The National Cleaners Association Responds to Good Morning America Reports on Drycleaning ‘Disasters’ and JC Penney’s Shrinking Wash and Wear Suit
New York – (rushprnews)- In 2005, Good Morning America consumer reporter Greg Hunter presented a news segment on a secret experiment involving various stained pieces of garment and the effectiveness of dry cleaners in removing these. The National Cleaners Association (NCA) cooperated with Greg Hunter in setting up the stains. All the garments were taken to various drycleaners within hours of being stained, all stains were pointed out to the cleaner and types of stains were identified. No time limit was set for service, nor was price of cleaning a consideration.
Fifty percent of the cleaners successfully removed the stains, the other half miserably failed. In an on-camera interview, Alan Spielvogel, NCA’s Chief Garment Analyst spoke about the stain removal process as time consuming and explained that failure to remove a stain often stems from the fact that the cleaner does not take the necessary time for complete stain removal. Another factor in failure was lack of proper technical training and poor garment care labeling. In the wrap-up of the piece, Mr. Hunter observed that there is a correlation between performance and price and that more expensive cleaners, generally produced better results.
Since the Good Morning America news segment aired, the Cleaners Association has taken steps to improve the situation. They have been offering various training seminars and Saturday morning educational sessions for their members. During these sessions, drycleaners are taught how to use a wide array of cleaning chemicals safely and effectively.
Rewarding the Good Guy with the Cleaners Choice Award!
To reward careful and accurate care labeling and excellent customer care, the NCA is giving a Cleaners Choice Award. Liz Claiborne clothing line is the recipient of the 2006 Cleaners Choice Award. The NCA award is given in recognition of the garment manufacturer’s excellence in customer service, care labeling and quality control. The Award is to be presented at the Liz Claiborne corporate office in New York at 1 pm on June 15, 2006.
Clearly, the garment industry also has problems and bears some responsibility for defects and care labeling. Good Morning America recently demonstrated that JC Penney’s new Wash and Wear suit shrunk even though the care label instructions were strictly followed. A host on the show cracked, “I guess I’ll be keeping my drycleaner.” In his seminars, Garment Analyst Spielvogel referred often to NCA’s Garment Analysis Review, which indicated that manufacturing defects and improper care labeling are the biggest culprit of clothes cleaning blunders, causing 67 percent of the overall problems.
The National Cleaners Association website has more information.
