Commercial Washers for Vended Laundries

ExpressWash Energy-Efficient, Soft-Mount Frontload
MG-Series High-Performance, Hard-Mount Frontload
M-Series Hard-Mount Frontload
L-Series Hard-Mount Frontload
Econ-O-Wash Topload

Commercial Washers for On-Premise Laundries

E-Series Energy-Efficient, Soft-Mount Frontload
MG-Series High-Performance, Hard-Mount Frontload
M-Series Hard-Mount Frontload
L-Series Hard-Mount Frontload
Econ-O-Wash Topload

Commercial Dryers for
Vended Laundries

ExpressDry High-Performance Drying Tumblers
E-Series Dry Compact Drying Tumbler
Econ-O-Dry Small Load
Efficiency Dryer

Commercial Dryers for On-Premise Laundries

ProSeries II High-Performance Drying Tumblers
E-Series Dry Compact Drying Tumbler
Econ-O-Dry Small Load
Efficiency Dryer
Gear Dryers for Fire Departments

Commercial Ironers for
On-Premise Laundries

Heated-Roll High-Performance Flatwork Ironers
Heated-Chest High-Volume
Flatwork Ironers

Folders & Stackers for
On-Premise Laundries

FT-LITE Drywork Folder
FL-LITE Flatwork Folder
AP-LITE Stacker

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Washer-Extractors
Drying Tumblers
Flatwork Ironers

Customer Testimonials
& Case Studies

Click on the link(s) below to view published case studies and helpful resources.

View Case Study: Lyons Cleaners Boosts Productivity and Embraces Wetcleaning with Programmable Soft-mount Washers 06.2008
View Case Study: Wetcleaning Gains Appeal with Drycleaners 11.2005
View Case Study: Ironer Investment Pays Off, Paris Cleaners Bumps Total Revenue Up Eight Percent - Inside Spin Vol. 4, No. 3
View Case Study: Midnight Express - American Drycleaner 11.2002

Contact your nearest distributor to request a quote!

Professional Fabricare Market Case Study

Wetcleaning Gains Appeal with Drycleaners

November 2005 | Download article as a PDF

huntington cleaners Drycleaners are emerging as an untapped niche for industrial laundry equipment manufacturers and their distributors. A growing percentage of items funneled through progressive drycleaning facilities are now wetcleaned—often with superior results over traditional methods.

The industry is searching for safe cleaning alternatives, having been hammered in recent years by environmental regulations surrounding the use of cancer-causing perchloreoethylene (perc), rising insurance premiums and increasing labor costs, according to Mike Szczotka (Stucky) of Eagle Star Equipment, in Detroit. Szczotka has served the laundry and drycleaning industries for 16 years, providing equipment, parts, service and training to his network of repeat customers.

huntington cleaners Among those he serves is Wayne Wudyka, chief operating officer and co-founder of Certified Restoration Drycleaning Network (CRDN), an international organization of drycleaners which specialize in restoration work following floods, fires and other disasters. CRDN facilities work closely with insurers to restore damaged items from homes and businesses—saving them around 84 percent over the cost of replacement, according to Wudyka.

The big surprise is that the lion's share—60 percent—of CRDN's restoration volume is wetcleaned. “Wetcleaning is more effective than drycleaning on heavy-odor losses and removing contaminants,” says Wudyka. CRDN facilities, not only inventory, track, clean and store items until they can be returned to homes and businesses, they guarantee restoration or your money back. Since 2001, Eagle Star Equipment has outfitted many CRDN facilities nationally with Continental washer-extractors, drying tumblers and flatwork ironers, along with a variety of drycleaning equipment.

huntington cleaners Wetcleaning is appealing to drycleaners, according to Szczotka, because it's a more profitable, safe and effective cleaning method. “There's new chemistry out there that allows us to wetclean an Armani suit,” he says. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concurs.

“Properly trained professional cleaners are now able to successfully wetclean most garments that are typically drycleaned,” according to an EPA report, including silks, wools, linens, suedes and leathers. The key to effective cleaning, according to Szczotka and Wudyka, is highly programmable laundry equipment with appropriate detergent and chemical combinations.

“The name of the game is having programmable equipment, being able to modify cycles and using proper chemistry at the right water temperature,” says Szczotka. “We can control all of that with Continental products.”

Chemical representatives who work with drycleaners can properly program Continental equipment for a myriad of items”—wool sweaters, silks and suits—using a variety of effective chemicals for superior results, according to Szczotka.

For Wudyka, soft-mount machines with high extract are also critical to productivity and plant flexibility. In 13 years, Eagle Star Equipment redesigned Huntington Cleaners—Wudyka's flagship CRDN facility located in Detroit—five times. “Every piece of equipment came from Mike,” Wudyka says. “He's very proactive in terms of plant design to facilitate our growth. Otherwise our growth would have been limited.” Thanks to Continental's softmount washer design, maximizing production and relocating machines was simplified. We're constantly challenged with reconfiguring space,” says Wudyka. “I like the softmount so we aren't digging foundations. The additional extract cuts dry time down, which is also key.”

Gaining more profit is another benefit of wetcleaning over drycleaning, says Szczotka. “It's less labor and double the money to do a Polo shirt,” he maintains. And new tensioning equipment makes finishing wetcleaned items—suits, pants, shirts—less time consuming. But for drycleaners who use perc, compliance with a myriad of federal regulations can drain profits by impacting the following:

liability insurance
permitting fees
hazardous waste disposal fees
equipment upgrades
contaminated site clean up
time spent learning and complying with regulations

New cleaning solutions are the wave of the future for the drycleaning industry, says Szczotka. Thanks to new chemicals, highly programmable equipment and new finishing technologies, wetcleaning will continue to gain favor with drycleaners interested in boosting profits.