Eight Great Details About Laundromats
Despite the name, dry cleaning is a process that uses liquids other than water to clean clothing, bedding, upholstery and other types of materials. Water can harm specific fabrics-- such as wool, leather and silk-- and a washing machine can ruin buttons, lace, sequins and other fragile designs. Enter dry cleaning. Dry cleaning chemicals Dry cleaners utilize a variety of solvents to clean fabric. Early solvents included gasoline, kerosene, benzene, turpentine and petroleum, which were extremely flammable and hazardous, according to the State Union for Remediation of Drycleaners (SCRD), a group whose members share information about clean-up programs. The 1930s saw the development of synthetic, nonflammable solvents-- such as perchloroethylene (also called perc or PCE) and decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (also referred to as GreenEarth)-- which are still used today. Detergents are usually added to the solvents to assist in the removal of soils, according to an SCRD report entitled "Chem