Green Alternatives to Traditional Dry Cleaning

"We need an earth friendly permanent solution to clean our wool (including cashmere, angora), Silk, Rayon and other garments tagged as 'dry clean only' without exposing ourselves to potential danger of PERC. Fortunately our technology has developed the unique Hangers Cleaners carbon dioxide (CO2) cleaning technology..." from this post

Day by day we are getting more and more conscious about our Environment and Health. Basically we blame mostly the Industries and automobiles that produce CO2. But beside that there is a less known victim, that is affecting our Environment and our health causing so many disease and pollution. Yes, I am talking about traditional dry cleaning. Most traditional dry cleaners use a carbon based harmful chemical called Perchloroethylene or PERC for short (also called Tetrachloroethene) to clean your cloths. This chemical is a colorless liquid widely used for traditional dry cleaning and cause for several health problems.
Mostly people who work in dry cleaner are highly exposed to this chemical. Dry cleaning is not able to remove 100% of Perchloroethylene from your cloths, a little amount of dry cleaner fluid is being carried to your indoor air through garments. Both through skin contact or inhalation exposes to PERC increased the probability of cancer, as well as eye, throat, kidney, liver damage, neurological and skin irritation.

Watch the video Cancer Danger From Dry Cleaning? from CBS News.
Also you can read the news document Chemical in the Environment  released by
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Keeping in mind the above potential danger, we need to think for alternative to dry cleaning. By selecting the alternative we can minimize the risk of environmental pollution, disease and water pollution.

We need an earth friendly permanent solution to clean our wool (including cashmere, angora), Silk, Rayon and other garments tagged as 'dry clean only' without exposing ourselves to potential danger of PERC. Fortunately our technology has developed the unique Hangers Cleaners carbon dioxide (CO2) cleaning technology which use pressurized liquid CO2 instead of toxic harmful chemicals to clean the cloths. It is a rising earth friendly cleaning process replacement for traditional dry cleaning method. There are very few alternatives to PERC chemical, mainly i) Hangers Cleaners Carbon dioxide (CO2) cleaning technology, ii) Green Earth Cleaning (silicone-solvent based) method and iii) Hand wash with Soap and water in home.

# Hangers Cleaners (CO2) cleaning technology:

It is one of the safest environmentally friendly, energy efficient cleaning process. It uses the liquid carbon dioxide as the medium for clean the garments. This solvent is non-toxic and helps fabrics stay soft, longer and better. Because the liquid form of carbon dioxide is non-toxic it does not have any bad effect to our health and environment. It never have any dry clean smell on your cloths because it is a odorless gas produced by nature. The only limitation of this technology is that it is  not available in every country and the cost is little higher than other traditional dry cleaning.

# Green Earth Cleaning (Silicone-solvent based) method:  

It is a liquid silicone based patented process for dry cleaning. The liquid silicone solvent is a colorless, odorless solution. It is the mostly used earth-friendly alternative dry cleaning process in the world. It is non-toxic and has no bad effect to health. It is also keep your cloths gentle, smooth and long lasting.

"Green Earth was given excellent ratings for health and safety by the International Fabricare Institute (IFI) in its 2007 Alternative Solvent Evaluation. Independent waste stream and air exposure testing, conducted by Severn Trent Laboratories and California Industrial Hygiene Services, confirmed that Silicone (D5) as used in daily dry cleaning operation exceeds all federal, state and local requirements for water and air safety". Source: Wikipedia

Check the website www.greenearthcleaning.com for cleaners offering silicon-solvent based cleaning.

# Hand wash with water and shop in home:

In case of washing your clothes at home use soap if you have very soft water, otherwise gets away with detergents. You should take a little care while washing wool, silk and rayon in order to keep them in shape and damage-free. Always use a soft soap or detergent in warm water (approximately 100 degrees Fahrenheit for wool and 115 degrees Fahrenheit for silk). It is good to use cool water and mild shop/detergent for Rayon garments.

Some points you have to remember -

• To keep the garments in its original shape handle gently.
• Gentle whirl the cloths with your hand in the detergent mixed water.
• Avoid hard rubbing and wring during or after wash.
• Dry flat and avoid twisting for woolen cloths.
• Do not dry wool, silk or rayon fabrics in direct Sunlight.
• You can use iron with a low heat for your silk garments.
• For better result you can add a bit of distilled white vinegar to the rinse water when you are washing.

By practicing the above alternative methods, we can minimize the environmental pollution by a little. Beside this there are few small thoughts which can make things very easier like; you can control buying of clothes that need dry cleaning, avoid unnecessary washing every time you wear it and etc. A little positive contribution by each person can make the Planet healthy and green.

Watch the video- Make-your-own-eco-friendly-laundry-soap

Also watch the video- How to make laundry detergent

Link for other green living websites:
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