What is Dry Cleaning?
Contrary to its name, dry cleaning is not really “dry” A garment is immersed in a solvent (in most cases percholoroethylene, a nonflammable, synthetic solvent) instead of water. This process takes place in a machine that in many ways resemble a large “washing machine” The modern dry cleaning machines run the wash, extraction, and drying cycles all in one self contained unit. The length of the cleaning cycle is dependent upon the type of article cleaned and the degree of soiling. A garment is “dry cleaned” or “wet cleaned” (water used) in accordance with the instructions provided in the “care label” This label is put on all garments by the manufacturer in accordance with Federal Law.
The term ‘dry cleaning’ generally refers to carpet cleaning methods that do not use hot water extraction units. Most of these processes are not actually ‘dry’ as they involve the use of water based cleaning agents. They are however, commonly referred to as ‘dry cleaning’ processes as the carpet usually requires less drying time than ‘steam cleaning’ The most common method of ‘dry cleaning’ is technically called ‘Bonnet Dry Cleaning’ and essentially involves using a bonnet or pad on a buffing machine to rotate on the carpet surface and draw the dirt up into the pad. A water base dry cleaning fluid is sprayed onto the carpet, before a woolen pad (also soaked in the solution) is circulated over the carpet to lift dirt. This is usually followed by another passing using dry pads.
