MASTERING THE ART OF PRESPOTTING

Pre-spotting is any type of spotting performed before an item is cleaned; post-spotting is spotting done after cleaning.

The amount of pre-spotting that is done can be controversial depending upon who you speak to. The question arises as to how much pre-spotting should be done and on what fabrics and garments it should be done on.

Some drycleaners advocate pre-spotting everything, some not to pre-spot anything and some to pre-spot a few select items.

The answer to the question depends on the condition of the garments received, type of garments and the stains and soil we are looking to remove.

Although pre-spotting saves time after cleaning, I do not advocate that everything should be pre-spotted. Dark garments should simply be drycleaned and most stains remaining usually can be blown off with the steam gun. Many stains on dark fabrics become more apparent after the garment is drycleaned.

There are other fabrics and garments that definitely need pre-spotting. It is important to not only pre-spot these garments in order to save time but also to avoid having the heat of the drycleaning process set and oxidize the stain.

Silks, fragiles and wedding gowns always need pre-spotting since you only want to clean these garments one time and avoid recleaning. Raincoats, cottons, denims and khakis are usually heavily soiled and need pre-spotting.

When customers bring in garments and point out a stain, the counter person should mark the stained area, hang up the garment and bring it to the spotter for pre-spotting.

Inspection

When inspecting garments at the spotting board for pre-spotting, examine those areas of the garment most likely to be stained. For example, on men’s jackets I pay attention to lapels, cuffs, collar and underarm. I very briefly check the back of the garment since the chance of staining  is less likely to occur. On women’s garments always check the collar, underarms and front area.

Wetside pre-spotting

Tannin stains. These are vegetable-type stains such as coffee, tea, medicines, soft drinks and hard drinks. Tannin stains should always be pre-spotted since the heat of the drycleaning process tends to set or oxidize the stain.

The method for removing a tannin stain remains the same using tannin formulas. After pre-spotting, it is important that all chemicals be rinsed from the fabric since the drycleaning process does not remove these agents. Leveling agents should be used instead of feathering to remove wetside rings.

Protein stains. These are typically body stains such as perspiration, egg, milk, blood and urine. Use your regular protein method and also use a leveling agent as a time saver.

After removing protein stains using alkali, the area should be flushed thoroughly and an acid should be used to neutralize any alkali used.

Dryside stains. All dryside stains such as paint, lipstick, grease, nail polish and ink should be pre-spotted. Oily-type paint remover and amyl acetate are effective pre-spotting agents for these stains.

Do not flush any dryside agents with water and do not put these items in for routine wetcleaning since it violates EPA regulations. Try to clean these garments immediately after pre-spotting to avoid moisture in the air activating the oily type paint remover causing color loss.

Soil. Do not use paint removers for soil since excessive use can contribute to odor problems in your solvent.

For soil removal, any spray spotter is effective and can be used as a leveling agent. Spray spotter mixed with volatile dry solvents is effective on heavy soil but may affect dyes on some silk, rayon and acetate fabrics.

There are special silk pre-spotting agents that are effective for soil and can also be used as a leveling agent.

Drycleaning detergent

Drycleaning detergent can be used for soil removal as a leveling agent. It can not be mixed with perc which is against the EPA regulations.

Do not make up pre-spotting agents using detergents that are not compatible with your drycleaning system. For example, batch injection detergents are cationic in nature and can not be mixed with anionic charge detergents.

Wetcleaning

Garments that are classified for wetcleaning may also need pre-spotting. The emphasis is placed on dryside stains since more wetside staining is removed in wetcleaning. Do not use drycleaning paint removers and drycleaning pre-spotters for items to be wetcleaned.

Dryside stains. Use nonionic wetcleaning detergents for grease, oil, lipstick and other dryside stains.

Protein and tannin stains. Use your normal process for removal but leveling agents are not necessary.

Soil. For heavy soil, use your wetcleaning detergents mixed with water. The best soil removal mixture is wetcleaning detergent and lubricant mixed with water. To make this mixture more aggressive, it can also be mixed with an alkali such as ammonia.

The best wetcleaning detergents are either nonionic or anionic. This mixture may be too aggressive for silks and fabrics with bright and vivid colors.

When using a wetcleaning detergent as pre-spotting agents, make sure it is compatible with the system you are using. For example, anionic wetcleaning detergents can not be mixed with a cationic detergent which is generally used to wetclean silks. They will counteract each other producing rings and swales on the garments.