How Dry Cleaning Came to Be

Drycleaning is a term that is applied to washing fabrics in a liquid other than water. Using water as the washing agent is termed wetcleaning. This is the process that most of us use in our homes and which is used in commercial laundries.

Legend has it that drycleaning was discovered accidentally in France during the late 1800's. Apparently, someone spilled turpentine on a tablecloth that had numerous stains that could not be removed by washing, but which came out in the areas contacted by the turpentine. Thus, the idea of "washing" fabric in a liquid other than water was born.

Turpentine and some other early liquids used in drycleaning posed threats, however. Most were flammable at relatively low temperatures and gave off vapors that were dangerous to breathe. These two issues have always been present when considering various fluids for drycleaning.

The Evolution of Drycleaning

In the first quarter of the 1900's, a petroleum-based fluid termed Stoddard solvent was widely chosen because it cleaned well, it could be made widely available, and it was more economical to use than other solvents. However, it had a low flashpoint and caused many explosions and fires in the early drycleaning plants.

In the 1930's, perchlorethylene (or perc for short) was introduced to the industry as an alternative to the Stoddard solvent. It was also based upon carbon chemistry. Perc was a superior cleaning agent and had no flashpoint, thereby reducing fire hazard. It rapidly became the solvent of choice for the drycleaning industry. Currently, perc is used by 85% of the drycleaners in the United States and around the world.

The Challenges Posed

Perc, however, is heavily regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) due to environmental concerns. Further, it has caused the drycleaning industry damage due to the costs of cleaning up sites that have been contaminated, the ongoing expenses and surcharges attached to buying and disposing of the product, and the public policy issues associated with using the solvent.

As a result, over the past several years there have been many significant attempts to find alternative solvents that would be suitable for use by all of us in the drycleaning industry. We in the industry have certainly wanted another way to meet the needs of our customers as well as protect the communities in which we live. We have gone to great effort and expense to handle perc responsibly, while continuing to hope for and explore possible alternative solvents to perc.