Dry cleaning machines cost $70,000 a piece. We have always had two in our plant. This
is a $140,000 investment we've made. Most cleaners in Arkansas won't spend this kind of money.
Our current machines are three years old and I'm always watching for new and better machines. If
I find one that's better than something I've got, I'll buy one. This is one of the things that
makes us a five-star cleaners.
We have two of every machine in the plant. So even if a machine breaks, we can still get your
cleaning done. Presses and pads are changed as needed. If left unchanged, they can leave your
clothes "shined" or hard-pressed.
Why Does This Make a Difference?
When you have two machines, you can use one for light-colored clothes and one for dark clothes.
When you use one machine, darks will fade and whites will turn gray. Since we have two machines, your
whites will stay white and your darks will stay dark.
"That Funky Smell"
If you know what this means, you need to come to Shinn's. "That Funky Smell" is the phrased
used by another cleaners that refers to the smell of unused chemicals. Our machines "cook off"
the dryclean chemicals on each load. At Shinn's, you won't get "That Funky Smell."
Other cleaners advertise they use Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and not Perchlorethylene (Perc). We
use Perc simply because it's better for your clothing. If I thought CO2 was any good, I would
have bought it when it came out in 1992. You may hear that it's healthier for you, but it's not
good for your clothing - it won't last as long. As for Perc, I use it every day. If it wasn't
safe, I wouldn't be standing here after 33 years.
What This Means to You
Using two machines and completely cooking the chemicals costs more; but I've always done it
this way and I will never do it any other way. We can run our machines automatically or manually.
Running the machine manually is how we run red clothing, beaded items, rhinestones, and all
delicate pieces we get.
In our 33 years, I've never turned down a piece of clothing. We've had customers ask us to
clean items that say "Do Not Dry Clean," and we do it because they want it done that way. The
most amazing thing to me is the number of other cleaners that have asked me to do items. Maybe
I should have said "No," but the owner of the items would have been the one to suffer. I won't
let that happen.
