Posted by Fiona Saiter on Jul.27, 2009

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Most of us have at least a few things in our closets that are labeled, “dry clean only,” and we have to at least make an occasional appearance at the local dry cleaners. The door is usually ajar, and when you enter you notice that chemical smell and all of the plastic bags containing that odor.  When you get home and take off that plastic bag you are breathing in PERC, wearing it, and contaminating the room with it.

PERC or perchloroethylene is the chemical that most dry cleaners use. According to EPA, approximately 85% of cleaners use PERC as their primary solvent. A study was done on workers by National Institute for Occupational Health, which found increased cancer and disease rates among people who worked in dry cleaners for at least a year.

Sometimes, Dry Cleaners will say they are ‘Green,’ and use synthetic chemicals such as Hydrocarbon, which is petroleum-based and still bad for the environment, causing green house gases. Dry Cleaners also use silicone-based D-5, decamethylcyclopentasiloxane. The EPA states that it may be a carcinogen, as studies have found exposure leads to more tumors in female rats, but does not rate it because it is a new chemical, according to NoDryClean.com.

Safer Dry Cleaning Options

For a safer dry cleaning option, you can look for a shop that uses wet cleaning. Wet cleaning uses water as a solvent mixed with soaps and conditioners, not chemicals. The wet cleaning machines spin at a slower rate and the dry cleaners are able to control how the type of fabric is washed more easily. Wet Cleaning seems to be the most affordable for dry cleaners to change over to also.

Another option to consider is a dry cleaner that uses CO2 to wash clothes. According to Alissa Dos Santos on Green America, Liquid Carbon Dioxide or CO2 is used in a pressurized form with other cleaning products. CO2 is nontoxic and occurs naturally in the environment.Dry cleaners  convert CO2 to liquid for cleaning, and when the cleaning is done the liquid is pumped back into the machine and does not contribute to global warming. Before you dry clean your clothes with this method, make sure the cleaners does not use a solvair machine, which can cause health problems.

One simple option that is more labor intensive is to hand wash your clothes at home and then take them to the dry cleaners for a pressing only.

What to Look For In Green Dry Cleaners and How to Find Them

Green dry cleaners will use safer washing methods and replace the old plastic with biodegrable plastic. Cleaners should either recycle the hangers or others will offer a 100% cardboard hanger. Either you or your cleaner can purchase a reusable bag to carry dirty clothes in and then take them home instead of the plastic. One example is the Green Garmento.

You can find a Green Dry Cleaner near you by going to NoDryClean.com and either searching by address, state or zip code.

Solar Coin Laundromats

A few Laundromats are extremely eco-friendly with solar panels on the roof which for them reduce energy costs by half every month. In fact Business First interviewed Tom Bensen of the Worlds Largest Laundromat; he said he saves $2,000 per month with 36 solar panels on the roof. What does this mean for you? Free pizza, donuts, coffee, and bicycles for patrons at the Worlds Largest Laundromat but perhaps savings for the consumer, a more pleasant and faster way to do laundry and even the satisfaction of knowing you are making a difference by supporting a green company. With a 30% tax credit from some states, we can hope more green Laundromats will be starting. Benson said the thing that keeps coin Laundromat owners from changing to solar power is that many owners are only in the business for a few years and the initial start up cost is high. The solar panels last 20 years but the Laundromat owners get their money back in about 6.

By supporting green dry cleaners and coin Laundromats when you have to take your clothes out to be washed you are making a difference to your health, your family’s health, and the environment.

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Posted under Green Cleaning, Home Environment.