Frances,

Yes, I can recommend an EXCELLENT cleaner in San Francisco. It's called:
Peninou French Laundry and Cleaners and is located at 3707 Sacramento
Street; phone: (415) 751-9200. (This is Sacramento Street up near the
Laurel Village area in Pacific Heights.)

I have never taken vintage clothing to them, but they are the only cleaners
that I trust to launder my fine tablecloths (beautiful 1940s damask cloths
& antique linen cloths that I received from my mother) and good linen
clothing. For example, I have one linen dress with many mother of pearl
buttons on it. Peninou returns it to me on a hanger with lots of tissue
padding at the the shoulders and in the sleeves to help retain the shape.
Of course it isn't acid free tissue, but one can hardly expect that! They
are a bit pricey, but worth it.  They will hand wash items that require
hand washing and they're very dependable.  Sometimes it takes awhile for
the laundering to be completed, at least such has been the case with my
tablecloths...but that's probably due to the fact that I usually take them
in immediately following major holidays so Peninou is extra busy. You can
at least talk to them about your vintage clothes, bring a piece to them and
see how they respond.

Good luck!
Paula Freedman
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>I collect vintage clothing from the 1810s through the 1920s.  Can anyone
>recommend a good dry cleaner who does hand cleaning, in the San
>Francisco Bay Area?
>
>I have used G.F. Thomas for many years but over the past year or so have
>become dissatisfied with their service.  Recently they always want to
>take out linings--even cut out dress underlinings with scissors, thereby
>destroying the underlining--to make cleaning easier for themselves.  I
>just got back an 1880s cape where they unpicked the bottom half of the
>lining without my permission (evenly on both sides, enough to turn the
>garment inside out).  I had gone over the lining/cape seam by hand with
>new thread immediately before I took the cape to the cleaners, so I know
>this was not the "accident" or "weak thread" they claimed.  Last time,
>when I took them an 1880s dress, it came back without any of the
>original buttons (which had been in great condition), and I received no
>explanation of what had happened to them.
>
>I also tried Virginia Cleaners in Berkeley which people have recommended
>for hand cleaning, but Virginia Cleaners themselves say they haven't
>done it for years.  All they will do is put the garment in a mesh bag
>before machine cleaning.
>
>Anyway, recommendations would be very helpful.
>
>Frances Grimble
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