HOW WE CLEAN
What happens between your door and your closet.
Every garment follows the same path through our plant in Normandy Park, and the same people see it every time. Here is what we do, and why.
236 reviews
5-star rated by customers
5-star rated by customers
Kreussler System K4, non-toxic
Re-cleaned free or refunded
THE PATH
What happens to every piece.
I
Mark-in
Every piece is tagged, photographed and logged against your account. Pockets emptied, notes read, damage recorded before we start.
II
Inspection & spotting
Under lamps, seam by seam. Stains are identified and treated by hand with the right agent for the fiber and the cause.
III
Cleaning
Dry cleaned, wet cleaned or laundered according to the garment, in short, controlled cycles with fresh, filtered solvent.
IV
Hand finishing
Pressed on forms and by hand. Collars, lapels, pleats and hems are shaped, not flattened.
V
Second inspection
Assembly checks every order against the ticket, replaces loose buttons, and covers each piece before it goes to the route.
OUR PEOPLE
A family business, three generations in.
Helena’s has been family-owned since 1984. Helena is still the heart of it; Will leads the company and its customer-service-first standard; Janae runs finance and the brand; Kendall runs day-to-day administration and communications; Jonni keeps assembly and the routes organized; and Brandon leads production and the fabric-care knowledge on the floor. The finishers, spotters and tailors they work alongside are the reason a pleated skirt or a structured jacket comes back looking the way it did in the store.
PORTRAIT: HELENA
PORTRAIT: THE PRODUCTION TEAM
WHEN WE CALL A SPECIALIST
Leather and fine rugs, with people who do only that.
Leather, suede and large, high-value rugs are cleaned by specialist partners we have worked with for years. Each piece is inspected and photographed at mark-in, travels with our paperwork, and comes back through our second inspection before it comes back to you. The guarantee applies from the moment it leaves your hands.
PLANT-BASED CLEANING
Clean for your clothes, your skin and the Sound.
We have partnered with Kreussler since 2012 and clean with their K4 solvent: bio-based, made in the United States from corn grown on Nebraska family farms and American whiskey remnants. It is non-toxic and halogen-free, poses no risk to air, water or soil, is classified favorable under GHS and biodegradable, and it is gentle on skin. It also cleans oil and fat-based soil better than the solvents it replaced, and it is filtered, distilled and reused rather than discarded.
Wools, silks and other delicate pieces are wet-cleaned with the Kreussler Lanadol system, which lets us set detergents, degreasers and pH for each fabric, in certified wet-cleaning machines. Laundry runs with Trebon Plus, certified to kill viruses and bacteria.
REDUCE
Plant-based solvents in place of petroleum ones, and machines and detergents formulated to extend the life of your clothes so less ends up in a landfill.
REUSE
Solvent is distilled and reused in a closed loop. Garment bags go back and forth on the route rather than being thrown away.
REUSE
Poly bags bundled and returned to us are recycled, hangers are reused, and unclaimed clothing is donated.