LAUREL, Md. — The Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI) recently completed its first Basic Stain Removal course taught entirely in Spanish, with no live translation. The course was designed from the ground up for Spanish-speaking professionals.
Twice a week through November, 44 students from Canada to Curaçao logged in for the immersive, hands-on virtual training course, DLI says. Over four sessions, students received instruction in stain identification, chemistry, stain board tools and step-by-step removal processes for everything from ink and nail polish to mustard, red wine, grass and more.
For many attendees, DLI says, this was the first time world-class technical training had been available to them in their native language.
“Learning such useful tools was exciting to me since I’m new to this industry,” says Ivan Aguilar, managing director at VIP Textile Restoration in Guelph, Ontario. “I will replicate what I learned with my employees so they can also benefit from it.”
The impact was just as powerful for seasoned operators, DLI says.
“This will help me immensely with training,” says Heather Larson, general manager at St. Croix Cleaners/Treasured Garment Restoration in Stillwater, Minnesota. “A good percentage of my staff does not speak English.”
Larson enrolled four staff members — three with more than a decade of experience, and one brand-new hire — and says all left the course energized, equipped, and more strategic in their stain-removal work.
Instructor Georgina “Gina” Hernandez Loranzo, owner of Ortega Cleaners in San Juan Capistrano, California, spent more than a year preparing the Spanish-language curriculum alongside Brian Johnson, DLI’s director of education and analysis.
Her preparation included multiple English-language course sessions and attending DLI’s Introduction to Drycleaning Course here in Laurel, all to ensure the inaugural Spanish class would deliver the same rigor, clarity, and practical value as the English version of DLI’s Virtual Basic Stain Removal program.
“It never gets old seeing the students hold up their swatches when they get the stains out,” Johnson says. “They get so excited — as happy as kids on Christmas morning.”
“The most rewarding part was witnessing the students’ excitement as everything clicked for them,” Hernandez says. “Knowing the effort we put in directly empowered people in their day-to-day work was the highlight.”
Johnson notes the emotional impact on participants who had never before received industry training they could fully understand: “Even as a non-Spanish speaker, I could tell they felt valued. They were engaged, happy and having a really good time.”
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