Ugg boots are the fashion statement for the winter season. Only problem is that they need proper care to keep them looking good. So what's the best way to care for Uggs?
The number one rule about caring for Uggs you should know: Tent to stains or dirt as soon as it appears!
Here are 2 ways to clean your boots:
1. Buy Ugg Cleaner. Get a bucket of water and wet sponge or brush. Gently sponge the plain water onto the entire boot. Take the sponge and Ugg cleaner and gently apply the cleaner to the boot. Do not clean just the stained area. Clean the entire boot so when it dries it does not leave water lines. Rinse the boot several times with the sponge and the water in the bucket. Don’t immerse the boot in the water. Just take a clean sponge and rinse the boot until the cleaner is removed. You may need to repeat this process one or more times depending on how soiled your boots are. And some stains may become permanent and not come out. This is why you should clean your Uggs immediately after noticing the stain. Allow your Uggs to dry where they are not in the direct sunlight. Do not wash in a washing machine. Do not put in a dryer. Removing stains from Uggs takes time. Ugg Boots need to be cleaned several times during the season.
Whew. We're tired after just reading all that.
2. Bring your Uggs to us at Champion Cleaners! Problem solved!
We now offer Ugg boot cleaning. We charge $25 for the short boot variety and $39 for the long boot. See our February specials and get 25% off this month.
(C) 2010, 2011 Champion Cleaners. All Rights Reserved
We are happy to announce the Champion Cleaners Dry Cleaning Customers of the Month for February 2012!
We appreciate all of our customers and love to recognize those who are friendly and fun to serve. Our staff at each dry cleaning location recommends these special people every month.
Each Customer of the Month receives a Champion Cleaners $25.00 Gift Certificate good for any of our dry cleaning or laundry services.
Thanks to each of our honorees for making our work even more enjoyable.
Gary Petro is Customer of the Month at our Rocky Ridge location in Vestavia.
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Barry Harmon is our Customer of the Month at our Dry Cleaning Center in Calera on Highway 31.
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Bob (and Leslie) Lantis is our Customer of the Month at our Greystone location on Highway 280.
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 Dry Cleaning Delivered Right to Your Door: Get $10.00 in FREE dry cleaning and laundry.
Did you know that for no extra cost Champion will pick up and deliver your cleaning...twice each week...replace missing buttons...repair lose hems and seams...for FREE?
Schedule your delivery service and get $10 off your first order.
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(C) 2010, 2011 Champion Cleaners. All Rights Reserved(C) 2010, 2011 Champion Cleaners. All Rights Reserved
We know these aren't tips you're likely to bring up at the next dinner party you attend, but we see this stuff all the time and aren't embarrassed to talk about it!
We all have to use (hopefully!) deodorant and antiperspirant, and at one time or another, we've probably all dealt with a stain from these products. As you're putting on that pristine black blouse and heading out to an important meeting or getting dressed to go out to a nice dinner. It's just how the world works.
These stains can be pesky, annoying and potentially embarrassing if don't remove them, so here are our tips for getting deodorant and antiperspirant stains out.
1. Brush off as much of the white flaky residue as possible by rubbing a dry or damp towel over the stain.
2. If this doesn't help, mix a spot stain remover with lukewarm water and sponge it onto the fabric.
3. Rinse well and repeat until stain is gone.
4. If the stain damages the color of your garment, restore by
>sponging the damaged area with ammonia. On wool or silk, dilute ammonia with water. (We always recommend testing a method like this on a non-noticeable area of your garment to make sure it doesn't do any harm.) 5. Rinse well and launder in hottest water possible for fabric.
Don't forget that if your garment says "Dry Clean Only" or "Spot Clean Only" you should definitely bring it to us at Champion Cleaners.
And if you are getting ready to go out and get deodorant or antiperspirant on a piece of clothing, immediately take it off and try to remove the stain. No matter how wrinkled the shirt or pants may be, do not iron. Heat can make the stain more difficult or impossible to remove.
(C) 2010, 2011 Champion Cleaners. All Rights Reserved
Need to catch up on Parts 1, 2 and 3?
This week, it's all about shirt buttons!
Secret #7. Why are my shirt buttons missing? Most dry cleaners don't check for missing buttons. Checking requires another process for each shirt, blouse, trouser, jacket, etc. The funny thing about this is that the dry cleaner is probably responsible for at least half the missing buttons. Sometimes a button comes off when the thread comes loose. But often, it's because it gets cracked when pressing. Shirt pressing equipment covers the entire garment and can cause cracked or missing buttons. This happens even more frequently for dry cleaners who do not regularly change the pads in the presses. When the pads are used too long, they get hard and cause more buttons to crack and fall off.
On a personal note, I hate missing buttons! This is one of the reasons I got into this business. Many dry cleaners don't check for missing buttons, so I saw this as an opportunity for my business to shine compared to other dry cleaners. We check for missing buttons. We may not catch them all, but I promise we try to find them and replace them before returning the garment to you.
If you get a shirt with a missing button, return it to us, and we'll replace it press the shirt again and pay you $5.00 for the trouble! I meant it when I said I hate shirts with missing buttons!
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On Site Cleaning = Access To Professional Dry Cleaning Management
At Champion Cleaners we do our dry cleaning and laundry on site. This gives you access to professional dry cleaning management in Vestavia Hills, Hoover and Calera, all with Certified Garment Care Professional credentials.
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(C) 2010, 2011 Champion Cleaners. All Rights Reserved
The answer is probably no. And that’s OK. It is just a laundry room, but with as much time as you spend there, whether it’s a small closet, entire basement or room that’s just the right size, you want to space to be functional, efficient and NOT panic-attack inciting!
Here are some of our favorite ideas for making the laundry room an organized haven:
- Keep everything you need regularly within easy reach. This could be on a table, shelf or in a cabinet. Everything else – spot cleaners, irons and other extras you don’t need every day can go on a high shelf, lower cabinet or other out of the way spot.
- Move detergents from huge boxes and jugs that takeover too much space to smaller containers or canisters. Refill these as needed.
- Small supplies can easily get scattered all over the place, so put them in boxes or bins. Try to categorize these – one for stain removal products, another for sewing gear, sponges…rags for blotting or spills….you get the idea.
- Have a place where you can sort whites, colors, delicates and heavily soiled items. Bins or rolling carts work great.
- Keep a bin or bag handy where you can store dry-clean only items until you have time to bring them in to us at Champion Cleaners or put them out for dry cleaning pick-up and delivery.
- If you have space, keep a drying rack folded up but handy for items that need to air-dry.
- Mount your ironing board to the wall, leaving room for it to fold down when you need it. The rest of the time, it’s out of the way.
- Keep a good supply of hangers in a bin or box so there’s always one handy when you need to hang a garment up to dry or after it’s been ironed.
Just implementing a handful of these suggestions should dramatically increase the storage capacity of your laundry room. THEN I’ll bet you’d beg us to take a peek!
Dry Cleaning Delivered Right to Your Door: Get $10.00 in FREE dry cleaning and laundry.
Did you know that for no extra cost Champion will pick up and deliver your cleaning...twice each week...replace missing buttons...repair lose hems and seams...for FREE?
Schedule your delivery service and get $10 off your first order.
(C) 2010, 2011 Champion Cleaners. All Rights Reserved
The memory of a nice romantic, evening with a candlelit dinner, good food and wine can quickly turn into a nightmare if you end up with candlewax all over your tablecloth, placemats or cloth napkins. Somehow it always seems like such a travesty to have this big glob of wax stuck to your linens, doesn’t it?
But have no fear! Wax can be removed with these simple steps:
- Apply an ice cube to the wax to make it brittle. You can even place it in a freezer for a short while to get the best result. This will help when you scrape off what you can. Use a smooth, unserrated knife, like a butter knife, to gently remove as much of the wax as possible.
- Get an iron and several paper bags. Put one bag under the cloth and a second one on top of the tablecloth. Set your iron on medium heat or slightly higher.
- Gently iron the waxy area until it has transferred to the paper bag. Using another clean bag, repeat this step until you have removed all the wax.
Sometimes the wax, especially colored wax, may leave a stain. If this happens, wash the tablecloths, napkins or placemats according to the care label instruction. Pre-treat for best results.
These steps are often successful but you may sometimes be facing a light stain. Clean as soon as possible to have the best chance at removing the stain.
Oh, and by the way. We can handle this for you. We usually get better results because of a special technique and equipment we have that is great at removing wax.
(C) 2010, 2011 Champion Cleaners. All Rights Reserved
Are you the type of person who drinks hot beverages all year round or just when it’s cold? Either way, there’s no better time of year to enjoy a hot cup of coffee first thing on a cold morning or a steaming mug of tea as an afternoon pick-me-up than these cold winter months.
Sipping hot liquid is just asking for trouble though. Take a sip when it's still too hot, and you may find yourself spitting it back out all over your shirt. Even a quick jostle of your hand can send drips over the edge and onto your sleeve or pants leg.
These spills can be some of the hardest to get out, (not to mention painful!) but take these measures as quickly as you can to hopefully eliminate or reduce a stain.
- Control the spill as much as possible. Try not to let it spread, and always blot as gently as possible; never rub.
- Rinse the back of the stain with cold water until you’ve forced out as much of the stain as possible.
- Rub a liquid enzyme detergent (Tide and Era make good ones) on the stain, and let it stand for a few minutes, then launder.
- If the stain remains, make a paste of Oxiclean and water at a ratio of 3 to 1 and let stand for 30 minutes, then brush off. Repeat until you’ve removed as much of the stain as you can and re-launder with your liquid enzyme detergent.
Bring your coffee or tea stained garments to us, and we’ll gladly take care of them for you, especially if the label says “Dry Clean Only” or “Spot Clean Only.”
A word of caution: As with any stain removal techniques, always test an area of the garment that is not noticeable when wearing it to make sure the treatment suggested is appropriate and will not harm the garment.
(C) 2010, 2011 Champion Cleaners. All Rights Reserved
Summer’s not too hard with everyone wearing shorts, t-shirts and bathing suits all the time, but winter wear can be a little trickier.
At Champion Cleaners, we’re experts at this kind of thing, but if you want to try tackling the mounds of coats, jackets, vests, sweaters and more that your family layers on when they leave the house and piles up when they come home, here are some tips for various types of garments.
Down jackets – You probably only need to wash these two times a season so the feathers inside don’t break down and flatten too much. Your puffy coat may be a bit squashed after washing, so let it tumble dry on low. This may sound weird, but throw in three clean tennis balls to help redistribute the feathers.
Wool coats – These only need a trip in the washing machine one or two times each winter, depending on how often you have to bundle up. When you come in the door, hang your wool coat where air can circulate around it, rather than crowded in a small coat closet. This keeps odors at bay.
Fleece – Wash sweatshirts and jackets after six or seven wears. Turn your garment inside out and wash with like colors that have no lint. This will keep your fleece soft and smooth. Let air-dry.
Sweaters – Sweaters made of cotton and silk need to be washed after two to three wears since they are more delicate. Allow your silks to air dry. We don’t recommend washing cashmere at all. Trust your dry cleaner with these. Wool and man-made blends tend to be more durable and can take up to five wears. Whatever the fiber, follow the care instructions on the label.
Hats, gloves, scarves – These need to be washed three to five times a season, although many people don’t wash them at all. You probably won’t neglect these items when you think about the facial oil, make-up, perfume build-up, perspiration and germs that are easily picked up while wearing these accessories. Hand wash knits, and dry clean only leather gloves and structured hats.
(C) 2010, 2011 Champion Cleaners. All Rights Reserved
We're starting the New Year off right with some great Champion Cleaners Dry Cleaning Customers of the Month for January 2012.
We appreciate all of our customers and love to recognize those who are friendly and fun to serve. Our staff at each dry cleaning location recommends these special people every month.
Each Customer of the Month receives a Champion Cleaners $25.00 Gift Certificate good for any of our dry cleaning or laundry services.
Thanks to each of our honorees for making our work even more enjoyable.
Lee McDaniel is our Customer of the Month at our Rocky Ridge location in Vestavia.
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Charles Purvis is Customer of the Month at our Dry Cleaning Center in Calera on Highway 31.
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Bob Kent is our Customer of the Month at our Greystone location on Highway 280.
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Dry Cleaning Delivered Right to Your Door: Get $10.00 in FREE dry cleaning and laundry.
Did you know that for no extra cost Champion will pick up and deliver your cleaning...twice each week...replace missing buttons...repair lose hems and seams...for FREE?
Schedule your delivery service and get $10 off your first order.
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(C) 2010, 2011 Champion Cleaners. All Rights Reserved
Forgetting has become a part of our everyday lives, and for me, more often than I can remember! Maybe you forgot your phone number or the name of the person you are talking to. Or, you might have started a conversation only to forget what you were talking about halfway through.
These are called “senior moments,” a momentary lapse of memory, and it’s normal to experience this age-related memory loss.
But there’s good news! Experts say these memory lapses occur more often when we are stressed by trying to think about too many things at once. Hormonal changes can also decrease the number of neurotransmitters in the brain.
Fortunately, research has shown that with a few changes, you can reduce the number of these frustrating moments. Add some of these strategies to your New Year’s Resolutions list and you’ll forget all about those senior moments!
- Exercise – Proven to help maintain a healthy brain. Cardiovascular exercise helps keep nutrients and oxygen do what they need to do.
- Challenge your brain – Keep your mind stimulated to ensure the brain stays active.
- Focus on one task – Stop multitasking, which can actually be detrimental to your memory. Try to just do one thing at a time.
- Sleep – Sleep deprivation can impair memory function, but studies have shown getting a good night’s sleep can improve your memory.
- Eat more berries – Studies have shown berries can help enhance your memory.
- Turn off the television – People who watch less television typically perform better at memory tasks.
- Try ginseng – Ginseng can help reduce stress, increase endurance and increase mental clarity.
(C) 2010, 2011 Champion Cleaners. All Rights Reserved