Kyle Matthews is the fifth-generation owner of Janet Davis Cleaners, the family garment-care company founded in Highland Park, Michigan in 1938 and based on Woodward Avenue in Berkley since 1950. He joined the business in 2006 as Director of Sales and Marketing and has been sole owner since January 1, 2023, when his father, Dave Matthews, retired. Kyle is President of the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists, the international trade association that sets standards for wedding gown cleaning, preservation and restoration, elected in 2024 and re-elected in 2025 and 2026. In 2023 he and his father received the association's Jack Barth Memorial Award of Excellence for contributions to industry standards in gown care. Under his ownership Janet Davis Cleaners became a certified affiliate of America's Best Cleaners in 2024, one of fewer than 50 cleaners in the United States to hold the certification. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the MI Cleaning Fund, a member-owned workers' compensation program for Michigan's cleaning industry, elected by the membership in 2025. He writes here about garment care, stain removal, wedding gown preservation and what to look for in a cleaner — the questions customers ask at the counter every week. Kyle is a Michigan State University graduate (with honors) and lives in Rochester Hills, MI.
Yesterday I found something pretty cool while I checking on a couple of things. Janet Davis Cleaners was voted 2008 Best Dry Cleaners in Detroit in the Metro Times’ The Glory of Capitalism – People’s Poll. The funny part is that nobody from the magazine called to let us know, we had to find out on our own. The same thing happened last year when… Read More »Best Dry Cleaners in Metro Detroit, Again!
Today I have two older dresses that we cleaned. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to snap any before pics because we got to work just as soon as they came in. The dress to the left is a vintage garment from the 1940’s. The challenges with this dress were the inside seams not all being finished off and a couple of yellow ‘age’ spots. Typically these… Read More »Two Old Dresses
As the temperature is falling along with the leaves that means its time to bring out the warmer clothes. With a little bit of effort now, we can get your closet in tip top shape! The idea here isn’t to get rid of the old and bring in the new, but rather to rearrange and care for the clothes you already love. The first step… Read More »Get your closet ready for fall & winter!
Here are some before pictures of a wedding gown we cleaned from a bride who was married on a beach. She was able to keep most of the gown pretty clean, except for the bottom. The sand and dirt managed their way into all of the layers of the dress. The middle layer was somewhat protected by the other two layers (Scroll down to see… Read More »Beach Wedding
You wake up in the morning, get dressed, run downstairs and your dog knocks something over and spills on your last pair of clean pants, what do you do now? Or, you are meeting a client in an hour and your lunch ends up in your lap, what do you do now? The first step in stain removal is to determine what kind of stain… Read More »Clothing disasters and how to avoid them
This dress was brought to us 13 years after the bride wore it, celebrated in it, and after a guest spilled a drink on it. She told us that she was, “only getting married once, so why get it preserved?” It turns out that her sister is now getting married and thinks this is the perfect gown and wants to wear it at her own… Read More »Wedding Gown Restoration
Welcome to the Janet Davis Cleaners’ Clean Files Blog! We’re going to post new entries on topics such as special projects we’re working on (for instance restoring your grandmothers 70 year old wedding gown), updates from the fashion industry, and even some tips on maintaining your own wardrobe. I hope you find everything beneficial. Please let me know what you think about our posts or… Read More »Welcome to our blog!
