Carolyn
Casey
Calli
Getting Yourself and Your Home Ready for the Holidays
It’s never too early to start prepping for the holidays. Preparation now will lessen the almost unavoidable avalanche of “to-do’s” leading up to Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year’s and other cherished celebrations. We may be entering “the most wonderful time of the year,” but Harvard researchers say that 62 percent of us have elevated levels of stress just thinking about it!
One of our greatest joys at Oceanside Cleaners is to lessen the stress our customers feel leading up to the end-of-year holidays. Our focus is on cleaning tips where we can be of help. The key is to start early. Here are six essentials you can act on ahead of the holiday rush…
- Tablecloths and napkins. Nothing says holiday charm like family favorite holiday tablecloths and napkins (or placemats and runners). Whether handed down or a new family tradition, they’ve likely sat for a year in a drawer or closet. Check them now for stains and let us help clean them. We can handle even the most delicate fabrics and appliques.
- Holiday sweaters and garments. Just about everyone has a traditional piece of holiday clothing. Likely those sweaters, vests, skirts and dresses have been sitting in a drawer or hanging in a closet, maybe with an untreated gravy stain! Careful drycleaning and expert stain removal can do wonders. Don’t wait till the last minute to tend to these special clothes.
- Comforters and bedding. Bouncing back from the pandemic, an amazing half of all Americans are planning to travel during the holidays! If you’re expecting friends or relatives who will stay with you, treat them to fresh linens, pillowcases, comforters, bedspreads, blankets and towels that recently have been drycleaned to remove wrinkles and storage odors. It’s a real treat to experience our deluxe sheet service (try it for yourself, too). Your sheets are cleaned, sanitized, hand pressed, folded and wrapped in a luxury package.
- Everyday outerwear. In most parts of the country, the weather is getting chilly. Now is the time to pull out winter outerwear, sweaters, vests, and warmer fabrics. As you pull out these garments, remember that professional cleaning protects colors, reduces pilling and maintains shape and size. Note that wool in particular requires special cleaning.
- Special stain removal. In the event of a mishap, dry cleaning can attack common holiday stains from chocolate, candle wax, wine, cranberries and lipstick. Professional cleaners have the solvents and techniques to remove stains without harming fabrics, so remember to take things in stride.
- Emergency cleaning kit. Our last tip involves triage. When a stain disaster occurs during the holidays, you’ll need to stabilize it until you can get professional cleaning help. Have a special cleaning kit ready and include common stain fighters like white vinegar, Dawn dish soap, disinfecting wipes, cleaning cloths and stain sticks.
With attention to these details now, you’ll set yourself up to get a jump on the dozens of other holiday chores on your list. Every step now that lessens stress will make more room for joy and excitement. Happy Holidays! And remember, at Oceanside Cleaners, we offer free pick-up and delivery.
2023 Casual Beach Looks for Women and Men
Did you know that Florida has 825 miles of beaches? Our nearby Ponte Vedra beach is among the most beautiful and famous, reportedly being the spot where Ponce de Leon landed when he “discovered” Florida. In a state like ours, where beach life is a big part of living here, we pay special attention to beach wear. Clothing must work in the water, on shore and in beachside restaurants. But equally important, beachwear takes a beating with the sun and salt, and we at Oceanside Cleaners are experts at cleaning and maintaining beachwear so you can enjoy using it over and over.
Fashions come and go, and each year has its trends. Here’s our quick recap of what’s “in” in 2023 beachwear for both women and men.
For Women
Swimsuits
Swimwear in 2023 is marked by vibrant colors. We’re seeing everything: red, green, cerulean blue, brown, pink in all its variations, blue in all shades, green pistachio, orange, yellow and some cool, light colors like lavender and mint green. Both one and two-piece suits are popular. Fine straps with cleaner lines are more common. Solids are the trend, but paisley and check prints remain popular.
Cover-ups
Many customers are asking us to clean beach coverups in fluorescent colors! They pick cover-ups that work both on a beach lounge chair and at a beachside dinner spot. We’re seeing gauzy dresses, kimonos, boardwalk shorts and sarongs. Variety is in, from oversize shirts to crochet dress cover-ups to tunics and rompers. Many cover-ups need our special cleaning attention to maintain their shape.
For Men
Believe it or not, many men pay close attention to how they look on the beach, if our male customers are any indication.
Swim shorts
Men are bringing in swim shorts this year with seven-inch inseams, shorter than inseams worn casually around town. Wild patterns and stripes are popular, but so are pinstripes and solids. Our male customers trust us to thoroughly remove salt and sunscreen stains, prolonging the life of their beach shorts.
Classic beachwear
It’s fun for us to see fashions cycle back, and they have cycled back for our male customers. Polo shirts, cargo shorts and loafers were popular 20 years ago and are equally popular today. Printed shirts, tailored slacks, and chino shorts remain forever “in.”
Dress-up beach clothes
Men come in for professional cleaning of their dress-up beach clothes to make sure the clothes get a thorough cleaning to last longer. We’re seeing a lot of long sleeve linen shirts. Of course, linen is ideal for the beach because it is cool and fast drying, as are Tencel fabrics. But we always recommend professional cleaning for linen. Here’s a new one: for ultra-high fashion beachwear, men have begun dressing in clothes made of eucalyptus sap, which feels like silk and is extremely breathable. We know how to clean it.
Keeping beachwear clean
As we’ve said, salt water and suntan lotion are hard on fabrics and dyes, so immediately after swimming, rinse swimwear and beachwear in cold water and hang it to dry. Then bring them into our cleaners for a more thorough cleaning treatment.
At Oceanside Cleaners, we offer laundry services for delicate fabrics and promise thorough cleaning with mild detergents that protect and prolong the fabric life. This approach is ideal for beachwear.
Designer Garments Require Special Cleaning
When a customer invests in a piece of clothing, it’s essentially a work of art that deserves special treatment to ensure it looks as good as new. That’s why at Oceanside Cleaners, we offer extra special cleaning services for high-end designer or couture garments.
What to look for in designer garment cleaning services
We are pleased to offer the following high-end dry-cleaning services, which most other professional cleaners are not equipped for:
Onsite cleaning
All our work is done in our facility, so we have full control over quality.
Concierge treatment
We protect hardware such as buttons, tassels, buckles and leather logos. Where necessary, we’ll do pre-spotting, wet cleaning or hand washing to complement the dry-cleaning process, including odor remediation.
Trims and embellishments
We pay special attention to sequins, beads, rhinestones, glitter, feathers, etc. to preserve them in their original state.
We follow strict cleaning protocols with your designer garments
At Oceanside Cleaners, designer garments receive their own cleaning process:
Inspection
Once we receive customers’ approval, high-end garments are treated with the utmost attention. We establish a photographic record of the garment and its details, along with documentation of the value.
Handling by Specialists
Garments are only cleaned by specialists trained in high-end cleaning techniques that consider fabric, texture, color and shape.
Finishing Attention
After the garment is cleaned, it is pressed by a designer garment finisher and then placed into a safe garment bag for protection and transport.
You’ve made an investment to look your best in a high-end garment that is beautiful, lasting and a perfect fit. Our cleaning process will help preserve that garment so each time you wear it, it feels like the first time.
5 Tips to Make Laundry More Fun (and Productive)
By now, you’ve probably seen influencers on Instagram or TikTok cleverly organizing their laundry rooms. With everything from labels to handy containers available on places like Amazon, it’s fun to see how just dressing up supplies can make a laundry room more inviting. If a simple move from plastic jugs to nice jars helps make a laundry room more enjoyable, we’re all for it!
Let’s face it: laundry isn’t a favorite task for most people. But being in the laundry business, many of us at Oceanside have found ways to make home laundry more enjoyable. Here are our five best tips.
- Give yourself some elbow room.
Everywhere you look, reducing clutter is the trend (have you followed Marie Kondo?). Why not apply these ideas to an often-disorganized laundry room? Take advantage of readily available bins, wall hooks, rods, shelves, and portable counter tops. Adding these space savers to your laundry room helps to make smart use of every available spot. For example, try adding a folding station and narrow drying racks (which can be hung on a wall, too). You’ll be surprised how giving yourself some breathing space helps make doing laundry more enjoyable.
- Get into nice containers.
There’s nothing wrong with pouring detergent out of the same plastic bottles you’ve used for years. But storing detergent in glass containers can add some novelty. While more attractive and higher quality, special containers also add a bit of a twist to your old routine. You can also make your own labels or buy them online to dress up the containers even more.
- Tackle those stains.
It’s very frustrating to wash your clothes only to find stains on them afterwards. To avoid the hassle of washing items again, check for stains before dropping an item into the washer and remove them by pretreatment. The American Cleaning Institute has an easy-to-use stain guide for everything from barbeque sauce to baby formula, using common household items like vinegar, bleach, rubbing alcohol, and over-the-counter stain removers.
- Try safer products.
Most of us get in a rut and use the same laundry products month after month. The truth is, this space is constantly evolving and new products are often available. For example, the laundry detergent aisles now are full of “safe” products, usually with labels of “Safer Choice” or “Design for the Environment.” Here’s a list. The safest products are hypoallergenic, dye-free, phosphate-free, and fragrance-free.
- Get outside if you can.
Sun-dried laundry has a fresh smell no pre-scented dryer fabric can ever capture. Living in Florida, we enjoy hanging clothes out to dry when we can. Not only that, but line drying puts less wear and tear on clothes, extending their life. Plus, line drying reduces use of the dryer and saves energy, and the sunlight naturally disinfects. Best of all, line drying is a great excuse to get us outside, into the fresh air.
Laundry still sound like a drag? We can be your backup
If these ideas to make laundry more fun don’t cut it, or if you need a break, Oceanside Cleaners’ “wash and fold” service can make tackling your laundry easy. That starts with complimentary pick up and delivery for any machine-washable garments, sheets and towels. Plus, rush service is available at no extra charge. Not only do we deep clean with Endex-99 (which reduces bacterial count by 99.9%), but everything is neatly folded. We also handle comforters, blankets, pillows, mattress pads and sleeping bags.
Elizabeth
Seven Bridal and Wedding Trends for 2023
Following the recent New York Bridal Fashion Week, designers and wedding planners are beginning to offer a peek at 2023 bridal fashion and wedding event trends. If you’re beginning to plan your 2023 wedding, here are seven key trends.
First, wedding gown trends:
1. Blue is in
White gowns will forever be the number one choice of brides, but each year a new color becomes popular for less traditional brides. In recent years, these trend colors were beige and pink. In 2023, the trend color is blue, particularly soft shades of blue.
2. Colors accents galore
Color accents will remain popular, as they were in 2022, with some brides selecting floral prints or using color in accessories. But be discreet, wedding experts say. For a vibrant look, less is more.
3. Gloves are back
Inspired by period streaming shows, like Downton Abbey, gloves add a classy reference to the past and a layer of elegance. Fabric may be lace or traditional silk, with colored gloves offering a touch of color to a white gown.
4. Ruffles and Feathers
Brides are adding a softer look with ruffles and feathers in combination with starker lines. An example is a mermaid gown with a ruffled skirt, as shown in the photo.
Next, wedding event trends:
5. Personalized weddings
2023 will see changes that go beyond the bride’s dress. One common prediction is called the “micro wedding.” These are small weddings limited to family and close friends. Non-traditional venues will become more popular, as brides and grooms choose sites that reflect their values, such as a nature center. Eco-friendly touches will be a trend, too, such as invitations on recycled paper, re-use of bouquets as table decorations and serving health foods.
6. Local weddings
The glamor of destination weddings wore off during the pandemic and has given way to local and more personalized weddings in the bride’s hometown. This way, family and friends can afford to attend. It’s all part of a trend away from glamor and glitz and large-scale events that sometimes leave everyone exhausted and unconnected. The new focus is on who you are, not where you are.
7. Longer planning
The backlogs coming out of the pandemic apply to all things wedding. Wedding planners for 2023 events are cautioning brides to start early. Wedding dresses can take six to eight months to order, depending on the manufacturer. In addition, sites are booking a year in advance. Even photographers, musicians and florists want as much lead time as possible. Why the crunch? Competition is growing. Axios predicts 2.2 million weddings will occur in 2023, which would be a record.
And then there is the issue of picking the actual date
Along with these trends is the issue of the actual wedding date. While any date between May and October is common, many brides and grooms are consulting astrologists as to the best date to schedule their wedding. In 2023, astrologists say the luckiest wedding date is September 10, when the sun and new moon are in Libra, which promises less conflict during the marriage.
Start planning now!
No matter what your beliefs and influences, 2023 promises to be a hectic wedding year. It’s best to begin planning as soon as possible and that includes planning for the details related to the bridal gown and other attire. Oceanside Cleaners specializes in wedding dress (and wedding party clothing) alterations, but we book up early so ask that you please plan in advance. Oceanside also cleans gowns before the ceremony (if needed) and afterwards and offers a popular wedding gown preservation service.