Clean your Stars and Stripes for free in time for Memorial Day
GLEN ALLEN, VA (WWBT) - With Memorial Day right around the corner, millions of Americans will raise their flags to honor the men and women who have sacrificed their lives.
With that in mind, Zips Dry Cleaners in Innsbrook will clean your flag if it's not looking its best.
"Cleaning American flags is a simple but complicated process," said Ziyad Shalaby.
At Zips, drying cleaning an American flag is actually a thing - who knew?
"Each cleaning machine or cleaning process has its benefits," said Shalaby. "We make the decision based on the flag of what's going to clean it the best and also preserve the colors to make it look good as possible."
"We're pretty crafty with stain removal. We can get most stains out - but of course we can't guarantee we can get everything out - but before you throw it away, bring it to us," said Shalaby.
Plus, it's free "to really honor the thousands of men and women that have given sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice of their lives for this country, and also to honor the veterans, active military ... there's so many different reasons to offer it for free," said Shalaby. "That's something we're very proud of, to support our American pride every single day by offering the service for free."
If you're thinking your flag can't be saved because it too far gone, think again.
"So if you got something, whether it's a flag or anything else that's dirty that you're thinking, 'You know what? This thing can't make it, can't be saved,' bring it in and we'll challenge it and do our best. The worst case is 'Hey, its free.' If we can't fix it, you didn't lose anything," said Shalaby.
Their message to you is to keep raising those flags.
"We're proud to be an American, of all the sacrifices that our service men and women have done," said Shalaby. "Our message is to bring it not for just this weekend but anytime, even if you want to clean it every month, we're happy to do it for you ... and thank you for everything you're doing."
This isn't just a one-time thing for the holidays. Zips does this year-round for free.
If you want your flag done by Memorial Day to bring it in Saturday by 9 a.m. and you can have it back the same day.
Copyright 2018 WWBT NBC12. All rights reserved.
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