What does Martinizing mean? Ellen DeGeneres' joke during new Netflix special 'For Your Approval' explored

Former talk show host Ellen DeGeneres brings up the term "Martinizing" during her farewell special, Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval. In the Netflix special that began streaming on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, the comedian talks about different people having different talents.

She brings up a recent conversation where someone told her they couldn't get on stage and do a standup like Ellen, to which she jokingly responded:

"Well, I don't know how you dry clean clothes."

Ellen DeGeneres proceeds to quip that it must mean that they "clean clothes dryly," before adding, "and then you martinize on top of that."

According to a March 2019 article by Mental Floss, Martinizing refers to the process of dry cleaning clothes devised by Henry Martin in 1949. The process developed by Martin was safe, affordable, and reduced the time taken by laundries to dry clean clothes.

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"You don't know what Martinizing is. It's not my job to explain it to you"— Ellen DeGeneres says while talking about Martinizing

While talking about Martinizing, Ellen DeGeneres jokes:

"Some of you are in your twenties. You don't know what Martinizing is. It's not my job to explain it to you. Also, I don't know and I never have."

According to the article by Mental Floss, prior to 1949, dry cleaning was a tedious and dangerous task. The cleaners collected people's laundry at urban storefronts and sent it to plants usually located outside the city. This was done because "the chemicals used in dry cleaning were dangerous and highly explosive." It was common to hear of fires and explosions at these plants.

Then a chemist, Henry Martin, while studying perchloroethylene, or PERC, a colorless and nonflammable compound, discovered it could also be used for cleaning. He quickly devised a way for the solvent to be used for cleaning cloths, calling it Martinizing. Due to the safety the process provided, dry cleaning could be done in-store, thus reducing the turnaround time to an hour if needed.

For the inquisitive, Martin trademarked the name and set up a dry cleaning franchise called One Hour Martinizing. The company is now called Martinizing Dry Cleaning.

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"Eventually they’re going to kick me out a third time"—Ellen DeGeneres on the toxic workplace environment allegations

Later in her standup special, Ellen DeGeneres addresses the toxic workplace environment allegations. It all began in 2020 when BuzzFeed News published an article where several crew members accused the producers of racism and s*xual misconduct. It prompted an internal investigation that led to three producers getting fired.

Ellen, during the opening monologue of season 18, addressed the controversy, taking responsibility and apologizing to her staff. A year later, she pulled the plug on her talk show.

In For Your Approval, the comedian joked she got "kicked out of show business because (she was) mean," referencing the several headlines from the time that called her "mean" and the "most hated" person in the country. Ellen explained that this was the second time this happened to her, first being her coming out as gay in 1997 that affected her career and ended her ABC sitcom, Ellen. She quipped:

"Eventually they’re going to kick me out a third time for being old — mean, old and gay, the triple crown."

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Earlier this year, Ellen DeGeneres went on her final standup tour, Ellen's Last Stand... Up. The final show took place at Minneapolis' Orpheum Theater in August. For Your Approval was taped during the Minneapolis show and is currently streaming on Netflix.