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For most of us the chill of winter has gone away! Your wool coats are in need of cleaning and storing and caring for you woolens is a bit different than other materials. Wool coats are a wonderful addition to your winter wardrobe. Not only are they great for keeping you warm, but they can also be a fashion statement. Take a look at some of these examples that I ran across.

Below are some tips on how to care for your wool coats to make sure they last for years.

1. It is good to brush the coat with a soft suede brush or lint brush to clean the coat after wearing it and before hanging in the closet. This will help remove surface soil and lint.

2. Make sure to hang your coats on a hanger suited for heavy wools such as a wide plastic or wooden hanger. Wool coats are heavy and a wire hanger cannot support the weight and could stretch the shoulders out of shape. Be careful to leave air between your coats and don’t hang next to dirty items as they tend to absorb the dirt and odor.

3. If you spill something on your wool, or any fabric for that matter, just blot with a clean cloth. Please do not rub the spill, I know it is tempting, but try to resist. Rubbing the spill will only push it deeper into the fabric and will cause the liquid to spread more. Consult your favorite dry-cleaner to take care of the rest.

4. I suggest always cleaning your coat at the end of the season. Please make sure to remove the plastic when you get it home and place it in a breathable garment bag for protection from dust. You may choose to clean it again before wearing, but that is really not necessary if it is stored properly. Of course if something spills on it or it just gets dirty, clean it!

5. If you find that wrinkles have set in over the summer you might just try letting it hang without the garment bag. If you still feel you need to iron it, place it on a flat surface; your ironing board or a table and cover the area of the coat with a sheet or cloth. Use some steam for best results, but do not place the iron or steamer directly on the wool.

Enjoy your spring and summer, give those coats some TLC and they will be good as new next season.

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Take a look at these top 10 spring trends for 2013. Everything from shorts, to stripes to trendy statement sunglasses!

BERMUDA SHORTS

These shorts are great for everyone! They are chic, flattering and easy so make sure you add a pair to your wardrobe.

BLACK AND WHITE

Patterns, color blocked, angles, you name it – you cannot go wrong and there is something for every budget.

PEEK-A-BOO

There is an option for everyone! Bare skin cut-outs, sheer fabric for a sexy look, high slits… Isn’t this one just too sexy? Love it.

STATEMENT SUNGLASSES

White, Pastel, Bright Colors, either way, don’t be afraid to make a bold statement or add a pop of color to your spring ensemble.

STRIPES

Make a statement with stripes this spring! Great as an accent piece with solid pants or jeans or be noticeable as you enter a room with something like this wonderful Oscar de la Renta dress!

LUXE LEATHER

Yes, leather for spring. Light weight, soft durable leather is the best investment piece for your closet. Try simple, rich colors and minimal accessories for a 2013 look.

BEAUTIFUL BEADING

Influenced by India and Middle East to Russia, the addition of beads equals seriously stunning evening wear.

SHORTS SUITS

You can find these at every price point. Stripes, floral, solids or mix and match. Totally appropriate for office (make sure your shorts are not TOO short) or a night out on the town.

FLIRTY DRESSES

Look for flirty A-line skirts and shoulder baring bodices. Sexy and flirtatious, these dresses look great with heels and flats alike.

FLATS AND LOW HEELS

Try something new like this cute shoe with a boxy heel. Trending are also those low, skinny pointed heels from the 90′s. Save your 4 inch heels for date night.

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Throughout the years more and more people are becoming
eco-friendly conscious. We all want to live healthy , conserve energy, recycle
whatever we can, and use products that are deemed “green”.

So what does make a product or service “green”? It takes research, but that means
knowing what to research and where. The least I can do is give you some
information on Oakwood “The Greener” Cleaners.

Here at Oakwood Cleaners we like to think of ourselves as
the “Greener Cleaner”.  We use a solvent
called “GreenEarth”.  As a GreenEarth
cleaner we use no hazardous chemicals to pollute our soil, water or air and
thus non-toxic to the environment.  As a
“Greener Cleaner”:  we don’t use
petrochemicals like most dry cleaners and there is also no chemical odor from
the GreenEarth solvent so your clothes always smell fresh.  We suggest our degradable poly bags be
recycled so they will be in the correct environment for complete decomposition
within a year. Of course we gladly take back your wire hangers as well as our
plastic hangers for recycling. Our tissue paper is constructed from recycled
paper and we try to do as much of our printed marketing materials on 100%
recycled content: 100% post consumer waste, chlorine-free paper, made with 100%
green energy.

As a member of the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists we partner with Carbonfund.org. We offset all carbon dioxide emissions that result from the process of cleaning and preserving your wedding gown-including your trip to and from our establisment, all cleansing, and the wedding chest’s manufature-with our donation to Carbonfund.org, the leading non profit carbon offset and climate solutions organization.

We are also certified with the Green Cleaners Council.

Our lighting in our plant is in accordance with NES guidelines for effiency as well as our washers and dryers.

We know there are many businesses “Green” and we applaud the efforts of everyone trying to make our
world a better place.

Please help us in our effort for a sustainable planet. Here
are 10 tips for a “greener” lifestyle that I found on Care2.com by Annie B. Bond

1. Natural Clothing

Fibers made from animals and insects include wool, silk, mohair, cashmere,
camel hair and angora. Animal fibers usually have attributes not found in
manmade or plant fibers. For example, a sheep’s wool fleece is designed to wick
perspiration from the animal, thereby helping to regulate its body temperature,
and wool provides the same benefit as human clothing or bedding.

Plant
fibers include cotton, hemp, linen, jute, kenaf, and ramie. Plant fibers
breathe, enabling the release of perspiration through natural fiber clothing.
Plant fibers also usually are very good at absorbing moisture. Linen tea towels
are excellent for drying dishes for this reason, for example.

Read
labels to find clothing made of 100 percent natural fibers such as from those
mentioned above. Common names of synthetic fabrics are polyester, acetate and
nylon. Rayon is a manmade fabric made of natural materials, but the widespread
practice in gathering the fiber is to use virgin tree pulp, which is not
sustainable.

2. Natural Food

Read labels. Look for food words you recognize, and always opt for the product
that that has the fewest unrecognizable words. This rule of thumb may seem
simplistic, but it works, since food manufacturers do not translate commonly
known food names into a chemical name on packages. The spice turmeric is called
turmeric and is a welcome natural yellow dye substitute to find on a label
instead of an FD&C dye.

3. Natural Personal Care

Just because a personal care product is sold in a natural foods store doesn’t
mean that it is a product made of natural materials. (This scenario doesn’t
apply to cleaning products as those found in natural food stores are usually
genuinely green products.) The rule of thumb for finding natural personal care
products is the same as for food: Read the labels for ingredients you recognize
as being real, and buy those. Aubrey Organics and Weleda are two brands that
are genuinely natural.

4. Natural Cleaning

Health food stores are also very good sources of green cleaning products. Get
to know some of the brands found there (Seventh Generation, Ecover) and then
search them out in bigger supermarkets, or ask your supermarkets to begin to
carry the brands. Mix and match green cleaning products with simple
do-it-yourself formulas using kitchen cupboard ingredients.

Click here for a
collection of my favorite formulas.

5. Natural Pest Control and Repellents

Most people don’t realize that if a pesticide is registered by the
Environmental Protection Agency, it means that it has been approved by the EPA
to be effective. The registration does not mean that the product has been
approved to be safe. Many pesticides are highly neurotoxic, and all are
designed to kill. Choose natural and preventative alternatives instead. Here
are some excellent resources for alternatives to pesticides:

• The Bio Integral
  Resource Center
• Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides
• Beyond Pesticides
• National Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides

6. Natural Bedding

You can readily buy sheets, mattresses, comforters, and blankets made of
natural materials. Organic wool and cotton mattresses are highly recommended to
avoid sleeping on mattresses made of synthetic ingredients including
formaldehyde, biocides, stain protectants, fire retardants, and materials
containing neurotoxins. In general, my experience is that it is hard to find a
wide range of organic natural fiber bedding locally, so instead I tend to buy
these products online or through catalogs. A good resource for finding current
natural bedding companies is Natural Home and Organic Style
magazines.

7. Natural Furnishings

All the same suggestions apply to natural furnishings as they did to bedding in
regards to cushions and fiber-based furnishings. Additionally, look to natural
carpets and carpet backing, wood furniture that has been finished with natural
sealants, and avoid pressed wood furniture because it contains formaldehyde. My
experience is that online and catalog shopping provides the widest selection. A
good resource for recommended products is The
Green Guide.

8. Natural Renovating and Building Supplies

Every time you renovate, paint, or build, choose the least toxic, most natural,
inert materials. One online store that is an excellent resorce is The Environmental Home Center. Another is NEEDS. A good resource for finding recommended brands
is The Green Guide.

9. Natural Pet Care

My rules of thumb for pet care is to never use synthetic pesticides of any
kind, give them food that doesn’t contain animal byproducts, and to use natural
shampoos.

10. Natural Consumer Choices —General

Always choose the most natural, inert ingredients, and read labels. I’ve found
that even products for teens, such as cosmetics, usually have at least one more
natural version.

Always look to label’s signal words, and don’t buy anything with a label
stronger than the word caution.

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A lot of thought and money goes into your wardrobe
and you want to make sure it is well taken care of. We take care of our bodies,
making sure they are clean, well moisturized and even massaged. Well, Oakwood
Cleaners can do the same for your garments! We are the only dry cleaner in
Nashville and the surrounding counties certified to use the GreenEarth^®
dry cleaning process.  Unlike the  petrochemical solvents most dry cleaners use for cleaning, ours is a pure silicone
solution.  Silicone is basically  liquefied sand.  In the environment it
simply reverts back into silica (a fancy word for sand) and trace amounts of
water and CO₂.  Even more  wonderful is how GreenEarth treats clothes like a mineral bath.  Everything comes out soft and rejuvenated,
looking and feeling like new again – like it went to a “SPA”. And it’s gentle; it won’t fade colors or wear
fibers; it’s non-toxic, hypoallergenic and 100% odor-free.  It is so well suited for the fine garments we
specialize in.  And for our laundry  services (wet cleaning), we use a natural, enzyme-based detergent that results
in clean, fresh, bright garments. I could go on forever, but you can read more
at our website www.oakwoodcleaners.com. or better yet, watch this video!

Green Earth Cleaning Video

We are also Nashville’s only certified Couture Dry Cleaners.
Skilled craftsman with years of
experience who give meticulous attention and personalized attention every step
of the way staff our couture service.  Delicate silks, lace, sequins,
beads, metal and metallic threads, hand painted fabrics and even items labeled
“Do not dry clean” are safe with us.  Knits are blocked and pills removed
with each cleaning.  Every item is inspected down to the smallest detail
and broken or missing buttons, loose threads and hems are taken care of.
We also offer specialty services like shoe repair, purse cleaning and
re-knitting.  Sorry to keeping going on and on but the fine art of garment  cleaning is our passion.

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Gentlemen, now you have a denim made just for you with a fit that is fantastic! I had the pleasure of meeting the owner/designer, Ardie Ulukaya of 34 Heritage. He launched the brand in the United States almost 2 years ago with the goal of creating a gentleman’s pant collection that combined the casual look and feel of jeans with the comfort of a trouser.  Working in collaboration with Istanbul based Mavi Jeans an added stretch factor to the cotton fiber allows his pants to move in all the right places. Ulukaya has added yet another new dimension to the 34 Heritage label with the launch of cashmere denim, a proprietary 10-ounce fabric developed by the Turkish textile giant ISKO. Made of high-twist combed cotton combined with 2.5 percent Lycra, the sturdy denim fabric gets its name from the delicate washing and brushed-finishing process that produces the soft hand and gentle drape of fine cashmere. “Not only do they move with you”, Ardie explained to me “they fit a gentleman in the age category of 40 and over. We make our jeans just a little higher in the back and slimmer in the legs to accomodate a man’s body as it matures. Of course we still have styles that fit the younger man but we are very excited about this fit!” Now guys, being the owner of a dry cleaner, I had to ask about cleaning “Cashmere Denim”. Really simple: wash in cold water, inside out (to keep fading to a minimum) and let hang dry.  I know a lot of you are busy with the hustle and bustle of life, and if you have a wife or significant other you really don’t want to bother them with washing your jeans, so we are here for you! Bring them in to any of our Oakwood locations and we will make sure they come back to you as good as new. You can find these denim trousers right here in town at Levy’s Clothier’s in Green Hills. Give them a try and let me know what you think!

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French Laundry for your bed linens.

There is nothing like the feeling of clean, crisp, ironed bed linens!

Now – you can try to press your own sheets, but that could take you some time. And, by the time you get to the other side the side you started on is wrinkled again. I suggest you find a dry cleaner that offers “French Laundry”. Make sure you find a dry cleaner in your area that uses a non-toxic cleaning process. You definately do not want to have harsh chemicals close to your body while your getting that good nights sleep! Most services will take care of:  stain removal, cleaning, and pressing, minor mending, inspection and packaging.

Your linens should be bundled in a complete set or when requested hung on oversized hangers. You can even have your comforters or coverlets cleaned!

Oakwood is the only dry-cleaner in Nashville to use a revolutionary new
cleaning process – Green Earth® cleaning.

Green Earth® cleaning means all our cleaning processes are environmentally
friendly, non-allergenic, and above all, have NO just-dry-cleaned smell, leaving
your fine garments and furnishings looking brighter and feeling softer.

Green Earth® cleaning uses a silicone based dry cleaning solvent. It shares the same base – silicone – as hair care, makeup and deodorant products. It has no odor or smell, yet has superior cleaning and soil removal properties.

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Every dry cleaner has their favorite Halloween challenge or horror story.
Unfortunately, it’s a night when at least one customer coming home from work is going to ‘get hit’ with raw eggs, shaving cream or some variation of a trick -or -treater’s juvenile idea of funny.

For me, my first Halloween in the business brought a deluge of customers who had been the victim of World Series caliber pitching of raw eggs!  There were trench coats, pants, leather jackets, hats… a whole array of egg stained garments were brought through our doors that year.

Now, I have to tell you, raw eggs are NOT a commonly seen stain in the dry cleaning business.  So I had to stop, mentally break down the stain and think about the best way to proceed before I began any stain removal work. You see, if I had simply started by working with live steam to break up the dried egg - I would have wound up with scrambled eggs, which would have been a double mess to remove!

But such is the life of a dry cleaner.  We have to do far more thinking and testing, and exercise far more patience and spend way more time removing stains than outsiders realize!

This year, if your child comes home wearing an egg or two, and you want some guidance on the best way to deal with raw egg stains (which are albuminous by nature), send me an email, and I’ll be happy to give you some guidance.

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Your wedding is over, you are back from a fabulous honeymoon and you wonder – what do I do with my dress now? YOU LOVE IT! Now that the stress and all the hustle and bustle is over, have some fun! Find your favorite photographer, go to the park, the lake or maybe take a train ride. Visit downtown, but do it in your dress! Don’t worry about about keeping it too clean, well within reason, just have fun. You’ve invested a lot in your dress and before you get it cleaned and preserved for the next generation bride, Love Your Dress. Below are some photographs that one of our favorite photographers, (Benjamin Jackson) took of a bride loving her dress, then peek at the before shot of the wrinkly mess and how beautiful it looked at our booth at the Fall Perfect Wedding Guide Bridal Show.

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The weather is getting cooler and that means sweater season! YES, get out those warm, cuddly, sweaters.

I need freshening!

Oh my, you forgot to clean them so they would be ready? If you are like me handwashing is not what you want to be doing with your spare time. Not only that, where in the world do you have space to let them dry–FLAT! Oakwood Cleaners can help you out. Bring us your favorite sweaters and in no time have them back as good as new. Our GreenEarth process is gentle, non toxic and actually good for your clothing as it adds moisture instead of drying out. Please make sure the label is still present with fabric content and cleaning instructions so we make sure to handle them properly.

Ready to be worn

Packaging of your clean sweaters can be hanging or in a sweater bag, which ever you choose.

Remember, we are NOW OPEN in Cool Springs for your convienence and as always offer FREE Pick-up and Delivery right to your home or work place.

Our new Cool Springs address is: 2000 Mallory Lane, Suite 170

Franklin, TN 37067    615.764.0222

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