Clean Show Report (1)

You know that I kinda gotta say “What a great show!” and make you feel like a heel for not going if you didn’t.  But, seriously, this show ______________ (I’ll let you go back and complete that sentence after you read this column.)

This was my 18^th Clean Show.  I go back to Dallas in 1989.  I admit that there have been some shows that were “good”, but not, crazy good.  Shirt pressing equipment manufacturers were crowding each other, years ago: Hoffman, Ajax, American, Cissel, Unipress, Forenta, Sankosha, FujiCar, Itsumi and a few Korean brands that I don’t remember, plus all the steam-form units such as Hi-Steam.  Every Clean Show, they all made an appearance just to stay relevant.  Manufacturers would be more conspicuous by their absence than by their presence.  Often the changes in their ”model years” were little more than cosmetic.  And there used to be a dozen regional shows.  It was difficult to have excitement at the Clean Show.  It’s like all the Christmas presents never got wrapped.  The stuff was shiny and new, but you’ve known about it.

There’s a lot we didn’t know about until this show.  Many surprises. 

Let’s talk about new equipment this month and next month, afterwards I’ll tell you about products that will blow your mind.  But let’s plan on having your mind “pre-blown” before December. 

For one thing, if you’re not on my PODCAST, get over there and subscribe today.  You are already at least 5 episodes behind on my Clean Show coverage on Spotify.  Please subscribe at TALK Dryclean & Laundry USA.  There, you will see lots of explanations, videos and pictures of all that I saw at the Show.  As I said, December: Products:  Wow!  Robots that do laundry and a robot that removes stains on a spotting board.  I will show you a product that every single drycleaner on earth needs at least one of but doesn’t have because it has never existed!  Railex introduced the best product I’ve ever seen for any drycleaning plant.  There’s more.  There have been some years that I didn’t find any new products worth talking about.

Unipress made a few major moves.  After decades of being (what many didn’t realize) an assembly plant, they are now a manufacturer.  That might sound like sort of a weird revelation to the uninitiated, but this is a major cost-cutting maneuver for the company.  And, you know, we all hear that sort of thing.  We hear about how a company lays off 20,000 people  to cut costs.  How come their products don’t cost less then?   Get this:  Unipress introduced a brand-new shirt machine that cost $11,000 less than their “other” unit!  It is sans a feature or two, BUT, it’s a smart move from this desk.  Witness: Nobody uses the short sleeve attachment on these blown-sleeve units.  Unipress knows this and deleted it.  The sleeve pleater is nice, but on some shirts, it makes a mess.  When the sleeve is pulled taut and blown dry that way, the sleeve pleat is barely distinguishable from the press-in sleeve pleat (and there’s never a mess).  Unipress deleted the sleeve pleater.  There’s no more TV screen either.  I pressed on this unit, and I found it very easy to do a great job.  The cuff clamp is simplified and there is a stopper designed into it to induce correct dressing of the cuff.

You can watch me press on this unit on my Podcast, as well as other videos of this unit in operation. 

Sankosha introduced a new unit too.  And it is everything that you want.  All high-tech, super-quiet and low boiler consumption.  Sankosha or Unipress.  I am reminded of an old episode of The Office.  In the episode, there is money to spend on one office enhancement. Everyone in the office wants either a new copier or all new office chairs. (The Sankosha!). Then Michael Scott finds out that he can opt to not spend any of the money and just take the surplus as a personal bonus.  (The Unipress is a new unit offered at $11,000 less!).

What to do?

Forenta, as reported last year, now owns QuikSort Assembly Conveyor.  They have run with it.  They’ve improved it and added an intelligent 24-hour kiosk.  I have a fascinating video to share with you.

Forenta has added a terrific feature to all of their drycleaning presses.  Every one of their competitors may already be wondering why they didn’t think of this first.  Most, if not all drycleaning presses have a mechanical or pneumatic adjustment with which the presser can adjust how hard of a press he or she desires for this fabric.  Problem?  They don’t do it.  Forenta heard you.  Now, with their equipment, when the presser lowers the head with the right-hand button, they have the choice of two lock buttons.  One button locks the head with high pressure and the other button locks with lower pressure.  This is a terrific feature!

MACPI has never been to a Clean Show, but they made a splash in 2025.  This is crazy.  A high production tunnel that delivers steam in an entirely different way.  A machine that can press 300 no-crease pants per hour with one operator.  A machine that can do 150 pleated pants per hour.  How about a quad shirt unit?   Each of these machines will be featured on-line soon so stay tuned.  I am uploading episodes as quickly as I can. 

PieceCounter has a new larger unit as well as an array of new reports. 

The podcast episodes will go to the internet faster than this publication goes to press so keep checking if you’d like to stay current.  Either way, I have a lot to share.