An alternative to dry cleaning
I’ve never liked the smell of clothes that have just been picked up from the dry cleaners. And now I know why. Behind that “fresh” fragrance there’s an unmistakable chemical aroma that can cause headaches, nausea, memory loss, and possibly even cancer.
Perchloroethylene (often called “perc”) is the toxic chemical solvent that does the cleaning in dry cleaning. Studies have shown that perc is a carcinogen, which may affect major organs, as well as the central nervous system.
One study found that a bag of dry cleaning left inside a car for only fifteen minutes permeated the air inside the car with 350 parts per million of perc. (100 parts per million is considered the maximum safe level.)
Many garments that require dry cleaning can actually be washed by hand. But for those items that can only be dry cleaned, it’s best to put them in the trunk for the ride home, and then remove them from the bag and hang them up in an open area like a porch, patio, or garage to allow them to air out. If you put the clothes directly into a closet, the fumes can collect in the confined space and be absorbed by other clothes.
Odd as it may sound, another alternative is “wet cleaning” – a specialty service that’s offered by more and more dry cleaners. Using milder soaps, washing machines with controlled agitation, and dryers that can control humidity levels, many “dry clean only” garments can be wet cleaned.
In addition to the option of wet cleaning, more and more countries are shunning the use of perc (Canada, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, among others). But since the U.S. tends to be late to the dance in moving AWAY from harmful substances (look at our fluoridation of public water supplies compared with the rest of the world), I guess we’ll have to take matters into our own hands – or car trunks as the case may be.
To Your Good Health,
Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute
Sources:
“Wet Cleaning – Wave of the Future” Greenpeace USA, greenpeaceusa.org
“Dry Cleaning Dangers” Wellspring Media, wellmedia.com
“Scary Stuff in Your Home” Prevention.com, prevention.com
