Laundered to perfection

Caring for clothes is an art for Shanghai woman, who is a legend in the business

Those who know Chen Aihua sometimes address her as "Doctor Chen", but the 43-year-old has never once prescribed medications or used a stethoscope.

In fact, her profession has nothing to do with medicine. Chen is the technical director of the Zhengzhang Company, which runs a chain of laundry shops across China.

She earned her unofficial title for her skill in restoring clothes. Ask her about her most memorable restoration job and she'll likely talk of the qipao, a kind of traditional high necked, figure-hugging dress also known as cheongsam, she worked on in the winter of 2004.

One day, an 80-year-old woman walked into the laundry store where Chen was working and requested the assistance of someone who could help repair a faded silk qipao that was also missing some of its ornamental pearls.

Seeing that there was no such person at the shop, Chen, who was the store manager, took it upon herself to solve the problem.

"I just wanted to help an old woman fulfill her wish of wearing her qipao once more," she said.

She then spent the next 20 days removing blemishes, restoring the original color and even traveling to Haining, Zhejiang province, to acquire pearls to replace the missing ones.

Astounded by the magnitude of the restoration, the customer offered 20,000 yuan ($3,130) as a gesture of appreciation.

Chen politely declined the generous tip, insisting that she would only charge what the shop normally does for this kind of work.

This incident is just one of the many reasons she is considered a rather legendary figure in the local laundry business. Another is being named Model Worker in Shanghai in 2015 and Model Worker in China last year.

Today, Chen spends much of her time devising ways to improve the efficiency of operations.

Over her years at the company, she has set 88 standards related to the delivery and receipt of clothes, washing, packing and a host of other matters. Most laundry shops in China operate according to these standards.

Back in 1995 when she first entered the industry, little was known about the laundry service. Chen herself was no an exception.

At the time, most jobs in China were assigned by the government, and Chen recalled being faced with two choices: photography or laundry.

"I knew that Zhengzhang was a reputable time-honored brand to work for. I also thought that washing clothes was something so simple anyone could do it," she said.

But the then 19-year-old was in for a rude awakening. "We didn't have air conditioners. Working in the shop was fine during winter, but come summer, the place was humid and almost unbearable," she said.

Chen started out as a receptionist before learning how to repair and iron clothes and polish leather, but three years into the job, she nearly ended up ruining a woolen vest after accidentally immersing it in bleach.

It took only a moment for her to realize her mistake, but the damage had already been done. The color of the vest had changed to the point that she had no choice but to redye it.

This incident spurred Chen's research into fabrics, laundry and repair techniques that could prove handy in such scenarios.

Her industrious nature did not go unnoticed. In 2003, she was appointed manager of a laundry store in Shanghai's Huangpu district. Equipped with advanced equipment such as a German dry-cleaning machine and ironing boards from Britain, her shop quickly became popular among people looking to clean their delicate, high-end clothing. The following year, her shop set a company record for the highest daily turnover.

While Chen concedes that technology does have its benefits, she maintains the human touch is paramount, especially when it comes to repairing clothes. The popularity of the shop also provided her team with opportunities to demonstrate their skills at international events.

At the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, which was held in Shanghai in 2014, Chen and her team were given the task of ironing national flags. This may seem pedestrian, but Chen pointed out that there are exacting standards to be met.

"If the iron, which was heated to above 120 C, made contact with the material for just a second more than required, we'd burn a hole in the flag. If the temperature was set any lower, we wouldn't be able to complete the task properly," she said.

In 2018, the team was given the honor of washing the clothes of foreign officials attending the first China International Import Expo in Shanghai.

Looking ahead, Chen hopes to impart her skills to the next generation of laundry professionals. She has already taken steps toward this, having set up a workshop to nurture talent, conduct research and compile industry textbooks.

Her desire to innovate still burns fiercely, too. For example, she has recently spearheaded efforts to develop a dry-cleaning method for leather that protects workers from the harmful chemicals, as well as a recycling system that will allow laundry shops to be more environmentally friendly. Her team has already applied for patents for both innovations.