Dry cleaning

On March 3, 1821, Thomas Jennings ( Eng. ) Received the first patent for a method of cleaning invented by him, called "dry cleaning", which was the predecessor of dry cleaning. ^[1] The first commercial dry cleaner that used turpentine to clean it was discovered by Jolly Belin in 1825 in Paris. ^[2]

The modern process of cleaning clothes from contamination using non-aqueous solvents has been known since 1855, when dye owner Jean Baptiste Jolly suggested using oil products for this. ^{[3] [4]} He noticed that the tablecloth in his house had become cleaner after the maid spilled kerosene on it. Jolly opened the very first dry-cleaner, where he cleaned clothes with kerosene.

Initially, petroleum products such as gasoline and kerosene were used for dry cleaning. Their light flammability led to frequent fires and explosions. Fire hazard problems forced William Joseph Stoddard , a dry cleaning specialist from Atlanta (USA), to invent a special solvent (Stoddard solvent), now known as white spirit . Its flammability was significantly less than that of gasoline and kerosene.

After World War I , various chlorinated solvents began to be used - they are less flammable than petroleum products, and they remove pollutants better.

By the mid-1930s, they began to use tetrachlorethylene ( perchlorethylene ) as a standard for the ideal solvent - it is stable, non-flammable, and perfectly removes contaminants, practically without damaging clothes.

A dry cleaning machine resembles in its actions a combined washing machine with a clothes dryer. Items for cleansing are placed in a cleaning chamber (called a basket or drum). This is the center of the dry cleaning machine. In the washing compartment is a rotating perforated horizontal drum. Solvent is poured into the machine frame, while the rotating drum holds the objects to be cleaned.

Textile labels contain symbols regulating the rules of their processing. For dry cleaning, this is a sign in the form of a circle with a letter (except “W” for aqua cleansing ), or a circle with a black out, meaning a ban on dry cleaning ^[5] .

Letters on symbols mean (English) :

• "P" - Perchloroethylene , perchlorethylene (tetrachlorethylene).
• "F" - Flammable , flammable.
• "A" - Any , any.

A single horizontal line at the bottom of the symbol indicates mild dry cleaning conditions. Used to limit the mechanical impact.

Five main stages can be distinguished: product acceptance, sorting of incoming goods, preliminary stain-removing (stripping), cleaning in the machine (including squeezing and drying) and finishing operations involving subsequent stain-washing, ironing and packaging. For leather and suede products, finishing operations may also include greasing, toning, and applying (restoring) film coatings.

Product Acceptance

Reception is one of the most important stages of the technological process, which determines the type of product, its defects and contamination, processing technology, as well as a contract with the consumer.

Product sorting

It consists in picking lots for loading them into a dry cleaning machine. Sorting is carried out depending on the composition of the material, the color of the incoming products and the degree of contamination: due to their physico-chemical characteristics, each material behaves differently in the dry-cleaning machine, and sorting by color is necessary to avoid migration of dyes from one product to another.

Pre-Stain (Stripping)

This stage aims to treat the most polluted areas of products (in order to increase the quality of dry cleaning) and remove those spots that can be permanently fixed on the product in the dry cleaning machine under the influence of solvent and heat, with the complete impossibility of their subsequent removal. To remove stains on this operation, use detergents in combination with solvents. Cleaning is carried out on special stain-removal tables with local illumination, having a working surface with an exhaust hood and pistols for supplying compressed air and steam in such a way that the powerful air flow in combination with water, detergents and solvent removes the stain.

Dry cleaning in the car

It uses the ability of solvents to draw out the impurities contained in the fibers and dissolve them. All the dry cleaning machines used today work in a closed loop. Perchlorethylene, which has worked in the tank and absorbed contaminants from the products, is sent through filters (where large particles of contaminants are retained) to the distiller for distillation.

For greater security of the company’s staff and their customers, all modern dry cleaning machines are equipped with a special device — an adsorber (the commercial names “consorba” and “slimsorba” are also known). These devices absorb the solvent vapors formed during drying, thereby ensuring their complete removal from the products and from the dry-cleaning drum. Thus, the modern technology of dry cleaning has a high degree of environmental friendliness and is safe for the health of the employees of the dry-cleaning enterprise and their customers.

Drying products made in the car after cleaning at a temperature of from 25 to 50 degrees, depending on the range of products.

Finishing operations

The main finishing operation is ironing - using ironing tables, presses and dummies. The ironing on the exhaust ironing table is carried out with the help of irons with steam supplied by the built-in steam generator or the central of the dry cleaning shop. ^[6] A final stain is also carried out if stains remain. If the stains are not removable by hand, then the product is sent to re-dry. If after repeated dry-cleaning the stain has not disappeared, then an entry is made in the receipt and the product is sent for wet-heat treatment and further packaging and issuing an order.

• Tetrachlorethylene (perchlorethylene)
• Hydrocarbons
• Trichlorethylene
• Supercritical Carbon Dioxide ( English )
• White Spirit
• 1,1,2-Trifluoro-1,2,2-trichloroethane
• Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane ( English ), briefly "D5" - silicone fluid, liquid silicone.
• Dibutioxymethane (SolvonK4) ^[7]
• Organobromine compounds ( n-propyl bromide , Fabrisolv , DrySolv )

• GOST R 51108—97 Household services. Dry cleaning. General technical conditions.

• Laundry