If dry cleaning is such a dangerous industry, why is it still around and growing in use? Well to put simply, dry cleaning has become a necessity to some. Amongst the clutz and calamity prone, dry cleaning which does a better job of removing, greases, oils, waxes, and resins then wet cleaning is a God send.
If that is the case, what then is our stand as subscribers of sustainable living? Do we give up on dry cleaning which indirectly means the inability to ever own or preserve beautiful clothes of delicate fabric (of any kind) or do we continue to feed our ‘hunger’ for fashion at the expense of the good health of all parties (people, animals and environment) involved?
As girl sustainable is about the promotion of sustainable living, we do not expect you to give the full sacrifice and can offer to you the following possible solutions:
1. CO2 Cleaning
Micell Technologies, based in Raleigh NC has developed an effective and environmentally sound dry cleaning method that uses liquid carbon dioxide to dry-clean clothes, thereby eliminating the use of perchloroethylene – the main threat of conventional dry cleaning. For a more in-depth understanding of how this sytem works, following this link to watch a video by Micell Technologies.
2. Wet Cleaning
No I’m not self-contradicting when I list this as an option. Wet cleaning these days have come a long way since the days of before. The technological advances mean many “dry clean only” garments (even those made with 100% wools, cashmere, silk, rayon and acetate) can now be safely laundered through the environmentally water-based system. So what makes this particular wet-cleaning system different from the ones of before (or maybe just what we have at home)? Well it would be the heart of the system which is a German made “Miele” processing unit. Many dry cleaners in Europe are running on a “Miele”.
3. Dry cleaning label knowledge
Lots of garments come tagged with the “dry clean only” label, but more often than not they have been labelled as such more for ‘commercial’ value then actual garment/fabric care. How is there commercial value in a ‘dry clean only’ label? Well there is because it has long been the perception that expensive garments, especially those of ‘designer’ status are all to be dry cleaned only.
Now whilst the care label may have taken a more prudent or commercial reasoning, the fabric make has not. Knowledge of which type of fabric reacts to water and which doesn’t could save you save the green (environment) and some greens (money).
