While some dry cleaners are looking at eventually replacing their old equipment to meet new state regulations banning their most commonly used solvent, perchloroethylene, some businesses have already installed new systems.

Kleanerette Cleaners & Laundry, which has two locations in Santa Maria, has been using the nontoxic GreenEarth Cleaning system for about two years, said co-owner Kathy Chilcoat.

The GreenEarth system was installed by the former owner, said Chilcoat, who with her husband, Rod, purchased the Kleanerette sites in Santa Maria.

&#8220GreenEarth is nontoxic to our workers and to our customers,C Chilcoat said. &#8220And you smell nothing. You know how when you have your clothes cleaned they have that kind of smell to them? With GreenEarth, there is no smell.C

Perchloroethylene 7 or &#8220perc,C as it/s commonly called in the dry cleaning industry 7 is a carbon-based solvent that was invented in the early 1900s to replace Stoddard solvent, which itself was a replacement for earlier kerosene-based dry cleaning solvents.

But kerosene and Stoddard both had low flashpoints, which led to explosions, fires and other environmental damage and health problems, and perc was invented as a replacement because it had no flashpoint.

Still, health officials found it caused cancer and nervous-system problems, and last month, California became the first state to ban its use, although the full ban won/t go into effect until 2023.

Five years ago, the South Coast Air Quality Management District in Southern California became the first agency in the nation to ban perc, decreeing that all dry cleaners within the district would have to stop using it by 2020.

Anticipating an eventual ban, alternative solutions were sought, and GreenEarth is one of the alternatives, using a liquid silicone base.

&#8220The chemicals and the machines are more costly,C Chilcoat said. &#8220But they/re so much better for our customers and the environment.C

Chilcoat said perc caused some fabrics to fade, especially silks, and left a rough, scratchy feeling to others.

She said GreenEarth leaves clothes softer and fresher-smelling and the colors brighter than perc cleaning, and she said GreenEarth can be used safely on such things as suede and sequins that might otherwise require special treatment with other cleaning methods.

Admittedly, she said, the new chemicals don/t clean as efficiently as perc, but the cleaning process makes up for that.

&#8220We work a little harder,C she said. &#8220But it gets clothes just as clean and the clothing stays bright and fresh.C

Best of all, she said, the GreenEarth system is environmentally safe and doesn/t require the toxic disposal systems associated with perc.

Both GE and Proctor and Gamble are now backers of the GreenEarth system of cleaning.

Mike Hodgson can be reached at 739-2221 or mhodgson@ santamariatimes.com.

Feb 18, 2007