 20 hours per week.

• Employers and employees must be under age 65 in order to enroll; 75 percent of all eligible employees must be included.

• New eligible employees must be enrolled after six months of employment.

Endorsed by the International Fabricare Institute, the IWA Fabricare Insurance Program has offered insurance programs to the fabric care industry for over 60 years.

BURKE, VA — Kleerwite Chemical has announced Silk Restorer, a new wetcleaning additive that the company said can restore the original sheen to silks in water.

Silk Restorer is water-based, safe, contains no solvents and is biodegradable. It adds vibrancy, sheen and restores the original luster to silks that are wetcleaned. It can also help eliminate chafe-mark damage that can occur in spotting or drycleaning. Being able to work in water creates new opportunities for cleaners that previously were only available on the dry side, such as adding mineral oil to solvents.

Silk Restorer can be used in the wash cycle with any detergent, or it can be added to the final rinse of a wash cycle. It can also be used in a dipping method by adding two or three ounces of Silk Restorer to a gallon of water to make a Silk restorer bath.

Silk Restorer is available through Kleerwite-authorized distributors.

FREDERICKSBURG, VA — Kaeser Compressors Inc. has updated its guide to selecting compressed air treatment equipment. The eight-page, full color guide, Meeting Your Compressed Air Treatment Needs, explains the latest advancements in dryers and filters and discusses other fundamental components such as aftercoolers and traps.

MACEDON, NY — When a machine breaks down or parts fail it can bring production to a grinding halt. A regular preventative maintenance schedule can help avoid wasted time and money.

Magnatag Visible Systems has devised a solution to display and schedule a full year of preventative maintenance actions for each machine in a facility. Color-coded magnets identify the week ’s job assignments, giving managers and employees a heads-up on maintenance work.

The Maintenance-Master Board comes in three sizes, allowing 52 weeks of scheduling for 66, 90, or 180 line items. Each system includes write-on tools, an optional visible file aligned with the board that holds a two year daily maintenance history card on each line item, and hundreds of multi-colored magnets with 1 ⁄2" printed grid lines to align with board grids, showing multi-week project tasks or equipment down time.

TULSA, OK — Royaltone’s All-in-One Detergent Plus Conditioner prevents color bleed and ensures odor free drycleaning for cloth as well as suede and leather articles in any drycleaning fluid, including perc, petroleum and Exxon DF 2000. It inhibits bad odors and stabilizes dyes in designer jeans, denims, corduroys, velvets, surface prints, silks and sleeping bags and makes it possible to also dryclean suedes and leathers. Colors can be mixed without color bleed, fade or color loss.

Detergent Plus also eliminates swales on silks, blotches on down filled items, reduces wrinkling in all fabrics for faster easier less costly pressing, and gives a smooth hand to fabrics.

Detergent Plus can be used in either charge or injection systems. It contains a detergent complex along with other additives like an odor eliminator, sizing, brightener, deodorizer, antistatic, conditioner and softener and contains no fillers like perc, petroleum or other solvents.

COLD SPRING, KY — Sanitone, a division of Fabritec International, has announced its new 2007 Sanitone Ad System Marketing Kit, available exclusively to Sanitone licensees.

The marketing kit reviews Sanitone’s 75 years of history and provides all-new layout designs for postcards, door hangers, self mailers, stuffers, certificates, brochures, newspaper ads, radio ads, posters, and point-of-sale materials. Featured are many new designer images available for Sanitone licensees to choose from. The marketing kit is easy to use and includes marketing tips.

Fabritec International manufactures drycleaning, laundry, spotting and professional wetcleaning products under the Sanitone, Stamford and Fabritec names.