National Clothesline

When you accept suede and leather garments for cleaning, it is important for you to examine each item for conditions that are problems or may become problems if they are not pointed out to the customer before the item is cleaned.

The conditions that are usually encountered on suede and leather garments you receive for cleaning generally fall into three categories. The Royaltone Method defines these as: conditions of use; conditions of manufacture; and natural conditions.

Conditions of use or abuse include damage to the garment that occurs as it is worn by its owner. Examples of conditions of use include worn areas, rips, tears, missing buttons, broken zippers, torn linings, fade, cigarette burns, etc.

Conditions of manufacture are things the manufacturer of the garment did that can present you with a potential problem. Examples of conditions of manufacture include over stretching of skins that later shrink back to original size in wearing and cleaning, use of soluble glue that bleeds in wearing and cleaning, use of dissimilar diseased or improperly tanned skins on the garment that can disintegrate in wearing and cleaning, and use of pigment dye powder finish that comes off in wearing or cleaning.

Natural conditions are marks and scars in the garment skins that result from injuries to the skin during the time the animal possessed it. Examples of natural conditions include tick bite scars, belly wrinkle scars, barb wire scars, vein marks, etc.

If any of the conditions in these three categories exist on any suede or leather garment you accept, they must be called to the attention of your customer to avoid misunderstandings and problems due to lack of communication.

This procedure is the same as in accepting regular drycleaning, where you have found through experience, that if the customer is forewarned and prepared for possible problems before processing, many lengthy discussions and arguments can be avoided later and customer goodwill safeguarded.

You should also give your customer good advice. This includes recommending that the garment be cleaned at least once a year to protect the skin from drying out and to remove soil and stains before they become set with age.

For example, leather cleaning with Royaltone Detergent Conditioner will retain the natural oils in the skin and retain suppleness. Further, you should also recommend that your customer have their valuable suede or leather garment protected with a protective coating to protect it from staining and soiling after purchase or cleaning.

When accepting leather and suede you must be alert for conditions of use, which as previously described are those things that occur to damage the garment as it is worn by its owner.

Conditions of use include rips and tears, missing buttons, worn areas, fade, spots and stains, oxidation, sun fade, water spotting, perspiration, cigarette burn holes, torn or worn button holes, broken or bent buttons, torn seams, hard or brittle hide, heavily soiled, worn or cracked lacquer, holes in pockets, worn linings and faded areas.

As you can see from the preceding list, many of the damage conditions that occur to a suede or leather garment as it is worn by its owner are the same or similar to those damage conditions that occur to cloth garments as they are worn. Therefore, as a drycleaner, you are already very familiar with most of the conditions of use or abuse that you will encounter on suede, leather and fur garments when they are brought in to you for cleaning.

Even if you never clean a suede, leather or fur garment yourself, you should become consciously familiar with the conditions of use that you may encounter when a customer presents you with one of these garments. It is important that you examine the garment to determine if any of these conditions of use exist at the time the garment is presented. Failure to do so carries the same consequences that you face on a cloth garment that you accept at the counter.

Specifically, responsibility for the garment is yours once you accept it, whether or not you clean it yourself or send it out for others to clean.

Just as with cloth garments, once the customer leaves the store, any actual or inherent damage that may be discovered later, will become your responsibility, if you haven ’t pointed it out to the customer at the time the garment was left with you.

Just as with cloth garments, if you don’t catch the damage at the counter, you will get the same reaction from the customer on suede, leather and fur. You may hear familiar complaints such as “You burned a hole in my coat,” or “You lost my buttons,” or “You tore my jacket,” or “You faded my garments.” And just as with cloth garments, you will be held responsible and expected to make restitution for those conditions of use that you should have noticed when the garment was brought in.

So it is important that you make a determined effort to examine every suede, leather and fur garment that comes across your counter and point out conditions of use that exist to the customer and obtain a release signature before he or she leaves the premises. Then, instead of having to make restitution for damage, you will be able to charge extra for the repair, replacement or correction of such damage that was, in fact, caused by the customer during the course of his or her use of the article.