Model Cleaners Project

Cleaners are listed by state, and states are listed alphabetically.

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Cleaning process: Has used Exxon DF-2000 synthetic petroleum solvent since July, 1997. Also does wet cleaning of about 15 percent of garments. No perc used at this store. They estimate they can clean 1,000 pounds of clothing with only 1 gallon of DF-2000. Overall, they process about 3,000 pounds of clothing a week. They use a water evaporation and filtration system that treats about eight gallons of water a week. If this water were not treated, it would have to be hauled as hazardous waste. This saves them an estimated $1,800 per year.

Solid waste reduction and recycling: Reusable garment bag provided at no charge. Receptacles in store for recycling polyethylene disposable bags; they recycle an estimated 2,000 pounds of plastic film per year. The polyethylene bags they use are made from recycled plastic. Collects hangers for reuse -- an estimated 500,000 hangers per year. To promote this program, provides free hanger caddies and gives $1 off when caddie is returned full. They reuse about 300,000 hangers a year themselves. Hangers that they cannot reuse themselves (about 200,000) are donated to charities. Estimated savings from their hanger reuse program is $16,000 per year. Unclaimed clothes are donated to charities. Shirts are folded and put in "shopping bags" to eliminate use of hangers and plastic covers. Paper is recycled. Some paper products they use have recycled content.

Other: Very active in trade associations. Communication to customers and public includes magazine ads and Earth Day activities. Received pollution prevention award from state. Prestige's president and general manager have completed the Certified Environmental Dry Cleaning course offered by the International Fabricare Institute (IFI).

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Cleaning process: About 70 percent of clothes are dry-cleaned with perc, and 30 percent are wet cleaned with an Aqua Clean system. Handles total of about 800 pounds of clothes per week.

Solid waste reduction and recycling: Does not offer a reusable garment bag. Recycles polyethylene bags; store has receptacle where customers can place bags. About half of the polyethylene bags they use are made from recycled plastic. Collects hangers for reuse; store has box (hanger caddy) for these. Because of hanger reuse program, they buy one less box of new hangers per week and save about $25 to $30 per week. Has not yet done anything with unclaimed clothes because family has only owned this store for about one-and-a-half years, but plans to donate them to charity. Reuses clothing identification tags and safety pins. Recycles paper and cardboard.  

Other: Has sign in window advertising wet cleaning. Has invited other cleaners to come in and see wet cleaning equipment.

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Cleaning process: Wet cleans 99.3 percent of all garments received, with Aquatex and AquaClean machines. Sends out a few garments each week for dry cleaning with perc (these either have heavy oil stains or a dye they think would bleed if wet cleaned). Leathers are sent out to a leather cleaner that does 60 percent wet cleaning. Handles about 2,300 pounds of garments per week.

Solid waste reduction and recycling: Offers reusable bags for delivery customers only, but these do not replace the use of plastic bags over the clean clothes. Does accept reusable bags that customers purchase elsewhere. Recycles polyethylene bags; store has receptacle where customers can place bags. Polyethylene bags they use are made from 50 percent recycled plastic. Collects both plastic and metal hangers for reuse and has receptacle for these. Customers are asked to sort hangers by type to help facilitate reuse. Customers are given free hanger caddies for collecting and transporting hangers. Staff does additional sorting of hangers and bundles them for reuse and recycling. Cleaner has special arrangement with City of Santa Monica recycling center to accept hangers that cannot be reused. Unclaimed clothes are sold to staff for the cost of the cleaning, or given to a local non-profit called Clothes the Deal, which provides clothing for people who are re-entering the workforce after completing various social service programs. Both stores are also drop sites where people can bring donations of clothes for Clothes the Deal. Encourages employees to bring their own drinking cups to work; disposable cups are not provided. Old garment bags reused as trash can liners. Waste paper reused as note paper in stores and office. Electronic bookkeeping reduces use of paper. Printer cartridges in office are refilled. Aluminum cans collected for recycling. Uses recycled paper products. Estimated volumes of solid waste reduced per month are: 100 pounds of metals (hangers and cans); 25 pounds of plastic; 12 to 15 bags of trash. Estimated savings are $100 to $200 a month in supplies and trash collection, and $50 a month in hanger reuse.

Other: Cleaner By Nature's two delivery vans use compressed natural gas for fuel, reducing the particulate emissions. Flyers, mailers, media releases and other customer communications describe the company's environmental programs. Employees given extensive information on wet cleaning and the cleaner's other environmental efforts. Cleaner served as demonstration facility for a 12-month research project on wet cleaning conducted by the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Pollution Prevention Education and Research Center and funded by regional, state and federal government agencies. As part of that project, the cleaner gave about 30 tours to groups of dry cleaners and others, with an emphasis on outreach to the Korean-American dry cleaning community. The final report on the research project, released in December, 1997, concluded that wet cleaning is a viable pollution prevention approach and that a wet cleaner can make a profit. Cleaner By Nature continues to conduct tours and provide training for other cleaners. The owner has participated in various industry forums on alternative cleaning methods. Won the Clean Air Award for Citizen Promotion of Good Environmental Stewardship in 1996 from the South Coast Air Quality Management District, and a Pioneer Award from the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce in 1996 for its commercial development of a new cleaning technology.

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Cleaning process: 100 percent perc cleaner with Permac "fifth generation" Bowa Consorba dry cleaning machinery. Has a documented reduction in perc generation of 20 percent. Measures to reduce perc generation include a "powerless filter" that recycles perc, an emission-free sludge pump, and improvements that make the system more efficient at recovering perc from clothing. Has vapor barrier room.

Solid waste reduction and recycling: Reusable garment bag provided at no charge to regular customers. Some customers bring in their polyethylene bags for reuse. Collects hangers for reuse; receptacle is provided in the store. Also gives hanger caddies to customers to help them save and bring back the hangers. Hangers not reused for customers' orders are reused in the stores. More than 90 percent of the hangers are reused. Unclaimed clothing is donated to charity if wearable. Damaged unclaimed clothing is reused in alterations, or as rags. Electronic record-keeping at both stores reduces paper generation. Does not use disposable polystyrene products. Paper, cardboard, bottles and cans are recycled. Owners estimated savings at $200 a month from hanger reuse and $100 from electronic record-keeping (each total is for both stores combined).

Other: Requested and received energy efficiency assistance from local power company. Total savings from energy efficiency measures is estimated at $600 a year (total for both stores combined). Coupons describe perc reduction programs. Both owners have passed the California Air Resources Board/Bay Area Air Quality Management District certification program for cleaners.

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Cleaning process: Wet cleans about 20 percent of garments (about 200 pounds a week) with Uni-Mac equipment. Perc used for remaining 80 percent. Perc consumption has been reduced.

Solid waste reduction and recycling: Recycles polyethylene bags. Two stores have receptacles where customers can place bags; other store takes the bags over the counter. Hangers collected for reuse. Customers are given "hanger valets" to make storage and transportation easy. Unclaimed clothes given to employees or donated to charity. Has electronic record-keeping. Employees use durable mugs. Recycles paper (about one garbage can-full a week), cardboard (about 20 pounds per week) and bottles. Owner estimates that total cost savings for all solid waste reduction and recycling programs is about $100 a month.

Other: Has done public relations campaign on wet cleaning, with a press release to local media. Two owners and one other staff member have passed the California Air Resources Board/Bay Area Air Quality Management District certification program for cleaners. Hosted a two-day wet cleaning seminar with U.S. EPA and Ecology Action (an area non-profit that promotes wet cleaning) for Bay Area dry cleaners and the Korean Dry Cleaners Association.

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Cleaning process: Uses Exxon DF-2000 solvent for 100 percent of garments. Started using DF-2000 in June, 1996.

Solid waste reduction and recycling: Sells reusable garment bags for $5, and offers the customer a $2 discount off their next four orders. After customer has used their bag for four orders, they have a "Happy Bag" club, where each bag-user puts their name in a monthly drawing for prizes (movie tickets, dinner, local theater events, and savings on services offered by the cleaner). Recycles polyethylene bags; store has receptacle where customers can place bags. First they reuse those bags in their plant to hold wet shirts and to separate types of clothing to be cleaned. Recycles about 75 pounds of polyethylene bags per month. The polyethylene bags they use are made from recycled plastic. Customers are provided with a box for collection of hangers for reuse. Employees routinely carry out clothing orders to customers' vehicles and hang the clothes, and employees have been trained to inform customers about hanger recycling at this time and place a hanger box on the floor of the vehicle, if the customer wants one. Hanger reuse program has reduced the number of hangers they use by about 30 percent, or about 1,600 hangers a week. Estimated cost savings for hanger reuse program is $100 per week. Hangers that can't be reused are recycled. Unclaimed clothes are donated to charities. Computer system for record-keeping reduces use of paper. Total cost savings for all solid waste reduction programs estimated at $100 to $200 per week.

Other: Uses hanger tags to describe reuse and recycling programs for hangers and bags, and the benefits of using the DF-2000 solvent. Has pamphlets on these same topics. Plans to install "chiller" to reduce water use. Has received Certified Environmental Dry Cleaner certification from the International Fabricare Institute (IFI). This IFI program is used for training employees.

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Cleaning process: Uses Exxon DF-2000 solvent for 100 percent of garments. Started using DF-2000 in March, 1996. Currently uses 330 gallons per year of Exxon DF-2000. (six 55-gallon drums). Before switching to the Exxon solvent and Omega machines, used about 1,000 gallons per year of perc. Owner estimates they are saving $1,000 per month in hazardous waste disposal costs for perc filters and sludge.

Solid waste reduction and recycling: Polyethylene bags are not made from recycled plastic. Collects hangers for reuse (they use expensive plastic hangers, which is unusual for a cleaner). No concrete estimates of the numbers, but owner says a large percentage of hangers are returned by customers for reuse, and he considers this program very successful. Unclaimed clothes are given to local churches. 

Other: Brochures, ads and press releases describe the benefits of using the Exxon solvent. Has worked with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment on a write-up about the Exxon solvent, for a pollution prevention case study. Won award from the Department in November, 1997, for pollution prevention. Has invited other dry cleaners into its plant to inspect the facility and discuss the technology.

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Cleaning process: Uses Aqua Clean wet cleaning system for 99.9 percent of garments (only sends ties out for dry cleaning, with approval of customer). Handles about 850 pounds of clothes per week.

Solid waste reduction and recycling: Sells reusable garment bag that converts into a laundry bag. This bag is also available for free as part of a membership program, and can then be used as an express bag for no-wait drop-off. Recycles polyethylene bags; store has receptacle where customers can place bags. The polyethylene bags they use are made from 50 percent recycled plastic. Hangers accepted back from customers for reuse, including hangers from other cleaners. Nearly all hangers are reused; the few that are left are recycled. Their hanger supplier says they purchase 50 percent fewer hangers than a typical dry cleaner their size. Unclaimed clothes are sold or donated to a charity. Accepts and reuses safety pins. Accepts paper bags; uses what they can and recycles the remainder. Uses City of Chicago curbside recycling service for standard recyclable items. Uses durable coffee mugs. Some containers that supplies come in are returned to supplier for reuse. No estimates for overall cost savings or volume reductions from solid waste reduction programs; owner says he does not have the expertise to make those estimates.

Other: Communication to customers and public includes ads and brochures. Cleaner's three employees receive extensive verbal training on how the wet cleaning process works, and on the cleaner's solid waste reduction practices. Was national demonstration site for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-sponsored project on alternatives to dry cleaning.

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Cleaning process: Wet-cleans 20 percent of clothes and uses "fourth-generation" dry cleaning machine for the rest. Machine purchased in December, 1998. Owner expects new machine to reduce perc use 25 to 50 percent. Has vapor barrier room. Vapor sensor used weekly. Handles total of 1,200 to 1,400 pounds of clothes per week.

Solid waste reduction and recycling: Provides free laundry bags. Recycles polyethylene bags; store has receptacle where customers can place bags. It takes about two weeks to fill up this box. Employees try to pull out bags that get thrown in this box that shouldn't be in there. The polyethylene bags they use are made from recycled plastic. Collects hangers for reuse -- 200 to 500 a week. Store has receptacle for these. Hangers are reused in-house; damaged hangers are discarded. Estimated cost savings from hanger reuse program is at least $70 per week. Hangers they buy are made from 90 percent post-consumer recycled wire and 10 percent post-consumer recycled paper. Unclaimed clothes donated to thrift stores or charities. Recycles 1 to 1.5 cubic yards of corrugated containers per month. Receipts are computerized. Takes back shirt boxes/shirt cardboard and safety pins. Buys recycled-content trash bags and note pads. Uses energy-efficient fluorescent lighting. Owner estimates that total cost savings for all solid waste reduction programs is at least $100 per week.

Other: Hanger covers encourage customers to "Recycle, Reuse, Reduce" and note that the hangers have recycled content. Small hang tags are put on large orders encouraging customers to bring hangers back. Signs around store encourage customers to bring back recyclable and reusable items. Owner has Environmentally Accredited Drycleaner certification from Neighborhood Cleaners Association. Owner has done networking with other cleaners on wet cleaning and machinery alternatives.

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Cleaning process: About 90 percent of items are dry cleaned. The rest are wet-cleaned. All shirts are sent out. Uses "fourth-generation" dry cleaning machine. Drying sensors have recently been upgraded. Has vapor barrier room. A 24-hour color-coded vapor sensor is in the vapor barrier room and is checked once a day. A portable back-up sensor is present as well. Waste removal cover has been developed in-house to prevent fumes and extend the drying cycle on the dry cleaning machine. A carbon-catcher canister-like device has been developed in-house and is being used on the machine in the vapor barrier room to catch vapors released when the machine door is opened. Did not have to buy perc for 14 months, and then only bought 38.4 gallons. Handles about 1,050 pounds of clothes a week. Items often pulled out of dryer when 80 to 90 percent dry and left to air-dry. Cover developed in-house that catches lint that falls when the lint trap filters are changed on the dry cleaning machine.

Solid waste reduction and recycling: Provides laundry bags with the store name and a carry strap. Recycles polyethylene bags; store has receptacle where customers can place bags. It takes about two weeks to fill up this box. They often get back other types of bags, and their chemical supplier takes the poly bags mixed with the other bags at no cost. Collects hangers for reuse -- a minimum of 250 a week. Store has receptacle for these. About 45 percent are used for in-store hanging, 45 percent go back to customers and 10 percent are discarded. Estimated savings from hanger reuse $50 to $70 per week. Unclaimed clothes donated to local Kiwanis Club. Paper hanger covers have recycled content. Recycles corrugated cardboard and plastic soda bottles -- has to pay for collection of both those items. Because of this, and because of the time it takes to maintain the hanger reuse program, owner does not feel there is an overall cost savings from solid waste reduction and recycling programs. Estimated solid waste volume reduction from waste reduction and recycling programs: One or two 55-gallon bags of garbage a week.

Other: Signs and pamphlets describe environmental programs. Hanger covers describe hanger reuse program and other environmental programs. Was part of a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health study in 1998, which showed that perc levels in the shop were much lower (better, in other words) than the established standard levels.

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Cleaning process: About 70 percent of clothes are dry-cleaned with perc, and 30 percent are wet cleaned with an Aqua Clean system. A very small percentage of clothes (beaded items) are sent out, to be cleaned with a petroleum-based solvent. Wet cleans leather and suede. For the dry cleaning, two fourth-generation machines are used. A vapor barrier room has been built, and a vapor sensor is used weekly. Manager says perc use has declined because of use of fourth-generation machines. Items are often pulled out of the dryer when they are 80 percent dry, and wind-whip equipment is then used. Cleaner handles 5,000 to 10,000 pounds of clothes a week.

Solid waste reduction and recycling: Reusable garment bags provided. Manager says people don't like them because they wrinkle the clothes. They also give away laundry bags. Recycles polyethylene bags; store has box where customers can place bags. It takes about two weeks to fill up this box. Employees try to pull out bags that get thrown in this box that shouldn't be in there. The polyethylene bags they use are made from recycled plastic. They have a German machine that allows them to cut their poly bags to size, but there have been some problems with sealing the top of the bag. It is estimated that this machine could reduce poly bag usage (reducing purchases by up to 30 percent and saving them $80 to $100 a month), if they can get it working properly. Collects hangers for reuse -- about 300 a week. Store has receptacle for these. Hangers are mostly reused in-house; damaged hangers are discarded. Hangers they buy are made from recycled materials. Estimated savings from hanger reuse is $50 per week. Unclaimed clothes go to local charitable organizations or are given to employees. Recycles corrugated cardboard. Receipts are computerized. Estimated solid waste volume reduction from waste reduction and recycling programs: One or two 55-gallon bags of garbage a week.

Other: Some hanger covers refer to the cleaner's environmental friendliness and note that the hangers have recycled content. Customer receipts state that the cleaner uses Aqua Clean (wet cleaning) products. Manager is very active in the dry cleaning community and participates in the Fabric Care Forum.

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Cleaning process: Nearly 100 percent of garments received are wet cleaned with Aqua Clean system. Wet-cleans some leathers; about half the leathers received are referred to a leather specialist. Handles from 500 to 1,000 pounds of garments per week.

Solid waste reduction and recycling: Polyethylene bags that they use are made from 50 percent recycled plastic. Hangers accepted for reuse. About 10 percent of the hangers come back to the store. Cleaner has very few unclaimed clothes, but the few that they do have are given to employees or to a thrift store. Durable cups used by employees. Recycles paper.

Other: Promotes its wet cleaning system with ads, articles and fact sheets. Wet cleaning of wedding dresses is becoming a specialty.

Cleaning process: Has been wet cleaning at least 20 percent of garments. Purchased Aqua Clean Mini wet cleaning equipment in January 1999, and expects to increase the percentage of clothes that they wet clean to 50 percent or higher within a year. Installed new dry cleaning machine in 1997; owner says they reduced the amount of perc purchased by 80 percent as a result of that purchase. Has leak containment and regenerative filters, Zero Waste Mist-it waste water treatment unit, and automatic halogen HFC/CFC/HCFC leak detector. Leak detector is used weekly during equipment inspection. Owner says the generation of perc-contaminated waste was reduced by 61.5 percent from 1996 to 1998. Medicine dropper is used for spotting chemicals, to minimize the amount used. Handles total of 1,500 to 2,000 pounds of clothes per month. Leather and suede are sent to a leather cleaner that uses a wet cleaning process.

Solid waste reduction and recycling: Provides reusable laundry bags, at no charge. Has been recycling polyethylene bags since 1991. Has a bin behind the counter to collect the bags. Has used recycled-content polyethylene bags, but owner says they not currently available from their supplier. Purchases polyethylene bags on large rolls, which reduces the amount of paper cores and cardboard packaging generated. Hangers collected for reuse. Customers are given free hanger carriers. If the customer brings in a filled carrier, and has removed all the paper on the hangers that are in the carrier, the customer receives a $5 credit. Owner estimates that 50 percent of all outgoing hangers are reused. Hangers that cannot be reused are recycled. Hangers are made from recycled materials. Owner estimates the hanger reuse program has reduced hanger purchases by 40 percent, for an estimated annual savings of nearly $600. Unclaimed clothes are donated to charity. Has reduced generation of paper by using e-mail and ordering equipment over the Internet. Any packaging that they use can be returned to them, for recycling or reuse. Reuses scrap paper for notes. Reuses buckets for trash and recycling. Restored a conveyor and service counters (both about 50 years old) that were used by other cleaners. Installed a carpet that was previously used in an office building. Recycles paper. Before hanger reuse and paper recycling programs were put into place, they disposed of four-and-a-half to five 32-gallon bags of garbage a week. Now they dispose of only one bag or less of garbage a week. 

Other: Owner has received Certified Environmental Drycleaner certification from the International Fabricare Institute. Promotes environmental ethic, wet cleaning and perc reduction in ads and flyers, and on signs and hanger covers. Actively involved with environmental issues within industry.

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Cleaning process: Uses Exxon DF-2000 solvent for all dry cleaning. Started using DF-2000 in 1994. Was the test cleaner for this solvent (Exxon's first customer for this product). Also does small amount of wet cleaning of items that are on dry cleaning ticket, and does a lot of standard laundry work. Handles 2,500 to 3,000 pounds of clothes a week for dry cleaning, and 4,000 pounds a week for laundry.

Solid waste reduction and recycling: Provides free garment bags to route customers. Recycles polyethylene bags; store has receptacle where customers can place bags. Polyethylene bags that they use are made from recycled plastic. Hangers collected for reuse. Customers are given free hanger caddies. Hangers that they cannot reuse are given to local laundromats. Unclaimed clothes are given to charities. Boxes given to local auction house for reuse. Printer and copier toner cartridges returned to Canon for refilling or recycling. Accepts donations of coats and other clothes from the public, cleans and repairs the garments, and then gives them to two charities (this is part of an annual fall drive that other cleaners also participate in). Accepts donations of eyeglasses from the public for a Lions Club program. Recycles aluminum cans. Owner estimates that overall cost savings from solid waste reduction and recycling efforts is $300 to $500 a month.

Other: Features DF-2000 cleaning process and other environmental programs in TV and radio ads. Writes monthly column for local shopping magazine with a circulation of 10,000. Column has described the DF-2000 process and the clothing donation program. Recycling and reuse programs and DF-2000 process are emphasized in staff meetings. Active in industry groups. Frequently speaks to local organizations. Involved in local Chamber of Commerce. Won 1996 Chamber of Commerce award for being one of the Top Ten Small Businesses in Amarillo.

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Cleaning process: Owner has three cleaning shops in metropolitan Milwaukee area. Prior to 1996, all were traditional dry cleaning perc plants. In fall, 1996, owner changed name of business to Natural Cleaners. One of the plants was changed to an all-wet cleaning facility, with a Uni-Mac machine and a dryer. In the other two shops the dry cleaning machines were retained. However, in the fall of 1997 Uni-Mac wet cleaning machines and dryers were installed at each of those shops, and the percentage of wet cleaning has steadily increased at those two shops. At the shop that is all-wet cleaning, less than 25 percent of the garments are sent to the other shops for dry cleaning. Handles more than 2,500 pounds of clothes a week. Total percentage of garments wet cleaned is estimated at more than 60 percent, not including leathers. They wet clean all leather and suede in-house. They have saved an estimated $3,000 a year by reducing their purchases of perc and reducing their hazardous waste disposal costs.

Solid waste reduction and recycling: Recycles polyethylene bags; stores have receptacle where customers can place bags. From the three stores combined, they recycle about 24 fifty-gallon bags full of polyethylene bags per month. Polyethylene bags that they use are made from 50 percent recycled plastic. Hangers are collected for reuse. Receptacles are provided in stores. Owner says hanger reuse program is labor-intensive, since they are difficult to sort and are often returned damaged or bent. Unclaimed clothes are given to charities. Recycles aluminum cans, glass bottles, paper and cardboard. Each store fills a four-yard dumpster at least once a month with paper and cardboard for recycling.  

Other: Cleaner has an Internet website with detailed information on the wet cleaning process, a section on "frequently asked questions," and links to a number of wet cleaning and environmental websites. Ads and flyers promote and explain wet cleaning. Wet cleaning of wedding gowns is becoming a specialty. Does extensive employee education on wet cleaning, including workshops, videos and field trips. Owner wrote article on wet cleaning for October, 1998, American Drycleaner magazine. Owner has spoken at and participated in a number of national and regional workshops and roundtables on wet cleaning. Owner is co-founder of the new Professional Wetcleaning Network. Cleaner has been awarded four stars in the State of Wisconsin's Environmental Recognition Program.