Wet Cleaning
A former drycleaner for 13 years, Ann Hargrove managed The Greener Cleaner, a privately-owned wetcleaning demonstration shop in Chicago. Today, Ann Hargrove is a respected wetcleaning consultant and leading voice in the fabricare industry.
When CNT began its wetcleaning research, many shop owners in the drycleaning field were aggressively defensive. The overwhelming majority of shops relied on a chemical solvent that cleans clothes effectively but causes serious environmental and human health concern. A significant challenge to CNT in 1995 and 1996 was to help cleaners see that the search for more cleaning process options was healthy for the industry
A few years earlier, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Design for the Environment Program (EPA DfE) initiated a public/ private partnership with the industry to reduce exposures to the solvent perc. Unlike the EPA regulatory and enforcement arms, Congress mandated DfE to work with stakeholders to find voluntary ways to reduce pollution. This partnership became the foundation for subsequent research.
CNT received funding from EPA DfE, and the support of Greenpeace and key industry leaders to expand upon earlier research. By 1995, CNT completed preliminary work and accepted a challenge to find out if a process called wetcleaning (originally two words) would give cleaners regulatory relief and more environmental efficiency.
Laboratory research on swatches of fabric had been done. But if cleaners were to be persuaded to use emerging technology to reduce or eliminate perc, far more comprehensive research was required. CNT and The Greener Cleaner, a privately-owned 100 percent wetcleaning shop, created a partnership to:
The year-long effort had several components, including testing real customers clothes and comparing results with drycleaning. Ann Hargrove was hired to run the shop, which was owned by Noam Frankel. A full report of this time period is incorporated in the Alternative Clothes Cleaning Demonstration Shop, Final Report.
Take a Closer Look at Wetcleaning
CNT conducted outreach and education as well as research. In 1996, a series of workshops called Take a Closer Look at Wetcleaning were presented in Michigan, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin. This concurrent effort allowed CNT to share its research results as they came about, and to shape tests and questions based on feedback from real cleaners.
The first Wetcleaning Roundtable, held in Chicago, introduced stakeholders to wet-cleaning and CNT's grassroots organizing. The first of two videos was produced to introduce wetcleaning and explain the environmental and social reasons why it is important.
The work during this time period set the stage for later on. In 12 months, over 800 people-cleaning professionals, consumers and government regulators-toured The Greener Cleaner to get a firsthand look at wetcleaning. National and international interest in CNT research and in wetcleaning grew exponentially.
With aggressive outreach to diverse communities, CNT met its objective to provide reliable information in multiple languages. CNT worked with the industry's owners and leaders, who are mostly white males. It also reached out to the broad base of the industry of which more than 30 percent are Korean and about half are women and minorities.
By the beginning of 1997, CNT successfully completed the transfer of wetcleaning technology from Europe. Through The Greener Cleaner, it had introduced professional wetcleaning to hundreds of people.The big question for the industry and stakeholders now evolved from "What is wetcleaning and how is it different from hand laundry?" to "How far can it go, will my customers accept it, and can cleaners use it to reduce or replace perc?"
The final report on The Greener Cleaner said:
During this time, it became clear that the best bet for the future was a combination of wetcleaning and other emerging technologies. The University of California, Los Angeles continued the research where CNT left off. UCLA studied 100 percent wetcleaning at a demonstration shop, Cleaner by Nature. With its research partners at the Korean Youth and Community Center, UCLA also studied the conversion of the Cypress Plaza Cleaners from drycleaning to wetcleaning.
Challenges and questions occurred when some wetcleaning opponents and supporters began issuing misleading marketing claims and sent a confusing message to cleaners. Drycleaning equipment costs tens of thousands of dollars and lasts for maybe decades. Purchasing decisions, therefore, are not made lightly.
CNT's work addressed major issues:
The International Fabricare Institute's Mary Scalco led the effort to develop a wetcleaning certification process. IFI partnered with CNT to certify and set skilled practitioners apart from other members of the field.
Knowledge and skill are keys to pollution prevention in the fabricare industry. The certification exam, given twice every year, ensures that a cleaner has the knowledge of the craft to be a successful professional wetcleaner
CNT is featured in the United Nations Industry and Environment magazine in 1999. The special issue of this international publication focused on environmental management in the service industries.
By this time, CNT's goal is to increase the number of fabricare professionals who reduce their reliance on perc by successfully integrating or switching to wetcleaning and other emerging technologies. All CNT research and education efforts are focused on three key areas: access, quality and awareness.
To reach the goal, CNT: