Best dry cleaners in NYC?

[StockwellDay]

I like J's Cleaners for mid-range. I use Hallack for a higher end suit.

 

[usctrojans31]



Does anyone have a suggestion for a mid-range dry cleaner? I'm out in Bushwick and don't feel comfortable dropping my BB suits off at the local cleaner, but also don't need to spend $50 per suit on a cleaning.

Natural Cleaners in Greenpoint is very good.

 

[Megakurth]

Reviving thread.

Does anyone know of a dry cleaner who can do things such as sew MOP buttons back on with crowfoot stitch, etc? I know it's very granular at the end of the day, but what can I say? I like what I like.

I've tried Jeeves in the past and after a bit of a tailoring blunder, I haven't been too happy with Jerry and the staff over there.

Recently, I've been using Hallak and it's been a mixed bag. On the one hand, they do a great press and a great 2/3 roll, but on the flip side, they recently destroyed an entire set of MOP buttons after saying they would cover them.. I'm not thrilled. Additionally, on other occasions, they have removed buttons when I specifically asked them not to (horn in this case), sewing them back on incorrectly and at times, in strange places such as moving an inner waistband button the outside of the pants.

Up for exploring other options... Any thoughts?

 

[sentry]

Reviving thread.

Does anyone know of a dry cleaner who can do things such as sew MOP buttons back on with crowfoot stitch, etc? I know it's very granular at the end of the day, but what can I say? I like what I like.

I've tried Jeeves in the past and after a bit of a tailoring blunder, I haven't been too happy with Jerry and the staff over there.

Recently, I've been using Hallak and it's been a mixed bag. On the one hand, they do a great press and a great 2/3 roll, but on the flip side, they recently destroyed an entire set of MOP buttons after saying they would cover them.. I'm not thrilled. Additionally, on other occasions, they have removed buttons when I specifically asked them not to (horn in this case), sewing them back on incorrectly and at times, in strange places such as moving an inner waistband button the outside of the pants.

Up for exploring other options... Any thoughts?

How much did a press cost you at Hallak's?

 

[Megakurth]

How much did a press cost you at Hallak's?

To be honest, I'm not 100% sure off the top of my head, but it was much more expensive than I feel like it should have been. I remember taking my Luxire Loro Piana 3/2r unstructured linen for a press and it wound up being around $60 as they had to use a "special process". I'll admit that it came out great, but still felt a little "did I just pay that much for a press?".

Additionally, I just took a Kent Wang linen unstructured that unfortunately had a coffee spill on it for drycleaning and was explained that they would have to wetclean which was about $89 and an additional $20 to remove/resew buttons. I told them to just remove them and i'd take them to Wazin to resew back on with the Crowfoot for a little less.

 

[taxgenius]

How does Hallak compare to Madame Paulette and MEURICE in terms of price and quality on suits?

 

[Megakurth]

How does Hallak compare to Madame Paulette and MEURICE in terms of price and quality on suits?

Haven't tried them. I had heard that neither of them tend to quote the price until after the garment is cleaned or am I mistaken?

Hallak tends to be around $68 for a two piece suit, $89 for two piece linen.
Shirt prices are $10 dollars wash and press, $17 for hand finishing collar and cuffs

 

[poorsod]

If you are willing to time it, Hallak usually does a penny sale in February. If they clean 3 of the same kind of garments, the third costs a penny.

 

[Megakurth]

Haven't tried them. I had heard that neither of them tend to quote the price until after the garment is cleaned or am I mistaken?

Hallak tends to be around $68 for a two piece suit, $89 for two piece linen.
Shirt prices are $10 dollars wash and press, $17 for hand finishing collar and cuffs

So just an update - it actually cost $94.50 to dry clean the suit with specific instructions to remove the buttons (which happen to be brown mop... more on that later) and not put them back on...


low and behold the put my jacket buttons on with some relatively weak shanking charging me an additional $19.80 to put all "11" back on.



Then I take a look at the pants and notice this




They didn't bother to remove these or even make an attempt at trying to cover them.

I'll be calling them tomorrow. This is most likely the last time I will be getting garments dry cleaned from them. I know to an extent I am most likely being finicky about how buttons are sewed on, etc... but in all honesty, when instructions are clearly written on the label and not followed, I can only assume they will continue not following directions as to other items...

I gave them another shot after the sewed my suit buttons back on once before. I gave them another shot when they took my horn buttons off my pants and sewed them on again in the wrong spots when I took them in for a press. Heck, I even let them get away with it when I found some other black substance had eaten away at all my MOP shirt buttons on my cotton/Linen blend shirt after they sent it through the special $39.40 Linen cycle and later only refunded me half of the cost. I even reluctantly let it slide when they cracked up all of my Gray MOP buttons on my other suit after I took the risk of having them "covered" instead of removed (thank you for expediting those for me Aaron from Kent Want, I'll be e-mailing you soon as I'll be needing a few new brown ones now). I'm done with Hallak.

As an FYI to Hallak, it's called a pleat, not a crease.

 

[applky]

@Megakurth @taxgenius Meurice is priced slightly higher but the upcharge is worth the piece of mind. I've never had any problems with Meurice's workmanship or their ability/willingness to follow special instructions, and they do a great job cleaning, including getting a set-in coffee stain of my own out of a pair of very light gray Ormezzano fresco trousers. Recently had a two-piece 3-roll-2 suit cleaned there for $85-$90, and they went out of their way to say that they'd be removing and resewing the buttons. Have not asked if they would resew with a crowfoot stitch, though. They also will deliver for free in most parts of NYC if you spend more than around $50 (nearly impossible not to).

 

[stubloom]

There are approximately 26,000 dry cleaners in the USA. Both Hallak and Meurice are amongst the very best.

I'd bet that 99.9% of dry cleaners (that's 25,975 out of 26,000) view the notion of protecting your buttons and other hardware -- let alone removing them prior to cleaning and replacing them after cleaning -- as absurdly old-fashioned. Something that their clients won't understand, won't care about and certainly won't pay for.

There are a handful of dry cleaners in the USA who remove and replace buttons and other hardware as a matter of routine. Offering that small added value service takes both commitment on the part of ownership and financial resources to hire the right technical skills to execute on that commitment.

By contrast, ordinary cleaners wouldn't dream of offering that service. Their sole focus is to extract every last penny out of their "garment care process". After all, who cares if your buttons and other hardware chip, crack or scratch? Ordinary cleaners certainly don't.

That being said, it's critical that buttons and other hardware that are removed be replaced with identical colored thread, with an identical stitch (crowsfoot, cross stitch, square stitch, parallel stitch, etc.) and identical shanking.

Further reading: http://ravefabricare.com/why-allow-your-dry-cleaner-to-destroy-your-buttons-and-other-hardware/

 

[Megakurth]

There are approximately 26,000 dry cleaners in the USA. Both Hallak and Meurice are amongst the very best.

I'd bet that 99% of dry cleaners view the notion of protecting your buttons and other hardware -- let alone removing them prior to cleaning and replacing them after cleaning -- as absurdly old-fashioned. Something that their clients won't understand, won't care about and certainly won't pay for.

There are a handful of dry cleaners in the USA who remove and replace buttons and other hardware as a matter of routine. Offering that small added value service takes both commitment on the part of ownership and financial resources to hire the right technical skills to execute on that commitment.

By contrast, ordinary cleaners wouldn't dream of offering that service. Their sole focus is to extract every last penny out of their "garment care process". After all, who cares if your buttons and other hardware chip, crack or scratch?

That being said, it's critical that buttons and other hardware that are removed be replaced with identical colored thread, with an identical stitch (crowsfoot, cross stitch, square stitch, parallel stitch, etc.) and identical shanking.

Further reading: http://ravefabricare.com/why-allow-your-dry-cleaner-to-destroy-your-buttons-and-other-hardware/

Well I appreciate the sharing of the article (I've read it a few times now and understand the process). I must disagree on Hallak being one of the best and will certainly take a look into Rave. However, I just say that in such a major metropolitan city such as New York City, it shouldn't take me having to mail my dry cleaning away for proper service (and this is nothing against you or your business, just my frustrations based on my experiences in the city). With all of that being said, Hallak does a good job with the actual cleaning of a garment, but with their pricing, I expect instructions to be followed. I was already prepared to bring them to the tailor for proper reattachment and with them being sewn on at this point, I will probably leave them for now though am still expecting them to do right. At this point my hassle lies with the fact that I will now need to order a new set of buttons to replace the two that were damaged at this point (a few chips I could have dealt with, but we're talking about an entire color change at this point).

 

[Allwhitebuffies]

I cant believe people care about their clothes this much to have buttons removed. I send my borrelli and KITON shirts to the local place weekly...they come back fine. Regarding crowsfoot, why would you want thst in the first place? I hate that kiton shirts come with that.

 

[stubloom]

I cant believe people care about their clothes this much to have buttons removed. I send my borrelli and KITON shirts to the local place weekly...they come back fine. Regarding crowsfoot, why would you want thst in the first place? I hate that kiton shirts come with that.

Megakurth has a particular point of view: He sent in a tan linen suit with matching shell buttons for cleaning by a true quality cleaner and he expects that the suit (and his shell buttons) will be returned in pristine condition. Perfectly normal. Nothing wrong with that.

While you may not expect that level of service from your "local cleaner", a client who chooses a true quality cleaner has very different expectations. Much like the difference in expectations between a steak at Dennys and a steak at Ruth's Chris.

From the dry cleaners point of view, it's a question of satisfying client expectations relative to the price charged and avoiding the hassle and time associated with procuring identical replacement buttons from the manufacturer who might be located in Italy or the UK (if those buttons are still available!).

As regards your shirts being returned by your local cleaner in "fine" condition, I'd bet that you'll find that a number of your shell or MOP buttons are defective in some fashion (scratched or chipped). You might not be concerned but many others are, especially when you consider that Borrelli and Kiton don't use cheap plastic buttons.

 

[poorsod]

I have been going to Hallak for quite a few years with no problems. I do notice that they do the tailoring work in the NJ office. For example, when I needed a buttonhole to be repaired, I had a discussion with the tailor about what I wanted to be done. I drop off my stuff in NJ and they deliver to NYC. When I drop off stuff in their UES office, the person at the counter can be unsure about what can be done so I've stopped going to their UES location.