For me , ironic cleanup has always belong in a category of miracle , along with color - secure bleach , dry shampoo , and acupuncture . They seem to work , but is it only because we ’d wish to believe they do ? So we decided to take a face past the tabulator and ’ 80s - panache decals to figure out , what is dry cleaning , anyway ?
Spoiler alarm ! It ’s not actually dry .
Let ’s start from the beginning . In the 1800s , a Gallic gentleman named Jolly Belin spilled some lamp oil on either a double-dyed tablecloth or some sordid washables , depending on who you sing to . His clumsy mistake turn up an unexpected result : the oleaginous mixture of hydrocarbons banish the stains already work up up on the fabric . Thinking he might have land upon a better clean than soap and body of water , he started essay kerosene ’s dirt - removal superpower . proud of with his results , he opened a kerosene - powered cleanup table service in Paris - or what ’s now known as the first ever teetotal - clean establishment .
Kerosene ( trust it or not ) lifted malicious gossip without messing up the clothing ’s fibers . “ There are sure fabrics and dyestuff and garments constructed with adhesives that are water sensitive , and ironical cleaning does n’t permeate the vulcanized fiber or make them loaded with water , ” explain Alan Spielvogel , the director of technical service at the National Cleaners Association . Because kerosene does n’t carry weewee , it can negotiate sore fabrics like wool or silk .
The trouble with kerosene , though , is that it is flammable — not quite as flammable as petrol — but enough that soaking our clothes in it can be a job . And because wry dry cleaners kept so much of it on the premise , they were routinely denied indemnity .
So resolution less potential to split into flame came into fashion , and in 1948 , cleaners settle on a non - flammable organic halogen compound call perchloroethylene , dub perc . The liquid chemical substance heave dirt from most common fabrics , does n’t cause vesture to shrivel or most dyestuff to disappearance , and it can be reused , which maintain costs down .
It figure out like this : When you drop a collared shirt or Pendelton throw off at the teetotal cleaners , both are tossed in a machine that looks and acts kind of like an over - sized front - load washer . The auto fill with dissolving agent , and the drum rotates , swishing your wearing apparel around in the ( not - H2O ! ) liquid that relax the grime . ( While perc is still predominant , hydrocarbon , silicone - based solvents , glycol ethers , and liquid carbon dioxide also do the trick . )
The dirt either ends up in a filter , or is separated from the dissolvent through a distilling process . The perc ( or similar ) is sealed up in the simple machine and reuse with each wash , transforming from liquid state to vapor and back again . When the cycle is finished , these beastly washers take care of the drying , too .
But this soup - up wash cycle does n’t always eliminate 100 percent of the dirt . The water system - rejecting properties that make the perc and perc - like solvents so good for sealed fabrics and stains also allow water - soluble marks to stay on . Different chemicals are applied to treat the stigma that require piss to lift , typically before the machine wash . “ moisture ” treatments can target H2O - soluble solid food and drink grease , starches , fats and oils , and plant - free-base marks . “ juiceless ” espy agents for more thoroughly soiled cloth take aim at oily spots made by fats , wax , cosmetics , paint , and plastics .
A fancy press out machine removes all the wrinkles , and then , presto , a perfectly clean and pristine shirt . Sure , it ’s a morsel of a miracle that my always - wine - stained - frock - for - every - wedding has survived for this farseeing , but I ’m relieved to know there ’s more than witching and hope behind the ironical cleaning process - and that for everyday textile like cotton , the good ol’ automatic washer does just fine .
Image : Flickr / Parker Michael Knight
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