Gentler solutions

Despite the rise of wetcleaning, drycleaning is hanging on in there and as more and more events take place in the rush to catch up on missed celebrations, and wedding dresses need cleaning after the big day, things may just be looking up a bit.

Also, office workers, fed up with slobbing in tracksuits and onesies at home, are filtering back to their official workplaces and are enjoying the novelty of wearing more traditional business attire. OK, there is a move towards more casual office garb, such as chinos, jeans and less formal shirts and blouses but it is a move in the right direction for cleaners.

INNOVATIONS MAKING INROADS

Bôwe used the pandemic times to develop interesting things, says Frank Ziermann of Bôwe. “In the past 18 months the range of Bôwe drycleaning machines increased. Fro example, from the 12-30 kg machines Bôwe has also developed a new 50kg, 70kg and 100kg machine series for Perc and Multisolvent.

A world first from Bôwe, the overboil protection device, detects the surface of the boiling solvent in the distillation. If bubbles or foam appear, the sensor detects that and breaks the vacuum automatically, so the boiling point is increasing and the bubbles disappear.

Bôwe also announces:

• a new high spin swing machine;
• new Siemens plc control with many functions have been developed for the drycleaning industry;
• a full range of drycleaning equipment from Bôwe including washer, dryer, ironer, chiller, shirt press, former, steam boiler, ironing table and spotting table.

Bowe has introduced a rental concept on the latest most efficient machines and has extendend its warranty programme to 12 years on several components.

Multisolvent advances

Cole & Wilson, part of Christeyns UK, offers its range of HiGlo products that are easy to use and work in all hydrocarbon, K4, GreenEarth and multi-solvent machines as well as being kinder on the environment.

HiGlo is an environmentally friendly drycleaning solvent alternative, verified by CTTN Institute de recherché sur l’entretien et le nettoyage, an independent research institute in France. Thanks to its great cleaning results on both hydrophilic and lipophilic soiling, it is becoming widely used in drycleaning outlets across the UK and Ireland, as well as Europe. In April this year, Smart Guys Laundry, run by Guy Deakin in Pinner, introduced HiGlo to offer a greener and more environmentally friendly option for his customers. Deakincomments: “We use this premier solvent on all garments that we dryclean – irrespective of value. For everyday wear, the finish is exceptional and for the more luxury items, we know we can offer the best care possible with this solvent.”

Guy is very much aware of the impact the laundry industry has on the environment. In terms of the resources it uses and the environmental effects of waste water and chemicals being discharged throughout the laundry processes.

SENSENE OFFICIALLY ASSESSED AS GOTS APPROVED ADDITIVE

Safechem has announced the Certification Body ECOCERT Greenlife has positively assessed its trademarked Sensene solvent as a GOTS approved additive in line with the applicable criteria of Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) – Version 6.0.

GOTS is the world’s leading standard for the processing of textiles (clothing, home textiles and textile hygiene products) made from certified organic natural fibres. It imposes strict environmental requirements on the entire textile production chain and requires compliance with social criteria.

Accordingly, Sensene can be used for application in the processing of GOTS certified textile products. Sensene is based on a modified alcohol formulation that is inherently biodegradable. The positive assessment of it as a GOTS approved additive fur ther sets it apar t from other textile cleaning solutions, says the company. It gives textile cleaners additional assurance that the solvent is free of hazardous substances and meets environmental criteria, with low toxicity and high biodegradability.

Sophie Demicoli, the company’s marketing specialist for textile cleaning, commented: “The evaluation of Sensene as GOTS approved additive marks another important milestone for Sensene. We are very confident that Sensene can help even the most discerning drycleaners to balance the requirements for quality cleaning, sustainability, safety and health.”