FACTS ABOUT DRY CLEANING

What is called "dry cleaning" is not dry at all. Rather, garments are soaked in perchloroethylene, a persistent toxic chemical that is highly volatile and has been linked to cancer, birth defects, damage to the central nervous system, and a host of short-term effects such as dizziness, nausea and shortness of breath. While all the perchloroethylene is supposed to evaporate while clothes are at the dry cleaners, it is often trapped by the plastic bags that wrap the garments and can then out gas for up to a week after you bring them home. Even greater threats are posed to the people working at the dry cleaning establishment and those who live nearby.

In the last several years, "wet cleaning" technology has been developed to clean clothes that need delicate handling. This process allows the cleaner to spend less money on equipment and chemicals and more on training store personnel to combine hand washing, spot cleaning, steaming and pressing. The stores use precision washing machines that can clean delicate fabric without stressing it. The cleaning agents used at "wet cleaners" are purchased with an eye toward protecting the environment, along with the health of workers, neighbors, and customers.

From http://www.seventhgeneration.com/site/pp.asp?c=coIHKTMHF&b=83250

Wet Cleaning http://www.cnt.org/wetcleaning/final-report/