Household Textiles

Down comforters

Investment-grade down comforters are more than just stylish. They're exceptional insulators and keep you warm in winter and cool in summer. And while a high quality down comforter can require a substantial upfront investment, it can last for many years if properly cared for.

At RAVE FabriCARE, we know fine household textile care.‍

That's because RAVE FabriCARE is recognized as one of the nation's premier dry cleaners by non-compensated, independent, authoritative third parties.

We also know down.‍

And that's because our WHITE KNIGHT pillowCARE Division is America’s leading cleaner and refurbisher of substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows. Every year, we clean, recondition, renovate, refurbish and refresh thousands of substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows for clients located throughout the USA.

And, importantly, we know high-end, investment-grade down comforters

Whether it's Boll & Branch, Cuddledown, Downlite, Downrite, Duxiana, Frette, Hastens, Matouk, Peacock Alley, Pratesi, Scandia, Schlossberg, Schweitzer, Sferra, St Geneve or similar high-end brand, you can trust the down specialists at RAVE FabriCARE.

There are, of course, those who believe that you can just stuff a down comforter into a home washer and then tumble dry. And they'll come out “just fine.”

For your investment-grade down comforters, however, you might want to consider an alternative approach.

Machine washing these investment-grade down comforters at home is not only time consuming but fraught with unknowns, including:

• failure to remove soil, stains and yellowing
• damaging of the down by using regular laundry detergents
• clumping of the down fill inside the comforter; and
• imparting musty smells into the down because of inadequate drying time in an undersized dryer.  

Investment-grade down comforters require professional care. Such professional care includes:

• pre-treatment of all oil- and water-based stains by skilled technicians prior to cleaning
• wet cleaning (this is not "washing") in large capacity, specialized, computer controlled washers using non-fragranced detergents chemically-engineered to both clean and protect the longevity of the down
• drying in large capacity, specialized, computer controlled dryers for a lengthy period of time
• washing and drying at temperatures designed to both clean and protect
• steaming on large drapery presses to relax the outer shell (aka ticking or casing) and smooth out the remaining wrinkles.

And the result?

A clean, sanitized, non-fragranced, high lofting down comforter.

Dry cleaning down comforters is a "no no"

Many down comforters have "dry clean only" care labels.

Even though we dry clean our client's fine garments in siloxane dry cleaning fluid -- the most gentle of all available dry cleaning fluids -- we'd urge you to think twice before you decide to dry clean your investment-grade down comforters.

In the event you decide that you want your investment-grade down comforters dry cleaned and not wet cleaned, we'd caution against dry cleaning your down comforters in any of the more aggressive, toxic and environmentally hazardous dry cleaning solvents.

These solvents include chlorine-based solvents such as perchlorethylene or “perc (aka Dowper), hydrocarbon-based dry cleaning solvents such as synthetic petroleum (aka DF2000 or EcoSolv), and formaldehyde-based dry cleaning solvents such as formadehyde dibutyl acetal (aka K4 or Solvon).

Why do we say that?

Because the quality of the down in your down comforters is largely determined by the fill power or “loft” of the down.

Without getting too technical, think of fill power as the degree to which the down will rise after it's been compressed and then immediately released. The higher the down lofts, the higher the volume of air that's trapped within the down. And the more air the down traps, the better the insulation.

Investment-grade down comforters will, in all likelihood, contain down that has a high fill power -- typically 750 or more on a scale of 600 to 1000.

Fill power is largely determined by the size of the down clusters in your down comforter. There are hundreds of thousands of down clusters in a queen or king down comforter (each piece of down is called a "down cluster".)

Each down cluster has, literally, hundreds of very thin filaments radiating out in all directions from a center point (think: head of a pin).‍

Each of these filaments is coated with minute particles of oil.‍

The oil on the filaments gives the filaments their unique, starburst-like structure. And it's the unique structure of the filaments that gives down, amongst other things, it’s wonderful ability to puff up or “loft”.

When the filaments of the hundreds of thousands of down clusters in your down comforter interlock, the down clusters trap air. When your body radiates heat, the air that's trapped by these down clusters heats up.

The ability of the down to interlock and trap air is the only reason why your high quality down comforter keeps you snuggly warm on a cold night.

Now, back to dry cleaning solvents.

What's the primary function of a dry cleaning solvent or fluid?‍

It’s to dissolve or emulsify greases and oils.‍

Fact is, water and detergents don’t come anywhere close to matching the oil and grease dissolving properties of all relatively aggressive dry cleaning solvents.

So let’s assume that you’ve decided to dry clean your down comforter and that your dry cleaner's solvent of choice is one of the aggressive dry cleaning solvents referred to above.

What happens to the oil particles on the filaments of each down cluster?‍

The oil dissolves.‍

And what happens when the oil dissolves?‍

The down clusters loose their structure or “body” – their ability to interlock, trap air and loft – and your down comforter looses it’s functional and monetary value.

In other words, you're paying the dry cleaner to destroy the most valuable part of your down comforter – the down fill.

In-store service and pickup and delivery service for down comforters

You can drop off your down comforters at our facility in the Scottsdale Airpark.

If you’re an existing pick up and delivery client, we can pick up your down comforters as part of our regular pickup and delivery service.

If you are not an existing pick up and delivery client, we can pick up and deliver your down comforters for a nominal additional charge. However, you must reside within the geographical area covered by our pickup and delivery route system to be eligible for this pickup and delivery service.

We ship nationwide

Even if you’re beyond the reach of our fabricare facility, we’re still within your reach.

That’s because our Nationwide Clean By Mail service ships throughout the USA.‍

With over 40,000 UPS, FedEx and USPS locations throughout the USA, true quality care for your fine down comforters has never been more convenient.

It's like having a RAVE FabriCARE location right on your doorstep.

Pricing of down comforters

Twin/Full down comforter (white shell)              $  75

Queen/King down comforter (white shell)            125

California King down Comforter (white shell)        150

There is a 20% surcharge to remove human or animal bodily fluids (urine, throw up, feces, etc.) from down comforters.

There is a 20% surcharge to remove extensive staining (for example, a large spill of red wine) from your down comforters.

Turnaround time

Our typical turnaround time for down comforters is 1 week, sometimes less depending on the season.

Down comforters with tears and rips

Please note that we do not clean down comforters with tears and rips, even if you have already closed those tears and rips in some fashion.

Why?

Because, in most cases, tears and rips are generally a sign of "rotted" outer fabric and it's highly likely that the down comforter will further tear and rip in the cleaning and drying process, resulting in a "down explosion" in our washers and/or dryers.

On the other hand, if the tear or rip is the result of a recent accident from a known cause (such as a cut from a sharp instrument), we can repair the rip and proceed with the cleaning.

Sofa and armchair cushion covers

We clean all sizes of sofa and armchair cushion covers. And we service all fabrics such as cotton and cotton/poly blends, linen and linen/poly blends, poly, chenille and silk.

Please note that we do not clean upholstered furniture. ‍

Your sofa and armchair cushion covers will be returned clean and bright. And perfectly hand-ironed (not just "steamed") for a smooth, soft finish -- even on thick cottons and linens.

Please note that there may be a variation in color between your clean sofa and armchair cushion covers and your uncleaned upholstered base if the base of the sofa or arm chair is upholstered.

Typically, this variation is the result of the upholstered base collecting dust and soil over time, having been aggressively vacuumed (which tends to embed dust and soil deeper into the fibers of your sofa and armchair cushion covers) and/or having been "steam cleaned" (which tends to move around the dust, soil and stains without removing the dust, soil or the stains).

Please also note that we cannot "equalize" the color between between your clean sofa and armchair cushion covers and the uncleaned upholstered base.

Similarly, if your sofa or arm chair has more than one removable cushion cover (for example, a sofa has 3 seat cushion covers and 3 rear cushion covers) and you only clean one or two of those cushion covers, there may be a variation in color between your clean sofa and armchair cushion covers and the remaining uncleaned sofa and armchair cushion covers.

Again, we cannot "equalize" the color between between your clean sofa and armchair cushion covers and the remaining uncleaned sofa and armchair cushion covers.‍

No "steam cleaning" at RAVE FabriCARE
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‍We do not “steam clean" sofa and armchair cushion covers -- a service typically offered by carpet and upholstery cleaners.
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Fact is, steam cleaning does nothing to deep clean your throw cushion covers.

By way of analogy, consider a soiled white cotton T-shirt. That T-shirt requires wet cleaning and/or
dry cleaning to remove the oil- and/or water-based stains and soil.

“Steam cleaning" a stained/soiled white cotton T-shirt can only produce one result: A stained/soiled white cotton T-shirt.

The same principle applies to your throw cushion covers.

‍‍In-store service and pickup and delivery service for cushion covers

You can drop off your sofa and armchair cushion covers at our facility in the Scottsdale Airpark.

If you’re an existing Regularly Scheduled or On Call pick up and delivery client, we can pick up your sofa and armchair cushion covers as part of our regular pickup and delivery service.

If you are not an existing Regularly Scheduled or On Call pick up and delivery client, we can pick up and deliver your sofa and armchair cushion covers using On Demand Pickup and Delivery service. This service covers the greater Phoenix metro area. There is an additional fee associated with this On Demand service.

We ship nationwide

Even if you’re beyond the reach of our fabricare facility we’re still within your reach.

That’s because our Nationwide Clean By Mail service ships throughout the USA.‍

With over 40,000 UPS, FedEx and USPS locations throughout the USA, true quality care for your sofa and arm chair cushion covers has never been more convenient.

It's like having a RAVE FabriCARE location right on your doorstep.

Pricing of sofa and arm chair cushion covers

Our prices are based on the:

• number of identical patterned/colored sofa and armchair cushion covers,
• sizes of the individual sofa and armchair cushion covers,
• type and degree of staining and soiling, and
• ability to easily remove and replace the filling (typically, foam with a thin layer of fiber fill glued to the top and bottom of the foam or a down/feather mix contained within an outer cotton cover).

In order to ensure that our pricing is consistently accurate for all clients, we charge by size (as measured in square inches).

Prices range from a high of 10 cents/square inch for one sofa or armchair cushion cover to a low of 5c/square inch for multiple quantities of identical sofa and/or armchair cushion covers.

In other words, the greater the number of identical sofa and/or armchair cushion covers cleaned, the less the per square inch cost.

For example, a single, zippered, 30" (length) x 20" (width) x 5" (height) sofa cushion cover would cost $87.50 (10c/square inch). By contrast, three identical, zippered, 30" x 20" x 5" sofa cushion covers would cost $61.25 each (7c/square inch) and six identical, zippered, 30" x 20" x 5" sofa cushion covers would cost $43.75 each (5c/square inch).

Please note:

• There is no additional charge to remove any down/feather mix fillers from your zippered sofa and armchair cushion covers before cleaning and to re-insert those fillers into the sofa and armchair cushion covers after cleaning.
• There is a 20% surcharge to remove any foam fillers from your zippered sofa or armchair cushion covers before cleaning and to re-insert those foam fillers into the sofa or armchair cushion covers after cleaning.

Please note: If your cushion covers do not currently have zippers, we offer 2 options:

(1) Open up a side seam on each sofa or armchair cushion cover in order to remove the fillers and then resew those open seams after the fillers have been re-inserted, or

(2) Open up a side seam on each sofa or armchair cushion cover in order to remove the fillers and then add new zippers before re-inserting the fillers.

There is an additional charge for this tailoring service. Each sofa or armchair cushion cover or identical set of sofa or armchair cushion covers must be evaluated in order to provide you with a tailoring quote. As a general rule, our pricing for this service is based on the labor time and zipper costs. Labor time is based, for the most part, on the size and construction of your sofa or armchair cushion covers.

The idea behind adding zippers is to ensure that, the next time these sofa or armchair cushion covers are cleaned, it will be relatively easy to remove the fillers prior to cleanig and re-insert those fillers after cleaning.

• There is a 20% surcharge to remove human or animal bodily fluids (urine, throw up, feces, etc.) from your sofa or armchair cushion covers.
• There is a 20% surcharge to remove extensive staining (for example, a large spill of red wine) from your soda or armchair cushion covers.
• There is an additional labor charge to hand pluck any feathers that might be embedded in the fabric fibers on the inside or outside of your sofa or armchair cushion covers.
  
  

As a general rule, our pricing for this service is based on the labor time required to pluck out those feathers by hand (hand plucking is required as small, hand-held vacuums or large wet/dry vacuums are ineffective removing feathers whose quills have become embedded in the weave).
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Whenever you see feathers embedded in the fabric fibers on the inside or outside of your sofa or armchair cushion covers, you can reasonably assume that the cotton shell containing the down/feather mix:

(1) is not down and feather proof,

(2) has rotted or deteriorated due to age, and/or

(3) has torn apart inside the cushion cover.

If this is the case, RAVE FabriCARE can clean/sanitize/deodorize the feathers and reinsert those same feathers into a brand new cotton shell that's white, 300 thread count, and laboratory-certified to be down and feather proof.

If the filler is a down/feather mix, we always use a double shell for added protection.

Please call us for further details on this service and the associated costs. That's because we have a limited number of non-gusseted shell sizes available. When you do call, please provide us with an approximate size of the sofa and/or armchair cushion covers and tell us whether or not your current shells are gusseted.
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‍Turnaround time

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Our typical turnaround time for sofa and arm chair cushion covers is 1 week, sometimes less depending on the season and the urgency of your situation.

Other household textile services

In addition to the household textiles mentioned above, RAVE FabriCARE services other types of household textiles:

Area rugs‍

Fine bed and table linens‍

Down and down/feather mix bed pillows

Patio cushion covers‍

Private aircraft textiles

Textile art