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Content about Materials science

February 28, 2011

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill. — Supplier Foster-Stephens Inc. will celebrate its 75th anniversary in the industry next week. Today, the widow and daughter of its founder, Bill Jones, operate the company.

Foster-Stephens started in 1936 when someone abandoned a set of printed drycleaning posters at Westlake Press in Chicago. A salesman there at the time, Elmer “Bill” Jones bought and resold the posters to area drycleaners—so successfully that he incorporated the company on March 11, 1936. 

October 10, 2008

I’m amazed at the reaction of some “cleaners” when they first realize that stain removal is as much an art as it is a science. But one must have the science mastered before crossing over to the “artist” side of the profession.

February 28, 2008

Q: We use perchloroethylene as our drycleaning solvent. For the past several years, we have been having serviceability issues with coats that contain polyurethane (bonding failure, peeling of coatings, discoloration). Are these garments better serviced using alternate solvents?