Please do not worry about putting your Tribute and the Caresia Garments into the dryer. The fabric can handle it. Be sure to use the Permanent Press cycle or Medium heat setting.
When you take the garment out of the machine take a bath towel and fold the garment into the towel, and then roll the towel up and get the excess water out on the garment. It will help shorten the drying process. Always be sure to put the garment in the dryer with other things or 2 tennis balls. It will help to fluff the foam and get the excess water off the foam.
If the garment is not dried within 22 hrs mold spores will start growing, so you really want the garment to be dried within a short time.
Have A Great Day!!

Hey is everyone ready for another helpful alteration tip from the fabulous folks in the design center?

Well hold on to your hats cuz here it comes.

When marking a lower extremity chevron channeled garment for a girth reduction try to mark it on the lateral side. This will ensure that the medial length remains unaltered.

Also the best way to mark garments are binder clips and wax marking pencils.

Thanks very much, I know you’ll be waiting on the edge of your seats for our next helpful tip.

The Customer Service trio is back to give you another helpful hint!

When ordering a Tribute product, it is important to include the garment code as it tells us exactly where you want the garment on your patient.

Each Tribute garment code starts out with one of four codes: FN- (face & neck), TT- (torso), UE- (upper extremity), or LE- (lower extremity).  The second part of the garment code corresponds with our measuring order form.  For example, if you would like an arm garment to extend from the fingertips to the axilla, it would go A to G, or “AG” on the order form.  The correct garment code would now be UE-AG.  Choose the letters that are closest to the landmarks you would like the garment to start and stop.

For lower extremity garments, in addition to the garment code, we ask whether you would like vertical or chevron channeling.  Vertical channels are recommended for those with primary lymphedema, and chevron channeling is recommended for secondary lymphedema.  No lower extremity garment code can be complete without choosing a channel style!

Once you choose the garment style you would like, fill in the lengths and corresponding circumference measurements between the starting and stopping points.  If you choose to fill in extra measurements, please indicate them as extra in our comments section at the bottom of the order form.  If the measurements listed do not correspond with the garment code, we will call you to confirm what style of garment you would like.

The Tribute catalog is a great tool to help you locate different styles of garments.  If you can’t find the one you’re looking for, give our customer service team a call at 414-918-9180 and we can help you locate the one for you.  We’re open 7am to 7pm central time Monday through Friday.

This week (we know, we skipped a couple!) the customer service team is going to demystify the return authorization process.

Did you know that Tribute garments are warranted for a full year? Not only do Tribute garments come with a one year warranty again manufacturer’s defects but they also have a Sure Fit Guarantee and one FREE alteration!

If a Tribute garment does not fit a patient properly when it is first received it can be sent back for adjustments. If the patient decreases in girth we will gladly take the garment in to the new measurements one time within the one year warranty period. Both of these services are free of charge.

So what is the procedure for sending a garment in for adjustments? Below are the steps:

1. An alteration form must be included and fully filled out with the garment being returned. We prefer the medical professional who first fit for the garment to fill out this form. The form can be found in the back of the black and white “Professional Information” booklet in our Professional Packet. Please follow instructions on the form for marking the garment. If you can’t find the product ID number, it’s located on the tag attached to the Tribute garment.

Alteration Form

2. Contact Solaris to obtain a return authorization (or RA) number. Write this number on your alteration form. You can contact Solaris by calling 888.918.9180.

3. Please ensure that the garment is freshly laundered before it is sent back. We will return garments unaltered for washing if they are soiled, or charge a $50 laundering fee.

4. Always include a measurement form with new measurements.

5. Please keep in mind that our alterations staff are not medical personnel, please use lay terms if possible.

Reminder: Garments can only be altered within their one year warranty period. Use of bleach or fabric softener will void the warranty as stated in profession literature and Usage Guidelines sent with the garment. Tears and holes are not included in the warranty.

If you need an alteration form or have any question on this process or anything else, feel free to contact us!

- Solaris Customer Service Team

Amanda, Amber and Liz, the Solaris customer service team, would like to offer a (hopefully) weekly entry to help clarify some of our stickier ordering issues. This week we’d like to talk about the hand tracing form.

Our hand order forms can be a little confusing, we know. When do you send one, when don’t you need to, and what measurements are included?

The hand order form is used for a few different things. If you’re ordering a glove, if you’re adding digit spacers to a Tribute arm sleeve that starts at the fingertips, or if you’re highlighting a problem area somewhere on the hand. The measurements are all circumferences: A is the wrist, B is around the MCPs, and C through G are the circumferences of each individual digit. These measurements are used to determine how wide or narrow the openings of the digit spacers should be, and seeing the hand tracing helps us lay out the gloves as accurately as possible.

If you don’t have a hand tracing form available to you, you can trace the hand on a regular sheet of paper, but please include a scale as the actual size of the tracing might be skewed by the fax machine.

Here are examples of both methods:

A completed hand order form.

A hand tracing with a scale.

If you have any questions about hand tracings or anything else Solaris related feel free to give us a call.

- Solaris Customer Service Team