Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Cleaner, Healthier Dry Cleaning

Here's an article from Plenty Magazine about dry cleaners who clean clothes with liquid CO2 and not with perchloroethylene, or "perc" as it's commonly called. These cleaners have been around for a few years and still have not really taken off. My wife and I have used a dry cleaner that uses liquid CO2 since we moved to North Carolina three years ago. The quality seems to be just as good as traditional cleaners - those in the business who do use liquid CO2 will say the quality is actually better because it doesn't degrade the clothes. I don't use a dry cleaner often enough to notice, nor do I think I'd notice anyway.

The reasons, then, for using dry cleaners who do not use perc are both environmental and health-related. I learned a few years back that when using a traditional dry cleaner that you should immediately remove the plastic bag that covers your clothing to let the harmful chemicals 'air out'. The article does point out that the International Agency for Research on Cancer labeled perc a "probable human carcinogen." With a CO2 cleaner this is not a concern - plus you'll notice that your clothes actually have a pleasant smell when you pick them up.

Labels: , ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home