National Clothesline

New Orleans may boast centuries of history, but the city will serve as a harbinger of things to come when it hosts Clean ’09 this summer.

From June 18 to 21, the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center will devote approximately 200,000 square feet of floor space to exhibit all the newest upgrades and state-of-the-art offerings that the cleaning industry has to offer.

Need equipment? Whether you prefer conventional or alternative solvents, a multitude of machinery manufacturers will be on hand using live demonstrations to display their latest product lines.

Some of the highlights will include five new offerings from Columbia/ILSA, who will need 3,000 square feet to showcase them along with its Ipura machine that will be operating with live demonstrations.

Also on the floor, Firbimatic will feature its alternative solvent Saver SM “Save the Maximum” machine and a new HySaver hybrid model that utilizes a new jet cleaning system.

GreenEarth will demonstrate a prototype laundry technology that promises to use 90 percent less water than commercial washing machines.

Many other popular industry brand names will help pack the exhibit hall with the market’s best boilers and top tensioning equipment.

Forenta plans to introduce three new shirt presses that address the specific requests from its customers.

European Finishing Equipment will unveil a new shirt finisher designed to rival the production speed of a traditional buck finisher while producing a hand quality finish and 25 percent energy savings.

That is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. If you are looking for one big place to house all of the latest cleaning doohickies with every bell and whistle imaginable, then the choice is easy: head to the Big Easy for Clean ’09.

Need advice? There will be plenty of fellow cleaners that you can talk to directly since well over 13,000 are anticipated to attend.

There will be over 400 exhibitors, as well. In fact, Cleaners Supply has gathered a dozen of the industry’s top minds to comprise its Consultants Corner. If you have questions, they will have the answers.

Need supplies? Every conceivable product or accessory that is related to cleaning will be on hand, be it greener packaging such as reusable garment bags that sport your company’s logo or point-of-sale systems that use the Internet to offer access to data on a real-time basis.

Looking to diversify? If you are seeking to expand the scope of your business, the aisles will be filled with several booths offering potential solutions such as preserving wedding gowns and restoring damaged garments.

In short, Clean has everything a cleaner could possibly want or need and then some. For a partial list of what exhibitors will be presenting at the show, see page 20.

There will be plenty of time to take advantage of it all as the exhibit hall will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday.

Those who plan to register for the show on site after June can expect to pay $95 per person, which includes admittance to all exhibits and educational sessions.

While the registration cost has inched up a bit (it was $60 per person back in 2001, the last time it was held in New Orleans), the current state of the economy could be a big factor why other numbers are expected to dip down, such as the number of show exhibitors.

Clean’s official site placed the mid-May tally at 409 exhibitors, which is down from 484, the final number from when it was hosted in Las Vegas during its previous outing two years ago.

Both of those figures are significantly less than 562, the exhibitor total from the 2001 show in Louisiana.

Incidentally, New Orleans also hosted the Clean Show two other times in 1985 and 1995.

It was supposed to be held there again in 2007, but was postponed due to the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina which had caused flooding waters (reaching as high as 15 feet) in 80 percent of the city during the summer of 2005.

Final reports from the Louisiana Department of Health placed the death toll of the disaster at 1,464 New Orleaneans.

Additionally, tens of thousands of citizens became “displaced” and had to seek shelter at the Superdome and the Morial Convention Center, which suffered a loss of electricity and water pressure and one of its exhibit halls sustained a large hole in its ceiling.

In view of that, the Clean Committee opted to move the 2007 show to Las Vegas to give New Orleans more time to recover. The patience has undoubtedly paid off.

The Morial Convention Center has since been reinvigorated with $60 million in renovations that took 15 months to complete. All areas of the facility were cleaned, all carpets were replaced and all restrooms were refurbished, in addition to repairing the roof.

While many areas of New Orleans still continue with rebuilding efforts, sections such as the famous French Quarter, the Central Business District and the Arts/Warehouses District (where the Morial Convention Center is located) are back to normal with little or no visible evidence of the wrath of Katrina from nearly four years ago.

Not only has the city survived, but in some regions, it has thrived and improved.

In fact, the city employs a company to keep its French Quarter streets cleaner and fresher on a daily basis.

Also, there are more restaurants open than ever before, including: Emeril’s, Arnaud’s, NOLA, Bourbon House, Brennan’s, Commander’s Palace, Court of Two Sisters and Galatoire’s, to name a few.

Of course, fine dining is only one thing that has helped make the Crescent City a popular tour spot. It also boasts one of the country’s best music scenes, particularly on Bourbon Street, which is closed to vehicles at night so pedestrians can enjoy drinks, mingle with crowds of party-goers and street performers and savor the music emanating from a number of top notch jazz and blues clubs.

Perhaps the award-winning journalist Charles Kuralt summed up the charms of the city best when he wrote in the mid-1990s: “‘Unique’ is a word that cannot be qualified. It does not mean rare or uncommon; it means alone in the universe. By the standards of grammar and by the grace of God, New Orleans is the unique American place.”

Considering the magnitude of what the city has attempted to bounce back from, that statement is perhaps even more true today.

When you combine the colorful nightlife of the city with the its impressive collection of art galleries, historical museums and shopping districts, cleaners will be hard pressed to stay on the exhibit floor for the full extent of each day.

Of course, when they finally do leave the convention center for the evening, it would be advisable to have accommodations close by. To make that easier, the Clean Show is offering rooms at 19 different hotel options this year.

Discounted rates are available to Clean attendees who make reservations prior to June 1. However, cleaners who want to secure a hotel reservation after that date should still visit the official site at www.cleanshow.com for housing information.

From the home page, click on the “Attendee” link to be taken to another page with a “Housing/Travel” link on the top of the left-hand column to see details on all of the choices.

To make a reservation at any of the hotels except for the Monteleone, call (800) 424-5250. For reservations at the Monteleone, which will serve as the headquarters hotel for the Drycleaning Laundry Institute, call (504) 523-3341.

DLI is one of six associations jointly sponsoring Clean ’09. The other five are: the Association for Linen Management; the Coin Laundry Association; the Textile Care Allied Trades Association; the Textile Rental Services Association of America; and the Uniform and Textile Service Association.

It has been over three decades since the show debuted in 1977 under the heading of the World Educational Congress for Laundering and Drycleaning.

The Clean Show has continued to thrive since and is usually ranked among the top 100 trades shows in North America. It is the largest textile care exposition in the world.






						Memories of the past, dreams of the future live in New Orleans


	JUNE 2009 This Issue ADVERTISERs Back Issues Classified Ads Dateline Associations Resources Instruction ABOUT US Home
						New Orleans may boast centuries of history, but the city will serve as a harbinger of things to come when it hosts Clean ’09 this summer. From June 18 to 21, the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center will devote approximately 200,000 square feet of floor space to exhibit all the newest upgrades and state-of-the-art offerings that the cleaning industry has to offer. Need equipment? Whether you prefer conventional or alternative solvents, a multitude of machinery manufacturers will be on hand using live demonstrations to display their latest product lines. Some of the highlights will include five new offerings from Columbia/ILSA, who will need 3,000 square feet to showcase them along with its Ipura machine that will be operating with live demonstrations. Also on the floor, Firbimatic will feature its alternative solvent Saver SM “Save the Maximum” machine and a new HySaver hybrid model that utilizes a new jet cleaning system. GreenEarth will demonstrate a prototype laundry technology that promises to use 90 percent less water than commercial washing machines. Many other popular industry brand names will help pack the exhibit hall with the market’s best boilers and top tensioning equipment. Forenta plans to introduce three new shirt presses that address the specific requests from its customers. European Finishing Equipment will unveil a new shirt finisher designed to rival the production speed of a traditional buck finisher while producing a hand quality finish and 25 percent energy savings. That is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. If you are looking for one big place to house all of the latest cleaning doohickies with every bell and whistle imaginable, then the choice is easy: head to the Big Easy for Clean ’09. Need advice? There will be plenty of fellow cleaners that you can talk to directly since well over 13,000 are anticipated to attend. There will be over 400 exhibitors, as well. In fact, Cleaners Supply has gathered a dozen of the industry’s top minds to comprise its Consultants Corner. If you have questions, they will have the answers. Need supplies? Every conceivable product or accessory that is related to cleaning will be on hand, be it greener packaging such as reusable garment bags that sport your company’s logo or point-of-sale systems that use the Internet to offer access to data on a real-time basis. Looking to diversify? If you are seeking to expand the scope of your business, the aisles will be filled with several booths offering potential solutions such as preserving wedding gowns and restoring damaged garments. In short, Clean has everything a cleaner could possibly want or need and then some. For a partial list of what exhibitors will be presenting at the show, see page 20. There will be plenty of time to take advantage of it all as the exhibit hall will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. Those who plan to register for the show on site after June can expect to pay $95 per person, which includes admittance to all exhibits and educational sessions. While the registration cost has inched up a bit (it was $60 per person back in 2001, the last time it was held in New Orleans), the current state of the economy could be a big factor why other numbers are expected to dip down, such as the number of show exhibitors. A smaller show Clean’s official site placed the mid-May tally at 409 exhibitors, which is down from 484, the final number from when it was hosted in Las Vegas during its previous outing two years ago. Both of those figures are significantly less than 562, the exhibitor total from the 2001 show in Louisiana. Incidentally, New Orleans also hosted the Clean Show two other times in 1985 and 1995. It was supposed to be held there again in 2007, but was postponed due to the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina which had caused flooding waters (reaching as high as 15 feet) in 80 percent of the city during the summer of 2005. Final reports from the Louisiana Department of Health placed the death toll of the disaster at 1,464 New Orleaneans. Additionally, tens of thousands of citizens became “displaced” and had to seek shelter at the Superdome and the Morial Convention Center, which suffered a loss of electricity and water pressure and one of its exhibit halls sustained a large hole in its ceiling. In view of that, the Clean Committee opted to move the 2007 show to Las Vegas to give New Orleans more time to recover. The patience has undoubtedly paid off. A city bouncing back The Morial Convention Center has since been reinvigorated with $60 million in renovations that took 15 months to complete. All areas of the facility were cleaned, all carpets were replaced and all restrooms were refurbished, in addition to repairing the roof. While many areas of New Orleans still continue with rebuilding efforts, sections such as the famous French Quarter, the Central Business District and the Arts/Warehouses District (where the Morial Convention Center is located) are back to normal with little or no visible evidence of the wrath of Katrina from nearly four years ago. Not only has the city survived, but in some regions, it has thrived and improved. In fact, the city employs a company to keep its French Quarter streets cleaner and fresher on a daily basis. Also, there are more restaurants open than ever before, including: Emeril’s, Arnaud’s, NOLA, Bourbon House, Brennan’s, Commander’s Palace, Court of Two Sisters and Galatoire’s, to name a few. Of course, fine dining is only one thing that has helped make the Crescent City a popular tour spot. It also boasts one of the country’s best music scenes, particularly on Bourbon Street, which is closed to vehicles at night so pedestrians can enjoy drinks, mingle with crowds of party-goers and street performers and savor the music emanating from a number of top notch jazz and blues clubs. Perhaps the award-winning journalist Charles Kuralt summed up the charms of the city best when he wrote in the mid-1990s: “‘Unique’ is a word that cannot be qualified. It does not mean rare or uncommon; it means alone in the universe. By the standards of grammar and by the grace of God, New Orleans is the unique American place.” Considering the magnitude of what the city has attempted to bounce back from, that statement is perhaps even more true today. When you combine the colorful nightlife of the city with the its impressive collection of art galleries, historical museums and shopping districts, cleaners will be hard pressed to stay on the exhibit floor for the full extent of each day. Where to stay Of course, when they finally do leave the convention center for the evening, it would be advisable to have accommodations close by. To make that easier, the Clean Show is offering rooms at 19 different hotel options this year. Discounted rates are available to Clean attendees who make reservations prior to June 1. However, cleaners who want to secure a hotel reservation after that date should still visit the official site at www.cleanshow.com for housing information. From the home page, click on the “Attendee” link to be taken to another page with a “Housing/Travel” link on the top of the left-hand column to see details on all of the choices. To make a reservation at any of the hotels except for the Monteleone, call (800) 424-5250. For reservations at the Monteleone, which will serve as the headquarters hotel for the Drycleaning Laundry Institute, call (504) 523-3341. DLI is one of six associations jointly sponsoring Clean ’09. The other five are: the Association for Linen Management; the Coin Laundry Association; the Textile Care Allied Trades Association; the Textile Rental Services Association of America; and the Uniform and Textile Service Association. It has been over three decades since the show debuted in 1977 under the heading of the World Educational Congress for Laundering and Drycleaning. The Clean Show has continued to thrive since and is usually ranked among the top 100 trades shows in North America. It is the largest textile care exposition in the world.