History

Three Generations of Service

Henry Plantenga

Founder: Henry Plantenga
Circa 1986

Plantenga's Cleaners began in 1962 with the perseverance and tenacity of a self-made business man, Henry Plantenga. Henry took great pride in providing unprecedented service and quality to his customers which supported his motto, "Your Satisfaction is our Inspiration". As the second and third generations proudly carry the torch, we continue to strive for excellence in the quality of our work combined with friendly, small town service.

A Special Tribute: To Henry, our beloved father and grandfather, for instilling in us a strong work ethic, fair and just business practices and the drive to always be the best you can be.

Henry's hard work and commitment to excellence carried him through the great times as well as the more trying times. Fortunately, the old adage, "What comes around, goes around" is especially true in fashion. As Henry began his business venture in the '60s, natural fabrics such as cottons and wools were all the rage. Then, the polyester era ensued. Known best for its baby-blue leisure suits, this period posed new challenges to dry cleaners across the country. Fortunately, fashion cycled through once again and the use of cotton, silk, linen and wools became the fabrics of choice.

Al Plantenga, Jr.

LeAnn Plantenga-Glasser

Al Plantenga, Sr.

Nearly five decades later, the business is second generation owned by LeAnn Plantenga-Glasser, the youngest of Henry's eight children. Al Plantenga, Sr. is the guy with the smile that proudly delivers to homes and businesses. And finally, Al Plantenga, Jr. joined the business as our Production Manager working tirelessly to give you the best product possible.

At Plantenga's, our approach of treating your wardrobe as if it were our very own continues to position us as West Michigan's "Cleaners of Choice". Building on our humble beginnings in the little Village of Spring Lake, we now proudly serve dozens of West Michigan communities.

Our Commitment to the Environment...

While doing laundry is a common household chore, the concept of what dry cleaning actually is remains a mystery to many. Dry cleaning is a process that cleans without water... thus, the term "dry" cleaning. The cleaning fluid that is used is a liquid solvent. As your dry cleaning professional, we recognize our responsibility to our customers, our employees, our neighbors and our community to be environmentally safe. To that end, we have invested in state-of-the-art dry cleaning systems that wash, extract and dry all in one unit. Performing all three steps in a single perforated, stainless steel basket results in the recovery of the cleaning agents. We go the extra mile to monitor our equipment daily for safety and to ensure the best possible cleaning of your clothing.