Part two: Wet or dry?

Wetcleaning

When I first started in our industry, wetcleaning was a sink full of water, a scrubbing brush, and a large block of green soap. How times have changed. I can still remember David Bellamy, a popular if not a little eccentric botanist, pontificating from behind a bush to promote the new concept of wetcleaning structured tailored garments in a washing machine; his presence and objective was a reassurance that wetcleaning was green and eco-friendly compared to drycleaning solvents in general and perchloroethylene in particular.

Since then, the concept of wetcleaning has developed exponentially along with the new drycleaning solvents and the multi-solvent machines.

There are several equipment manufacturers that make equipment designed for wetcleaning, the wetcleaning process generally consists of a computer-controlled washer, with variable speeds and programs.

It is important to select a washer that is designated for wetcleaning that has separate programs for general washing and not the other way around. Other major advances include auto dosing for the machine(s) along with the introduction of much improved detergents, Wet cleaning detergents are formulated with additives to minimise shrinkage and colour loss and conditioners to smooth and soften garments, coating the garment fibres to minimise shrinkage. Other added agents add body to garments and improve crease shedding which helps with finishing. In addition to cleaning chemicals, specially formulated pre-spotting agents for professional wetcleaning have been developed along with additives that prevent colour runs in the water.

Mechanical action is kept m a minimum in accordance with the types of fabric being wet cleaned at any one time and specially developed dryers have special moisture sensors fitted so they can be controlled to shut off at a particular moisture level to avoid over drying and prevent shrinkage.

Specialised automated stretching equipment has been developed such as trouser toppers and stretch formers that shape and restore tailored garments during finishing and to prevent them from shrinking. The wetcleaning finishing equipment can also be used for processing garments that are laundered or drycleaned in solvent.

Wetcleaning, like perchloroethylene, should be considered an aggressive cleaning method because it can be effective on both oil based and water soluble soils, although wetcleaning has been adopted fairly widely as a supplementary technology to solvent based drycleaning, only a few former drycleaners have implemented the technology as an exclusive cleaning system up to now in the UK. Almost all of the cleaners that have adopted wetcleaning exclusively are, at present, relatively small facilities.

The advantages of wetcleaning are its aggressive cleaning method, in terms of soil and stain removal, and it reduces some health and environmental concerns associated with some solvent cleaning. However, it raises other issues associated with hygiene and micro plastic waste. In terms of waste disposal, wetcleaning is very similar to domestic washing. Most delicate items, like wedding gowns and some suede and leather garments, can be cleaned effectively using modern wetcleaning technology and the equipment is generally less costly than the equipment used for alternative more traditional drycleaning solvents. The disadvantages of wetcleaning are that cleaners must leam entirely new processing methods, for example, stain removal techniques are more important, and garments with residual moisture must sometimes be hung to dry and this needs space and time.

Finishing can be much more difficult and time consuming on certain garments such as trousers and structured jackets, which slows down overall production rates, pleats in particular require special attention, the illustration in the picture shows an expensive Dior skirt that has been ruined as the small machine pleated two-tier box pleats could not be recovered by hand ironing.

It is a concern regarding care labels for wetcleaners that while they do have their own care label ? they are not covered for the solvent care labels ? and ? which means that in the event of a claim they will be held liable for not following the instructions on the care label.

The environment Drycleaning

There has been some controversy about claims by suppliers that wetcleaning is more eco-friendly than drycleaning. In my early days in the industry that would have been a fair assessment given the way we were exposed to the solvent. However, now health and safety and green technology is a priority, we have considerable control over the use of solvents with COSHH and SED at local levels for drycleaners. Modern drycleaning machines, particularly multi-solvent machines, bear little or no resemblance to machines 30 years ago.

1. Solvent vapour is no longer exhausted out into the atmosphere, the small exposure when opening is minimised and solvent vapour is sucked back into the machine to ensure the parts per million of the solvent in the air remain under the accepted PPM levels. High solvent level detectors can and should be worn by operators in case of spillages. If there should be a spillage there are dedicated spill trays under the machine to collect and contain the solvent

2. Still residue is now pumped out of the still and into sealed drums which when full are collected by specialist disposal companies and incinerated without any contamination to the atmosphere

3. Cooling water is now not dumped into the drains but circulated continuously through cooling towers so that any solvent that may have migrated into the water is not discarded into an open drain.

Wetcleaning

1. Like domestic washing machines, wetcleaning machines dump all the water and any contaminants in that water directly into the drains, including micro-plastics and soiling, plus the chemicals used as part of the wetcleaning process and/or the washing process if the machine is being used for both, in which case bleaches such as chlorine are being disposed of into the drains as well.

2. The tumble dryers also produce lint which contains micro-plastics which is scraped off and disposed into bins and eventually ends up in landfill.

In conclusion:

I cannot agree that wetcleaning is more eco-friendly than Perc or the other drycleaning solvents. However there is the technology available to clean up and recycle wastewater so I am sure it will not be long before legislation makes that compulsory.

If I were asked what system I would choose to set up on my own I would install a smaller multi-solvent machine and use Sensene for its water absorbency properties and also its high solvency power. I would also incorporate a wetcleaning machine plus the recommended finishing equipment to tension the garments.

Wetcleaning can, I believe, clean up to 80% of the garments brought in over the counter effectively. It is especially effective for wedding dresses and white fabrics. The cost of running a drycleaning machine throughout the day will be significantly reduced and the wetcleaning machine, with the option of using the laundry programs, would give me more opportunities to increase my range of services, which is very important in order to survive given that more of our customers are working from home and wearing casual clothes.

I would urge anyone who is contemplating taking up a wetcleaning service to get training and ensure they are competent before they open their doors for business, If you do not do this your dream could easily turn out to be a nightmare.