Winter 2020 - Inside Outdoor Magazine

Inside Outdoor | WINTER 2020 30 By Gerald Baldino A Cleaner Solution D ry cleaning remains a necessary evil in the outdoor industry. Despite the heavy amount of pollution that it causes, dry cleaning is still com- monly used by manufacturers, retail- ers and rental services for preparing and turning over gear. For years, outdoor companies have been seeking an eco-friendly, eco-responsible commer- cially viable alternative to dry cleaning. However, few companies have been able to deliver cleaning solutions that combine a sustainable approach with a speedy, efficient turnaround. Enter ëClean, a company that’s disrupting the industry with its Advanced Fabricare, a proprietary service that knocks down sustainability barriers and conquers once impossible cleaning performance hurdles. The brainchild of founders Tim Kyser and Reuben Rosenblatt, who bring recognized ex- pertise in both textile care and retail logistics, Advanced Fabricare is built on a combined foun- dation of more than 75 years in textile cleaning and apparel care. The technology combines liquid carbon dioxide (LCO2) with a 100 percent no heat dry cycle, penetrating deep into fabric to remove dirt and stains. This process completely eliminates water and harmful chemicals from the cleaning process, while all the company’s clean- ing liquid is recycled and reused in a patented closed loop system, making it more sustainable than a traditional wash cycle. This system even has been proven to extend fabric life by up to four times, and, in effect, allows partners to generate recurring revenue by main- taining the quality of purchased items. ëClean operates out of a 13,000 square foot cleaning and fulfillment center in Dallas, Texas, a facility in which the company also provides re- pair, storage and logistics for virtual closets and re-commerce providers – thereby reducing heavy capital and operational expenditures that compa- nies would otherwise have to spend on infrastruc- ture and management for such initiatives. As vice president of sales Andrew Izumi ex- plained, the company also excels in preparing and maintaining specialty materials such as down and wool, which require careful handling. The ser- vice extends throughout the supply chain, helping manufacturers enhance the quality of their prod- ucts. By providing once-difficult or previously im- possible methods of textile cleaning, ëClean helps outdoor clothing brands sell more items that may have been frowned upon by many consumers as too difficult to clean and care for. “Wool is a product that is naturally very coarse and difficult to keep clean, with long and tangled fibers that tend to trap dirt and grime,” Izumi ex- plained. “By treating wool with Advanced Fabri- care, products come out much smoother and tend to feel more like cashmere to the touch.” In addition, ëClean delivers once-impossible levels of both cleaning and re-lofting performance to all types of down filled items. “Down can also be a logistical cleaning nightmare, which is a problem for organizations that need to quickly clean products like jackets and snow pants,” Izumi continued. “Our clean- ing and re-lofting services restore products to their original, fluffy state while removing un- wanted dirt and odors.” At the end of the day, ëClean is helping bring about a new era in commercial fabric cleaning – one that’s more friendly to the environment as well as to retailers and manufacturers. m BrandWatch ëClean eliminates the mess of dry cleaning while offering partners a recurring revenue opportunity