School of Drycleaning Technology Reopens

LAUREL, Md. — After being closed because of the pandemic, the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI) recently announced that its School of Drycleaning Technology is set to reopen, offering in-person resident drycleaning courses this fall.

The School’s first General Course is set to run from Oct. 4-22, and can be taken as a complete three-week course or can be broken into two parts:

• Introduction to Drycleaning Course: October 4–8, 2021
• Advanced Drycleaning Course: October 11–22, 2021

Introduction to Drycleaning

DLI’s Introduction to Drycleaning Course is geared toward individuals new to the industry or who have less than one year of experience. Topics include:

• Sorting loads for drycleaning
• Cleaning silk, satin and other fabrics 
• Operating a drycleaning machine 
• Removing coffee ink, grease and other stains from clothing 
• Pressing pants, coats, and skirts 
• Using tensioning equipment to improve finishing quality

Advanced Drycleaning Course

The 10-day Advanced Drycleaning Course is for cleaners who have completed the Introduction Course or have hands-on production experience and knowledge of basic stain removal and finishing techniques. Topics will include:

• Identifying cotton, silk, polyester and other fabrics
• Using bleaches without damaging the fabric color 
• Pressing blouses, dresses, ties, pleated garments, silks, velvets, corduroy 
• Wetcleaning wool, silk, and more 
• Maintaining and changing filters 
• Troubleshooting problems with the drycleaning machine 
• Using tensioning equipment to improve finishing quality 
• Current regulations facing the drycleaning industry 
• Customer service techniques for drycleaners 
• Getting clean, white laundry 
• Cleaning and preserving wedding gowns 
• Understand the difference between solvents including perc, GreenEarth^® hydrocarbon and SOLVONK4 
• Pressing laundered shirts 
• Designing a drycleaning plant with the most effective workflow

For more information, visit DLI’s website, or call 800-638-2627.

As part of their lessons, each student of the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute’s School of Drycleaning Technology is assigned their own spotting board for the hands-on experience that is crucial to mastering stain removal. (Photo: Drycleaning & Laundry Institute)

Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Dave Davis at [email protected].