FAQ

At Ruby Cleaners we use organic solvents when possible. And when that is not possible, we use a special system that completely removes the synthetic solvents. Most dry cleaners are not so careful. In fact, when you enter their business, you can smell the chemicals that are still on the clothes. (You can read about the details of this in the next question. It’s pretty gross!)

When you come into Ruby Cleaners, that is not the case!

If you ever get your clothes cleaned by a dry cleaners and it comes back with an odor, this probably means they don’t have the technology to remove the chemicals from your clothes or they are reusing dirty solvents to save money.

Most dry cleaners use a washer with three solvents – one for whites, one for mediums, and one for darks. After reusing the solvent for whites for some time, it gets dirty and actually begins to darken whites. To cut costs, instead of cleaning or discarding that solvent, they use it to wash medium colors. And when that gets too dirty, they use it clean dark colored clothes.  That’s where the odor comes from – weeks of other people’s grossness.

Disgusting right??

We agree! So we don’t do that. Rather than using dirty solvents on darker colors, we actually use a special process to clean the solvents. Why do we clean it and not replace it? The main reason is that it is better for the environment!

The term “organic” has no legal definition where dry cleaners are concerned, so many dry cleaners use it in a misleading way in order to raise prices. For example, many dry cleaners claiming to be organic have started to use new hydrocarbon solvents, which scientifically speaking are organic compounds. However, these solvents are known to be toxic and harmful if ingested in any way.

Moreover, some dry cleaners have started to employ wet cleaning and carbon dioxide cleaning. Although these new methods are labeled as non-toxic, they still can be toxic if residual chemicals are left on the clothes and find their way into your body. (Body soaps are also non-toxic, so we clean ourselves with them; but if we were to ingest them, they would be harmful to us.) While technically organic and non-toxic, we feel like these methods also abuse the word organic.

In order to keep the sense and implication of the word organic we feel that both the solvents and the processes should keep your clothes free from toxicity and leave you feeling safe and secure. Any solvent used should be completely removed – which is exactly what we do!

Dry cleaning uses harsh solvents instead of water to remove stains that are resistant to removal by water.

Wet cleaning is a cleaning technique that uses special equipment to combine careful amounts of water and non-toxic plant-based biodegradable detergents. It is an alternative to dry cleaning. 

Absolutely! Just be sure to bring them in before 8:00am and let us know you’d like them back later that same day. Then you can come pick them up after 3:00pm.

If we can’t remove your stain, then no one can. If by some chance another dry cleaners is able to remove your stain without damaging your clothing, then we will give you a full refund on your item.

Yes! Normal turnaround is about 2 business days, but if you’re in a hurry, we can possibly get it back to you sooner. Please feel free to ask us about it.