The O.F.A. - Ontario Fabricare Association

We entrust our clothes to our local dry cleaner. But what happens after you drop them off? The modern dry cleaning plant accepts soiled clothing and produces clean, fresh clothing via the cleaning process.

The process commonly called "dry" cleaning is actually wet. Perchloroethylene (perc) is a non-aqueous solvent because it contains little water.

Your dry cleaner will sort your garments by type and degree of soiling and will determine if pre-treatment is required. The garments are put in the machine and the dry cleaning solvent removes dirt, stains and oils from the clothes.

Once the "cleaning cycle" is completed, the "extract cycle" removes any excess solvent from the clothes. The solvent evaporates while inside the sealed system. When the clothes are removed from the dry cleaning machine you can expect them to be clean and fresh. Garments are then professionally finished and retuned to the customer in like-new condition.

What Dry-Cleaners Do To Protect The Environment

The use of solvents in the dry cleaning process has always been a concern for customers and for industry alike. The dry cleaning machine is sealed to prevent solvent from escaping. Solvent is filtered, distilled and recycled. The remaining "sludge" is then removed to a recycler using a provincially licensed carrier.

The Certified Environmental Cleaner program was designed to educate dry cleaners in environmental safety. All Ontario Fabricare Association (OFA) members are Certified Environmental Cleaners.

Some of these practices include ensuring that solvents are recaptured and re-used, and that hangers, plastic and dry cleaning paper are recycled. As a group, OFA members are committed to finding new ways to improve the process, to meet the concerns of their customers and doing their part to make our world a healthier place.

The Evolution Of Dry-Cleaning

From satellites and space travel, technology has had a tremendous impact upon our lives. The way our clothes are cleaned has also been greatly improved by advances in technology.

The first clothes-washing machine was invented in 1677 by Sir John Hoskins. It used a wheel and cylinder to squeeze water through a bag of linens. Other devices like washboards, rollers, stirring sticks, and hot irons for pressing led the way for the commercial laundry industry which was born in 1837.

Dry cleaning was discovered in 1848 by the owner of a textile dyeworks who found that liquid from an oil lamp dissolved fat and eliminated shrinking, fading and discolouring caused by washing some fabrics in water.

By 1900, commercial laundries offered wet wash services-cleaning clothes and returning them for drying and pressing at home. They eventually did laundering, starching and drying, leaving the customer only the ironing.

The first synthetic cleaning fluids were developed after WW II. Eventually a colourless non-flammable, fast-evaporating liquid called perchloroethylene (perc) was developed. Perc is now the preferred choice for 90% of the industry and has revolutionized the way clothes are cleaned.

Consumers have often expressed concerns about the impact of frequent dry cleaning on clothing. A study conducted by Dr. Manfred Wentz, chairman and professor of the department of clothing and textiles at the University of North Carolina has concluded that commercial cleaning methods did not change the properties of wool garments.

OFA