What is dry cleaning

What is Dry Cleaning & how does it work?

Do you want to know about dry wash? Unlike other laundry washed-in washing machines, water is the solvent used for cleaning. Water does not handle or clean many other types of fiber very well. In some cases, wool and water do not mix, and there are also many types of strain that water is not properly good at removing.

The term dry cleaning is not properly understood; it’s a little misleading in that it is not actually dry. Instead of using water, soap, and detergents, dry cleaning employs chemical solvents to eliminate the strain, dirt, and grease from precious cloths. In the earliest times, Kerosene was used as a cleaning solvent in dry cleaning, but it was found to be flammable with time. 

After World War II, perchloroethylene solvent was used as an industry standard due to its effectiveness. Once clothes are cleaned or washed with this solvent, the chemical is extracted and reused, and the dresses are easy to press. Once the laundry is cleaned with solvent, and after pressing, the laundry looks like new.

Perchloroethylene had a serious downside when it was found that this chemical has serious health risks. Still, this solvent is widely used in dry cleaning and many different industries, and scientists are trying to develop an alternative to this solvent and many environmental organizations.

Future of dry cleaning

There is a bundle of dry cleaners worldwide that run their businesses. Still, according to a market research company, many areas of the world are losing dry cleaners due to rent issues and competition in the market, causing a decline in the businesses of dry cleaners or dry wash and increases in the price of dry-cleaning machines. 

Another factor about casual laundry dry cleaning is the invention in the clothes stuff and materials that reduce the dry cleaning, and many dry cleaners are small family-owned businesses. As the older generation retires from their job, the younger generation is looking for other types of jobs. The environmental concert is also directly affecting the dry cleaner’s business. 

How does Dry Cleaning work?

Step 1: Garment Tagging

Every item is tagged with a unique identification number. Some dry cleaners are used paper printed for premium laundry. Some use iron on the stripe on the permanently printed barcode for their regular customers. These methods are used to track their customers’ clothes to avoid miss-handling any laundry.

Step 2: Laundry inspection

Before the laundry is cleaned, they are properly inspected for items left in pockets, tears, rips, and missing buttons in the laundry. These types of things are returned to customers, and problems are known before cleaning the laundry.

Step 3: Laundry into the dry-cleaning machine

The selected laundry is placed into the dry cleaning machine. The machine is larger than the washing machine, and we may have it in our home with the same spinning function. Dry cleaning machines are much slower than any other washing machine but with a higher temperature than the washing machine.

Step 4: Post-spotting laundry

The dry cleaning process effectively removes oil-based stains with the chemical solvent. The other type of stains are not removed properly with that solvent, so all the remaining laundry are post spotted to look for remaining stains. The remaining stain is removed with steam water or use vacuum to remove any types of traces in the laundry.

Step 5: Finishing

The final and last step includes the garments ready to wear for their customers. This includes pressuring out wrinkles, reattaching buttons, or repairing them. Items are wrapped and hung properly, and the assigned tag is attached to the final laundry.

Step 6: Always read the labels: 

This one may seem obvious, but plenty of people pay attention to their labels, and you always check the labels on your product before receiving your clothes and check the labels and instructions on it to protect your clothes. 

Some environment-friendly Dry-Cleaning Options

In dry cleaning, If you want to bypass traditional dry cleanings with chemicals, look at some of the green dry cleaning processes below.

  • Wet cleaning Detergent: water, special detergents, and high-tech washing washers are used to remove stains and clean the laundry properly, but this is not appropriate for all types of fibers.
  • Silicon-based Solvent: The solvent known as siloxane is a chemical-free type of liquified sand that removes stains and dust from fiber, but the manufacturing of this solvent is not green.
  • Liquid carbon dioxide cleaning: Liquid carbon dioxide is used as a nontoxic solvent complex cleaning machine that uses pressure to pass CO2 to remove stains from the fiber, so the cloth is finally clean.

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