Green Dry Cleaning
by on 06. 1.05
Conventional dry cleaning isn't even slightly green. The standard solvent is perchloroethylene (or perc). It is a central nervous system depressant, and is listed as a hazardous air pollutant under the federal standards. There are three less toxic alternatives: GreenEarth, a silicone-based solvent used in modified dry-cleaning machines, liquid carbon dioxide used in high-pressure cleaning machines, and "wet cleaning" with regular water in computer-controlled washing machines.
A couple of years ago Consumer Reports did a test of all three of these alternatives. They found that the carbon dioxide gave the best results, even better than conventional dry cleaning (a list of cleaners using carbon dioxide can be found here). A close second was the silicone-based GreenEarth cleaner (a list of such cleaners can be found here). Wet cleaning didn't fare well in their tests.
[by Justin Thomas]
I'm not certain that consumer reports is the best source for drycleaning information, since their raison d'etre is to support consumerism. They certainly are not concerned with assessing environmental and social impacts, but rather with helping the consumer get the best bang for their buck. Greenpeace also compiled recent research on drycleaning alternatives - their report "Out of Fashion" is available on their website. They endorsed both liquid CO2 and wetcleaning, but were lukewarm about GreenEarth for a number of reasons. Liquid CO2 is NOT the best cleaner - in fact, Hangers stores now use wet-cleaning as a "back-up" because they were not able to remove stains effectively with their system. On the other hand, in a study involving 35,000 delicate garments, wet-cleaners were able to safely clean 99.9% of items. (See the California Coalition for Clean Air report at their website.) We've been wet-cleaning for over two years now, and have found that we are able to remove stains MUCH better than when we used perc - however, there is a steep learning curve and getting good results takes time. Our production costs are higher, but our results are superior. Prior to converting from perc, we did consider Green Earth, which would have been a much cheaper conversion for us. We rejected this system because we didn't feel comfortable with the test data involving tumour development in lab animals - this just didn't sit well with us. We didn't want to expose our staff and customers to something potentially carcinogenic. When you consider environmental (and social) impacts, it's pretty tough to beat small amounts of good old water for cleaning clothes!
laurel is right on! why use solvents that you can never assure me won't be carcinogenic.Green Earth(backed by a huge multi-national) is yesterdays technology with preliminary negative health indicators.I talked with a huge cleaning concern in Las Vegas who had Green Earth, but yanked it out after seeing the limitations of the system. Water based wet-cleaning is 0% harmful,cheaper per pound and employees and customers seem to recognize and appreciate the difference.Tree Huggers should go wet!