How Green is Dry

Time to hold your dry cleaner accountable when they’re using the word ORGANIC.

The truth is, businesses who go green need to stop using false labels that lead to false advertising.

Did you know, chemists define anything organic to be anything containing carbon, and those things aren’t necessarily good for you.

#1
Dry cleaning really isn’t dry – it just means that instead of water being used to clean the clothes, a chemical solvent is used in its place.

#2
Most dry cleaners use perchloroethylene, otherwise known as perc. The EPA has classified this handy little cleaner as a probable cancer-causing chemical.

#3
Many organic dry cleaners use a solvent called DF-2000 (sounds totally organic, right?) to clean clothes instead of perc. A derivative of gasoline, DF-2000 is only slightly less harmful than perc.

#4
Have you noticed that within 1 mile of your home you will probably find “organic” dry cleaners in a one-mile radius?

#5
At the first couple of places I went to, the clerk behind the counter couldn’t even answer my question. A manager was summoned to tell me that, indeed, DF-2000 was used in their facility to clean clothes in a “healthier” way. Another told me that perc was used to clean the clothes in their establishment, and the sign “organic” in the window only meant that they operated in an environmentally responsible way – meaning that they recycle those toxic perc containers, I guess.

#6
According to the clerk in the fourth store, they were actually using a method called wet cleaning, in which water is used to clean the garment, but in a computerized machine that prevents shrinkage and wrinkles. Prices there, however, were a bit steeper.

#7
I went home to do a bit more research, and found out that wet cleaning actually works great for most garments and is actually a much greener alternative to either perc or DF-2000. Another alternative? Carbon dioxide cleaning, which turns CO2 into a liquid to clean clothes.

Final Thoughts
If you’re looking for a greener way to dry clean, try finding a dry cleaner that uses a truly greener method here.

Are you ready to STOP BUYING dry clean-only clothes altogether? I’m not. But I am enjoying this continued education of how fake people show up with veneer green labels and expect everyone to honor them when they aren’t authentic. What the hell?