By Haley Jorgensen_____________________________________

Drycleaners are emerging as anuntapped niche for industrial laundryequipment manufacturers and their dis-tributors. A growing percentage of itemsfunneled through progressive drycleaningfacilities are now wetcleaned—often withsuperior results over traditional methods.

The industry is searching for safe clean-ing alternatives, having been hammered inrecent years by environmental regulationssurrounding the use of cancer-causingperchloreoethylene (perc), rising insurancepremiums and increasing labor costs,according to Mike Szczotka (Stucky) of Eagle Star Equipment, in Detroit.Szczotka has served the laundry anddrycleaning industries for 16 years, pro-viding equipment, parts, service and train-ing to his network of repeat customers.

Among those he serves is WayneWudyka, chief operating officer and co-founder of Certified RestorationDrycleaning Network (CRDN), an

international organization of drycleanerswhich specialize in restoration work fol-lowing floods, fires and other disasters.CRDN facilities work closely with insurersto restore damaged items from homes and businesses—saving them around 84 percent over the cost of replacement,according to Wudyka.

The big surprise is that the lion’sshare—60 percent—of CRDN’s restora-tion volume is wetcleaned. “Wetcleaningis more effective than drycleaning onheavy-odor losses and removing contami-nants,” says Wudyka. CRDN facilities,not only inventory, track, clean and storeitems until they can be returned to homesand businesses, they guarantee restorationor your money back. Since 2001, EagleStar Equipment has outfitted manyCRDN facilities nationally withContinental washer-extractors, dryingtumblers and flatwork ironers, along witha variety of drycleaning equipment.

Wetcleaning is appealing to drycleaners,according to Szczotka, because it’s a moreprofitable, safe and effective cleaning

method. “There’s new chemistry out therethat allows us to wetclean an Armani suit,”he says. The U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency (EPA) concurs.

“Properly trained professional cleanersare now able to successfully wetcleanmost garments that are typicallydrycleaned,” according to an EPA report,including silks, wools, linens, suedes and leathers. The key to effective clean-ing, according to Szczotka and Wudyka,is highly programmable laundry equip-ment with appropriate detergent andchemical combinations.

“The name of the game is having programmable equipment, being able tomodify cycles and using proper chemistryat the right water temperature,” saysSzczotka. “We can control all of that with Continental products.”

Chemical representatives who workwith drycleaners can properly programContinental equipment for a myriad ofitems—wool sweaters, silks and suits —using a variety of effective chemicals forsuperior results, according to Szczotka.

Wetcleaning Gains Appeal with Drycleaners

November 2005

Wayne Wyduka entered the drycleaning business as an investor—a businessman looking for opportunity. “Heanswered one of my turnkeyads,” says Mike (Stucky)Szczotka, president of Eagle StarEquipment, a distributor ofdrycleaning and laundry equip-ment in Detroit. “I introducedhe and his partner, Jeff Snyder,to Huntington Cleaners.”

A business relationshipformed and grew over severalyears as Szczotka shared his expertise related to thedrycleaning industry withSnyder and Wyduka.Huntington Cleaners has sincegrown from a 2,200- to a13,000-square-foot facility. In 2001, Wyduka formed the Certified RestorationDrycleaning Network(CRDN), an internationalorganization of drycleaners,which specialize in restorationwork following floods, firesand other disasters. Sixty per-cent of a typical CRDN facili-ty’s volume is restored via wet-cleaning; not drycleaning.

In just four years, more than100 CRDN operations haveemerged in the United States.In just three years, Szczotka hasoutfitted many of them with

Continental equipment. Mostrecently, Szczotka equipped afacility with three 90-poundand two 55-pound Pro-Serieswashers, a 75-pound and three30-pound stack dryers, and oneflatwork ironer. “That’s a nicelittle pop,” he admits. CRDNhas become one of Szczotka’sbest clients.

“Restoration drycleaning is an untapped niche of busi-

ness,” says Wyduka. “It’s awide open field that’s moreexciting than anything in laun-dry and drycleaning. CRDN is designed to get drycleanersunder one brand and to mar-ket that brand to the insurancecompanies. We’re the onlynational group out there.”

Szczotka credits Wyduka foreducating the insurance indus-try to the benefits of restora-

tion drycleaning. Wyduka, in turns, credits Szczotka forproperly equipping and servic-ing his businesses. “We buyanything Mike tells us to buy,”he says.

By helping to betterHuntington Cleaners, Szczotka maintains he’s boosted his own business to new levels; and gained a friend in the process.

For Wudyka, soft-mount machines withhigh extract are also critical to productivityand plant flexibility. In 13 years, EagleStar Equipment redesigned HuntingtonCleaners—Wudyka’s flagship CRDN facil-ity located in Detroit—five times. “Everypiece of equipment came from Mike,”Wudyka says. “He’s very proactive in termsof plant design to facilitate our growth.Otherwise our growth would have beenlimited.” Thanks to Continental’s soft-mount washer design, maximizing produc-tion and relocating machines was simpli-fied. “We’re constantly challenged withreconfiguring space,” says Wudyka. “I like

the softmount so we aren’t digging founda-tions. The additional extract cuts dry timedown, which is also key.”

Gaining more profit is another benefitof wetcleaning over drycleaning, saysSzczotka. “It’s less labor and double themoney to do a Polo shirt,” he maintains.And new tensioning equipment makes fin-ishing wetcleaned items—suits, pants,shirts—less time consuming. But fordrycleaners who use perc, compliance witha myriad of federal regulations can drainprofits by impacting the following:

• liability insurance• permitting fees

• hazardous waste disposal fees• equipment upgrades • contaminated site clean up• time spent learning and complying

with regulationsNew cleaning solutions are the wave

of the future for the drycleaning industry,says Szczotka. Thanks to new chemicals,highly programmable equipment and newfinishing technologies, wetcleaning willcontinue to gain favor with drycleanersinterested in boosting profits.

Haley Jorgensen is president of Public Image,a public relations firm in Ripon, Wis.

Left to Right: Jeff Schnieder of Huntington Cleaners; Mike Szczotka of Eagle Star; Laurie Murdock and Rob Hellier, both of Huntington Cleaners; and Jeff Quail of Eagle Star.

The Birth of CRDN