Is that trim plastic or leather?
Surprisingly enough, plastic trim is also used on suede and leather articles and
can easily be mistaken for leather. While leather will clean satisfactorily in
an acceptable leather cleaning
process, the plastic may not.
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What you know about plastic trims on cloth will apply equally to plastic trims
on suede and leather. Examine buttonhole trim and other trim areas, which are
among the favorite places for garment manufacturers to use plastic trim
materials on suede and leather garments.
Always look at the underside of the trim material to determine if it is leather
or plastic. If it is leather it will be sueded. If it is plastic it will have a
fabric like backing.
Plastic and vinyl trims
In the suede and leather market you will find simulated leather trim and
imitation leather garments made entirely from plastic and vinyl materials which
are formulated and produced by hundreds of manufacturers utilizing a myriad of
formulations. A number of these may be satisfactorily drycleaned in certain
instances.
In leather cleaning, just as in regular drycleaning, some plastics may harden,
crack, peel or bleed, even with careful handling, under controlled conditions
when exposed to drycleaning fluids and/or drying temperatures used in the
leather cleaning process. The only way to really know if the plastic will
harden, crack or bleed is to test it by removing a small sample from an inside
seam and pin it to a handkerchief or other piece of cloth so it won’t be lost when you run it through the entire cleaning and drying process with
one of your loads.
If the plastic sample comes through the cycle without getting hard or cracking
or bleeding, then chances are good that the entire piece will do the same when
drycleaned. If it does harden, crack or bleed, then the whole piece will
probably do the same when drycleaned. You should consider wetcleaning the item
to avoid the loss of plastizer from the plastic trim that occurs in the
drycleaning process.
You can not only determine if the plastic will survive the drycleaning or
wetcleaning process, but also if it will survive the drying process. You may
find that the plastic will come through the drycleaning or wetcleaning without
hardening but will harden if it is dried with heat. In this case, you can clean
the article and dry it without heat and it will probably be fine.
If the plastic piece gets hard, it does so because the drycleaning fluid removed
the plasticizer material from the plastic. If it didn’t crack, the plasticizer can be replaced by immersing the article in a solution
of drycleaning fluid mixed with a plasticizer such as Royaltone’s Ultra-Plast to replace the plasticizer that came out of the plastic in the
drycleaning process.
However, if the plastic is a trim on cloth or suede, the plasticizer material in
the drycleaning fluid in a dip tank may affect the cloth or suede portions
adversely by making them stiffer and or by matting down the nap of the suede.
The customer should be advised of all these possibilities and a release
signature obtained before you accept the garment .
Belt backings
Another problem item that you might run into is cardboard or plastic belt
backing instead of a more drycleanable material. Belt backings, of course, are
used to give belts firmness.
However, to use a cardboard material with a slick coating or a vinyl plastic
does nothing but create problems for the drycleaner and the leather cleaner as
well as grief for them and the owner of the belt.
As you know, if the backing is made of cardboard it will come apart in the
cleaning and will look unsightly and unacceptable to the customer. If the belt
backing is plastic, there is a good chance it will get stiff, hard, crack, and
peel.
Examine all belts
These results are unsatisfactory and they will not please your customer. So be
sure to examine all belts that come in with leather garments just as you would
if they were cloth garments. If they are backed with cardboard or plastic, then
advise the customer of the possible undesirable results and obtain a customer
release.
Be cautious
Of course, take every precaution to minimize the effect of the mechanical
action, the drycleaning fluid or the water and heat in drying when cleaning the
backing, if you do accept it for cleaning. You might even consider
hand-cleaning such items as a way to eliminate the risk in cleaning them.
