Kathy Saul's father started Williamsburg Cleaners — now with five locations on the West Side — 31 years ago. Today, as president of the company, Saul’s instincts for knowing how to save a piece of clothing are spot-on. She offers tips for keeping your threads in tip-top shape.
Breathe Easy: “When people get their dry cleaning home they should take the plastic off of it right away — never leave dry cleaning plastic on clothing ever,” she says. “Actually, you don’t want to store anything in plastic, no matter what it is. It’s called oxidation — you get staining to come out all over. Your clothing needs to be stored in something that is breathable, like a cloth bag.”
Solid Deterrent: “Do not leave food or staining on your clothing over the winter or summertime — that is what attracts moths, and that’s how people get holes in their clothing,” Saul explains. “At the least, you need to have cedar in your closet — no moths balls.”
Seasonal Disorder: “One thing you do not want is salt on your clothing. Salt from outside starts to deteriorate your clothes. All that salt comes up the back of your pant leg or the back of your coat and look at what it does to the roads — it starts to corrode your clothes just the same way,” Saul says. “[Because of it] our closets do a color change. Like a moss green coat will start turning yellow with whitish spots from the salt. If you have salt on your clothes, you want to get that out soon. You want to bring it into the cleaners or wipe it off when you get home.”
Multiple locations, drycleanatwilliamsburg.com
