Though she has not been in the industry long, Derba Mills is already
differentiating her business from the rest of her peers.
The San Antonian spurred on a new local movement a little over three years ago:
she is the only 100 percent wetcleaner in the Alamo City.
While she’ll be the first to admit that starting up her Clothesline Cleaners plant has been anything but easy, Derba has never been one to opt for the easy
path. She prefers the high road.
 | ||
“My dad used to design bakeries and he designed some of our major bakeries down
here
— Mrs. Baird’s and Butterkrust and H-E-B Bakeries,” she recalled.
“So, we used to just get into the car and go on road trips. When we would pass by
the chiropractors, if they had a shingle hanging out saying they sold Shaklee
products, we would pick it up whether we needed it or not because he really
wanted to support people who sold organic and natural cleaning processes.
”
Shaklee, founded in 1956, deals in vitamins, cosmetics, personal care and
nutrition products and green household cleaners. The company distributes its
wares on its web site, as well as through about 750,000 representatives in
North America and Asia.
Back then, though, it wasn’t so easy to find such products.
“That’s a sense of pride for me, that he cared about being green and natural back
then,
” she said.
Before drycleaning, Derba’s passions for health and healing were evident in many of her professions. In
addition to managing a Health Foods store, she owned vitamin stores in
California, and also worked as a massage therapist.
She had an artistic side, as well.
“I started a company called My Hands Heal, and I sold artwork and jewelry from
artists all over the world,
” she noted. “At the Anchorage Museum of Fine Arts, I had things from Thomas Mann in New
Orleans, and was really proud to sell hands with hearts, hands of energy, and
pieces from $5 to $5,000.
”
Derba often went on the road to sell the pieces to places such as the
International Wellness Convention and the Anatriptic Arts Convention.
“It was nice for me because I had a niche market. It was something specific to
healing,
” she said. “Chiropractors and massage therapists were just thrilled.”
They weren’t the only ones, however; sometimes the clients were a little more famous.
“I sold something to Steadman for his girlfriend Oprah {Winfrey},” she recalled. “I walked up to him and said, ‘I’ve got something for your girlfriend. Right over there is my booth.’”
Throughout her life, Derba has had many occupations and has lived all over the
country, but she believes the path she has taken has always been laid out
before her.
“I really take divine direction,” she said. “I think that God sends us messages and clues of what we can do purposefully in
life and I follow those.
”
That is precisely why Derba launched Clothesline Cleaners in 2003. She had
worked in the industry for a short time before that and saw a need for a
wetcleaner in her home city.
Clothesline Cleaners began with a single location in Olmos Park. In the
beginning, Derba did pretty much all of the work herself. It was an exciting
time, and also exhausting.
“The profit margins to be a wetcleaner are really low,” she explained. “It’s so laborious and time intensive. You put the clothes in to be processed. Then,
you put them in the dryer. Then, you put them on tensioning equipment. Then,
they have to dry them because the dryer you don
’t use much at all — it’s like three minutes. So, you have some pretty wet clothes waiting to dry.”
For over two years, she couldn’t keep production help and ended up logging in some long days.
“I really, really worked,” she noted. “I mean I used to work 15 hours a day and it’s real, blue collar work... and I have not seen any income yet. It’s been a huge struggle.”
Derba may have given up long ago if all she was interested in was generating
profits. For her, the rewards are mostly intrinsic. She has put her heart and
soul in Clothesline Cleaners and has worked hard making it completely natural
and green in all areas.
“To me, my heart and my motto is ‘Serving mankind to honor God’ — and to be able to not add any carbon pollutions or anything like that to the
environment
— to be able to give people clothes that were cleaned in a pure fashion,” she said.
“A lot of people don’t really want to run a charity organization,” she laughed. “If they are interested in making a lot of money, wetcleaning’s not for them. It just takes too long. You’re kind of alone, too, especially in San Antonio. To be the only dedicated
wetcleaner here is a real tough thing.
”
While she is ecstatic to be able to help a small percentage of her customers who
suffer from chemical sensitivities, Derba believes that most customers are not
that concerned with greener cleaners.
“They pretty much want it in an hour, and they want it cheap,” she explained. “We get a little following. Some people just embrace it and say, ‘Thank God you’re here.’ But, most of the others just don’t care how it’s processed.”
So far, it’s been challenging, but Derba is not ready to give up just yet. She wants to
stay in business as long as she can help others and make a difference.
“I don’t have real lofty goals,” she said. “I don’t have a lot of needs in my life. It’s really simple so I have been able to do this. When customers come in and say
they saw a movie or went out to eat or bought a new dress or pair of shoes
— I don’t have any longing for any of that. So, I can stay in service and just keep it
this way.
”
Since it first opened, Clothesline has expanded to include four satellite
locations and about 25 employees. According to Derba, a lot of money has
crossed the counter, but a lot of it has gone back into keeping the plant as
environmentally friendly as possible.
For example, Derba is part of a local Windtricity program where the City Public
Service offers a renewable source of energy: wind. It costs an additional $3
per month per 100 kWh over the usual options: coal, nuclear and natural gas.
Only 0.6 percent of the municipality
’s customers utilize that option.
Throughout Derba’s company you will also find a biodiesel delivery van; extremely high
energy-saving light bulbs; dual flush toilets which reduce water consumption;
minimal packaging; organic cleaning products for the windows, floors and
counters; citrus products for stain removal; and Enviro-Bags that can be reused
.
It’s really no different from the values she carried with her as a child.
“When our family used to go on the road, if we happened to buy something with a
can or a bottle, we
’d carry it all across the country to the recycling place.”
Of all the green procedures she practices in her plant, Derba’s favorite, by far, is the use of Eco-Hangers. They are are 100 percent recycled
and recyclable and are also 100 percent biodegradable. The idea is to cut down
on the use of wire hangers. After all, about 3.5 billion wire hangers end up in
landfills annually; that
’s almost 200 million pounds altogether.
“Eco-Hangers are awesome,” she said. “They are very nice. They feel like a cardboard hanger and the hook at the top is
a thicker hook. It
’s a real gracious way to solve a problem. I think they’ve just got a great idea.”
As an added bonus, they are completely free to cleaners. The cost is defrayed by
national advertisements that are imprinted on the base.
In fact, it was her use of the Eco-Hangers which drew media attention to Derba’s plant, which was featured in a story recently on the Today Show and NBC News.
They are not the only ones who have appreciated Derba’s extra efforts. She was also featured in a story in San Antonio Woman magazine
about environmentally friendly business owners.
Perhaps the most impressive accolade Derba has received has come from the Texas
Legislature. Representative Frank Corte, Jr. authored House Resolution 2615 to
recognize her introduction of
“an ecologically friendly alternative to dry cleaning through her Clothesline
Cleaners chain in San Antonio.
”
A few celebrities have also enjoyed the plant, including Thomas Gibson, who
earned considerable notoriety for playing
“Greg” for five seasons in the hit sitcom Dharma and Greg, and NBA star Tony Parker
and his wife, Eva Longoria, who stars in ABC
’s Desperate Housewives.
“Eva Longoria comes in and she’s a delightful woman and very supportive,” Derba said.
Despite the celebrity clientele and the honors she’s been awarded, Derba knows the battle will still continue. However, she
believes the future might be a little brighter than the last couple of years
have been.
“I feel like the curve is going to happen,” she said. “It’s been a little longer than most, and a little more difficult than most jobs you
can do.
”
In the meantime, Derba can sleep well at night knowing she is really trying to
make the Earth a better place.
“I consider it an honor just to open my door in the morning and see who walks
through it,
” she said.
