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Shopping Tips > Dry Cleaner
Perchlorethylene and Safer Cleaning Methods
 perchlorethylene
alternative cleaning methods
Perchlorethylene
Despite its name, “dry cleaning” is not totally dry. Dry cleaners put your clothes into large machines, just like your home washing machine, with a cleaning solution. Most dry cleaners — about 85 percent nationwide, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency — use a liquid solution of perchloroethylene or some other solvent, with very little, if any, water. Once clean, the clothes are dried, shaped, and pressed.
Perchloroethylene (perc) is a clear liquid that has a recognizable odor. Dry cleaners use perc because it removes stains and dirt from all common types of fabrics and does not cause clothes to shrink, or dyes to bleed. Perc can be captured at the end of a wash cycle, distilled, and reused again. It is a cost-effective and efficient solvent for cleaning clothes.
Perc is also a toxic chemical that poses health and environmental concerns if used improperly. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) notes that perc is a potential human carcinogen. Symptoms associated with exposure to high levels of perc include depression of the central nervous system and damage to the liver and kidneys. Even brief exposure can cause confusion, dizziness, headache, drowsiness, and eye, nose, and throat irritation.
A person bringing home a load of freshly cleaned clothes isn’t exposed to much perc, as long as the clothes have been properly aired. Remember to remove the bag and, if possible, hang your freshly dry-cleaned clothes in a well-ventilated area before you put them away. To learn more about perc, visit resources.
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Alternative cleaning methods
A number of dry cleaners in New York City are using alternatives to perchloroethylene. The two most common alternatives currently in use include wet cleaning and carbon dioxide cleaning.
WET CLEANING
Wet cleaning is a water-based alternative to dry cleaning. This garment-care process is comparable to dry cleaning in both performance and cost. Wet cleaning uses computerized washing machines, bio-degradable soaps and finishing agents, and high-tech dryers that precisely measure and control humidity levels to prevent shrinking.
Meurice Garment Care, a dry cleaner with two Manhattan locations, cleans up to 30 percent of clothing received in summer (when customers bring in less wool) with wet-cleaning methods. “Many stains, like sweat, wine, and food, come out best with wet cleaning,” says Meurice Garment Care president Wayne Edelman, “but cleaning wool and some other fabrics with water is too difficult.”
CLEANING WITH CARBON DIOXIDE
Another promising new technology uses carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is normally a gas, but under high pressure it converts to a liquid. In a specially designed machine, clothes are tumbled at about 900 pounds per square inch of pressure with liquid carbon dioxide and a new detergent to release the dirt. After the wash and rinse cycles, the carbon dioxide is collected and reused. Some items that cannot be dry cleaned with solvents, such as leather, fur, and some synthetics, can be safely cleaned with liquid carbon dioxide.
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