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Why Tide Cleaners Doesn’t Use Perchloroethylene

DRY CLEANING

At Tide Cleaners, we care about the folks who clean your clothes just as much as we care about you.

That’s a primary reason why we don’t use perchloroethylene, a dry-cleaning chemical that’s also detrimental for health.

The Dangers of Perchloroethylene in Dry Cleaning

Perchloroethylene, known casually as perc, is an extremely potent dry-cleaning solvent because it dissolves grease and grime without affecting fabrics. According to federal officials, it’s the most commonly used chemical among dry cleaners and as of 2016, was still used by 28,000 dry cleaners in the United States.

But that comes at a price. If perc is not correctly controlled and is breathed in or spilled on the skin, it can cause severe health problems for those who spend a lot of time around it. Not to mention it’s also bad for the environment and can get into soil or water if not disposed of properly.

The chemical may cause dizziness, redness, blisters, loss of coordination and mild memory and reaction-time loss. Not all studies agree, but the Environmental Protection Agency and International Agency for Research on Cancer have labeled perc as a probable carcinogen.

You’re probably not exposing yourself to health risks by wearing clothes that were treated by perc. But the chemical puts workers and a dry cleaner’s surrounding environment at risk, such as the residential building it might be housed in.

Eco-friendly Dry Cleaning Alternatives

While OSHA regulates how much workers can be exposed to perc, Tide Cleaners aims for green solutions where we can.

One of the alternative methods we use is GreenEarth’s silicon-based dry cleaning which is nearly identical to perc in dry cleaning performance without being toxic on people and the environment.

So when you leave your clothes in one of our lockers, we pick them up with a plan to bring them back in mint condition, without risking the things that matter to us most.