Dry cleaning is not dry as you think it is read this to find out

What is Dry cleaning

Dry cleaning is the name of process in which liquids other than water are are used to extract dust and dirt form fabrics. These include wool, leather and silk. Water can easily degrade these fabrics in washing machine because when washing with water washing machine forcefully removes dirt form the fabric. whereas in solvents dirt cleaner automatically separates soil form fabric that’s why dry cleaning doesn’t damages garments. This cleaning process is used all over world because it is easy to operate and it gives impressive results.

Dry cleaning chemical:

There are many solvents which are used in the process such as petroleum, benzene, kerosene and turpentine. They are very flammable solvents so now-e-days their use is limited in dry cleaning industry.

From 1930 s new synthetic non-flammable solvents are introduced in the process of dry cleaning which are way safer than flammable solvents. Some of these non-flammable solvents are perchloroethylene (also known as PERC or PCE) and decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (also known as green earth).

These chemicals are still popular in business of dry cleaning and they are still used today. All chemicals are organic compounds which belong to family of alkenes.

Role of Detergents:

Detergents perform a vital role in dry cleaning it penetrates fabric. So, cleaning process become more effective. They also aid solvents in their battle against soil and dirt. Detergent carries moisture as a catalyst to speed up the process of dirt removal. It is added in the process of dry clean as needed. After that it pushes dirt to the top of the solvent making it easier to remove.

Process:

A cleaner consists of four parts base tank, pump, filter and a cylinder.  All dry cleaners are different form each other in terms of design but the basic working principle of dry cleaners is the same.

1. Base tank is used as a solvent supply.


2. Pump is used to circulate the solvent.


3. Filter is used for extraction of soil and dirt form the fabrics.


4. Cylinder is where fabrics are placed.

Solvent flows from base tank in to the cylinder. Then it flows through fabrics sucking soil and stains from the fabrics. After that filter is used to remove the suspended dirt form the solvent, detergents are used when necessary. This process is repeated again and again in a wash cycle. Washing cycle depends on the type of garment and how heavily stained it is. Heavily stained garments need to pass through special stain removal cycle after that they are dry-cleaned. After cleaning solvent is extracted form garments by spinning cylinder at high speed.

Final thoughts:

Dry cleaning is in demand but as we see more dirt resistant nano particle treated garments arriving in market dry cleaning will soon become obsolete. For now, dry cleaning is the best way to wash your garments without degradation.

Now you know about the magical process of dry cleaning if you like this article share it with friends or continue reading more articles on techywild.