See, Touch and Smell the GreenEarth Difference


The Good Housekeeping Research Institute took a closer look at traditional and "green" processes, how environmentally responsible they are (or are not), and their cleaning abilities.


"GreenEarth's process proved to be the cleaning champ, conquering coffee, lipstick, and oil with ease. It also removed most of our wine stains, but wasn't great at zapping ink from silk. "Click here for the entire study of Which Dry-Cleaning Process is Greenest (and Cleans Best)

The GreenEarth Process


Dry cleaning from sand

Dry cleaning is a term applied to washing fabrics in a liquid other than water.

Dry Cleaning History

Legend has it that dry cleaning was discovered accidentally in France during the late 1800's. Apparently, someone spilled turpentine on a tablecloth with set-in stains, and every stain the turpentine touched came clean. Thus, the idea of "dry cleaning" fabric in a liquid other than water was born.

Turpentine and other petroleum-based solvents used in early dry cleaning were flammable at relatively low temperatures and gave off vapors that were dangerous to breathe. These two issues remain of concern with today's dry cleaning fluids. In the 1950's, perchloroethylene (or perc) was introduced as a "safer" alternative because it had no flashpoint, eliminating fire hazard. It rapidly became the industry's solvent of choice. For decades, dry cleaners used and disposed of perc without concern. Then in the 1970's and 1980's, perc's serious health and environmental risks came to light. Many regulatory and industry safeguards were introduced, but it was too late. Contamination from unsafe practices had already taken place, costing the dry cleaning industry a great deal of money and deeply staining its reputation.