Corbett Heights Neighbors

Green  Facts

To  Help  You  Save  The  Earth

 WETCLEANING

Professional wetcleaning is a complement to dry cleaning.  Many garments labeled “dry clean only” can be professionally wetcleaned, including cashmere, down-filled items, leathers, suede, as well as beaded and sequined gowns.  Professional wetcleaning leaves your garments looking immaculate, smelling fresh, and feeling soft to the touch.

Learn  More  About  The  Professional  Wetcleaning  Process

To professionally wetclean any garment requires a vast understanding of fabrics, the cleaning process, and experience that only a professional cleaner can ensure.  Even though wetcleaning uses specialized than home laundry which can ruin many garments.

Cleaners who offer professional wetcleaning are able to clean many of your garments.  When you take the garments in, the cleaner will decide whether to use professional wetcleaning or professional drycleaning on the fabric type and construction of the item.

To really understand the beauty of professional wetcleaning, let’s first talk about the basics of fine garment cleaning in general.  To clean any garment or fabric requires that four elements be present: solvent, detergents, agitation, and heat.  Wetcleaning balances these four elements to create the optimum cleaning environment — one that neither shrinks, stretches, fades nor alters the garment.

In conventional drycleaning, the dominant solvent used is called Perchloroethylene or “Perc”, which is toxic.  The term “dry” indicates that almost no water is used in the cleaning process; however, the clothes are washed in the Perc bath with special detergents, spun to extract the excess chemical (which is recycled) and then tumbled dry.

Professional wetcleaning uses water, the most benign and abundant solvent available on the planet.  The input of the four elements of garment cleaning (solvent, detergents, agitation and heat) based on the type of fabric being cleaned.  In water, non-toxic detergents and conditioners are used to lift dirt out of the garment and revitalize the fabric.  The garments are agitated in the computerized wetcleaning machine just enough to clean the grime, but not enough to alter the structure, size or color.

The garments are then transferred to a high-tech drying unit that senses humidity as many as 400 times per minute.  To ensure that no shrinkage occurs, the dryer automatically stops once the garment is dry.  During drying, the conditioners that were added earlier are heat-activated to soften and freshen the garment.

Garments are then treated as they would be in the dry cleaning process — wrinkles are pressed out, garments are hung up and bagged.

Find Out What You Can Do To Encourage Professional Wetcleaning Near You

Many cleaners do in fact wetclean certain garments.  However, they do not promote this service because they do not have the new equipment that would allow them to rapidly process large quantities in this cleaning process.  The good news is that you, as a consumer, have incredible power to ensure that more professional wetcleaners begin to promote and expand their professional wetcleaning services around the world.

Currently, many cleaners are deciding whether or not to invest in the latest professional wetcleaning equipment and training.  One of their most pressing concerns is whether they will retain current ones.  Next time you visit your dry cleaner, ask the owner to consider offering professional wetcleaning.

Let your cleaners know that you will gladly do more business with them if they offer and promote professional wetcleaning.  Likewise, enlist your friends, family and co-workers to do the same.  After a business starts to make money, and if enough people request professional wetcleaning, a cleaner will likely offer and promote the service.

REMEMBER:   EVERY  LITTLE  BIT  HELPS !!
 

From http://earth911.org/shopping/wetcleaning/

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