The Homa Files

Excerpted from WSJ, “Finding an Eco-Friendly Dry Cleaner,” by Gwendolyn Bounds, December 4, 2008

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Recently we’ve spotted a growing number of dry cleaners hawking “organic” and “eco-friendly” services and wondered if they were up to par, or just engaging in green-washing of a different sort. 

Roughly 80% of the nation’s 30,000 dry cleaners still employ a cleaning method using the liquid solvent perchloroethylene — or “perc”…because it is known to remove stains and odors effectively without damaging or shrinking delicate garments.

However, perc has been listed as a hazardous air pollutant and a probable human carcinogen…long-term exposure could increase the cancer risk for consumers who wear a lot of dry-cleaned clothes…the EPA is requiring a phase-out of perc at dry cleaners located in residential buildings…

These moves, coupled with consumer appetite for eco-anything, are fueling the growth of professional cleaners who dub themselves as “greener.” They’re ditching perc for myriad alternatives, such as liquefied carbon dioxide, silicone and gentle, biodegradable detergents…

WSJ put a handful of cleaners through their sartorial-sanitizing paces to see how they stacked up…all the stores we tested generally cleaned as well as, if not better than, our regular outlets…however, there’s real debate over just how eco-friendly and safe some of these newer methods are.

We tested the four cleaning techniques frequently touted as greener alternatives to perc: “wet-cleaning”…CO2 cleaning, hydrocarbon cleaning and a silicone-based cleaner.  At least two of these methods don’t get endorsements among some eco-watchers. For instance, the hydrocarbon method uses a petroleum solvent that, while not considered hazardous like perc, contains volatile organic compounds that can contribute to smog…Likewise, there have been questions raised about the silicone method…

“It’s absolutely confusing…We are entering a new world here in terms of regulation of chemicals.” As a rule of thumb, “you are pretty darn safe with wet-cleaning” provided you go to a pro that has the proper equipment needed to reshape garments after they’re washed…For now, the Web is the best bet for consumers hunting for a non-perc cleaner in their neighborhood…

Edit by SAC

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With the myriad of businesses are claiming to be “green” today the Eco-cleaner’s claims do appear to have some merit.  In the article’s test the “green” cleaners not only stood up against the traditional method, but offered comparable prices and in some cases additional complementary services.  This indicates that consumers aren’t yet aware of the value in eco-cleaning and thus businesses aren’t able to charge a premium or that the cleaners themselves have yet to impose a pricing premium for their green services.  While the eco-jury is still out Eco Cleaners will continue to grow as the use of “perc” is phased out.

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Full Article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122834783552077505.html?mod=wsjcrmain

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This entry was posted on December 17, 2008 at 6:51 am and is filed under Environment - Green. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.