Q4 2019

Air Compressors and Compressed Air Systems

COMPRESSED AIR SYSTEMS and components will be the subject of this series of articles. In drycleaning and laundry, compressed air is mostly used to expand and/or contract cylinders to actuate valves and position parts of machinery (the head on your pants press or the buck on your shirt unit). In addition, compressed air is also used to “blow out” moisture and debris from fabric on your spotting board, and on far too rare occasions, dust and lint from the surface of machinery.

Continue reading “Air Compressors and Compressed Air Systems”

Q4 2019

Management Can Drive You Crazy

By Don Desrosiers, Tailwind Systems

A long time ago, someone probably told you, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”  It’s the kind of wisdom everybody knows, but still you must hear every now and again as sort of a reminder.  It’s true, you know.  Two wrongs, never make a right!  But guess what?  Employees think two wrongs do make a right and they try to get us to believe they are right.  This is one of the reasons why management makes us crazy.  Here are some examples: Continue reading “Management Can Drive You Crazy”

Q4 2019

Paving the Way: A brick in DLI’s Legacy Lane can honor any person, company or accomplishment that helped advance the dry cleaning and laundry industry

Sponsored walkways have long been a great way to honor the influencers of a particular industry. Recognizing the people and companies who have given their all to excel in the vocation or métier, such walkways offer gratitude for work that elevated the industry to the benefit of everyone that followed.

 

DLI launched its own memorial walkway, Legacy Lane, in 2005 during the 2005 Clean Show. Inspired by the bricked walkways at the churches, parks and playgrounds of his hometown, Columbia, Maryland., “We thought it was a neat idea, and wanted to do the same for the association,” says Jon Meijer, DLI’s Director of Membership.

Continue reading “Paving the Way: A brick in DLI’s Legacy Lane can honor any person, company or accomplishment that helped advance the dry cleaning and laundry industry”

Q4 2019

How Insurance Helped Four DLI Members Recover from Disaster

Your Policy Should Prevent Bankruptcy If/When the Unthinkable Strikes

By John Paul Roggenkamp

Tragedy often strikes without warning. Blue skies can turn grey in the blink of an eye, unleashing torrential downpours. Debris can suddenly block an exhaust conduit, preventing the venting of hot fumes that then somehow ignite. In this piece, we’ll look at how four different drycleaners endured loss and rose from the ashes again – often literally. In three of our cases, having the right insurance was key to them bouncing back from the brink of ruin. Are you adhering to best practices as well as maintaining the right type of insurance coverage to keep the doors open? Continue reading “How Insurance Helped Four DLI Members Recover from Disaster”

Q4 2019

Melissa McCarthy & Ellen Degeneres Pull On-Air Prank at Milt & Edie’s Master Drycleaners

On many levels, Milt & Edie’s Master Drycleaners is a remarkable drycleaning business. Purchased by Milt Chortkoff in 1988 and renamed in honor of his wife in 2004, today’s store at the busy intersection of Alameda and Pass in Burbank, California, has tons going for it. Two of the more salient features of the business are its physical location and nearly obsessive approach to customer service. Visible from blocks away due to the bright magenta color scheme of its many signs and banners, most of the building’s external areas such as gables and walls support placards advertising that the company is open 24/7/365 – all day, every day. Even before you step inside you can smell the fresh cookies, hot coffee, and buttery popcorn. As soon as you enter through the automatic doors the maitre d’ is asking you how they may be of service, whether you’re in for picking up, dropping off, or tailoring.

Continue reading “Melissa McCarthy & Ellen Degeneres Pull On-Air Prank at Milt & Edie’s Master Drycleaners”

Q4 2019

DLI Seeks Director Nominations for Districts 6, 7 & 8 

DLI’s Board of Directors seeks qualified members to serve as Directors of Districts 6, 7 & 8.  Nominations must be received by February 14, 2020. Elections will be held in April 2020 using an audited ballot process. Nominations may be directed to DLI CEO Mary Scalco. She is also accepting nominations for all Director positions at MScalco@DLIonline.org. 

Continue reading “DLI Seeks Director Nominations for Districts 6, 7 & 8 “

Q4 2019

DLI Renews Commitment to Helping Members Succeed

Mary Scalco, DLI CEO

As I write Fall is in the air, although in Maryland that can change in an instant and we can be back to 90 degrees and humidity but for now it’s a clear, crisp day—sweater weather.  And with this time of year and the holidays approaching we take stock of our lives—what is working, what we can do better, what we can change.

Continue reading “DLI Renews Commitment to Helping Members Succeed”