Local dry cleaners are struggling to accommodate the influx of customers dropping off clothes in need of cleaning after floodwaters overwhelmed tens of thousands of south Louisiana homes last week.
Rock Rockenbaugh, owner of Kean’s Fine Dry Cleaning, says his locations have been inundated with people trying to get up to 150 to 200 items dry cleaned in some instances.
Complicating matters is the fact that many people are bringing in wet and muddy clothes.
“We cannot dry clean any wet clothes,” Rockenbaugh says, adding each of his Baton Rouge area locations all have limited space that’s being swallowed up by the sheer volume of clothes coming in.
The wet clothing—business suits, dresses, linens, and items made of wool and silk—must be hanged to dry before the cleaners can process them, making it difficult to get the items back to customers in a timely manner and creating a backlog, Rockenbaugh says.
“If you can get the clothes dry before you bring it to use we can process it faster,” Rockenbaugh says.
Norman Sutton, owner of Sutton’s Dry Cleaning, says he’s also taking in “a ton of wet clothes, drapes, and all kinds of stuff. We’re working seven days a week now.” Sutton says he had to turn away some items on Saturday because he simply couldn’t take on any business.
Rockenbaugh and Sutton both say they’re trying to get the work done even as some of their employees have been impacted by the flooding and have been unable to get to work.
“I’m glad to have the business, and I’m glad to help,” Rockenbaugh says. “But we all have a finite amount of capacity.”
—Alexandria Burris
