Technology advances in the drycleaning market over the past 10 years have not only improved processing performance but have secured the future of drycleaning.

Manufacturers and users of perchlorethylene equipment have demonstrated that perc can be used safely in both health and environmental terms. Hydrocarbon technology has evolved to give an alternative to perc, and other cleaning methods continue to be developed.

The importance to the sector of having alternative technologies at its disposal cannot be over-emphasised, a one-solvent industry has a precarious future, vulnerable to a legislative knockout blow.

Some regulation, of course, has proved to be beneficial. Mike Palin, technical director of the Textile Services Association, says it is ironic that prospects for retail drycleaning were improved by the solvents emissions directive and the Montreal Protocol. Machine developments and technology changes these regulations brought about have given the industry a sense of security that was lacking ten years ago.

Through the process of evaluating cleaning systems and solvents, there has been increased awareness that perc is, in many ways, an ideal chemical for cleaning clothes, he says. Indeed, perc is now seen as a yardstick for new cleaning methods.

“The industry and the regulators have grown up in the way they approach the problem,” Mr Palin states. “They have a more mature, less emotional outlook now.”

An area of technology advancement for the future, Mr Palin considers, would be the handling of information by machines. A garment “label” could contain a coded, machine-readable message ensuring correct processing in an “intelligent” drycleaning system.

Process parameters

Chris Tebbs, managing director of the Fabric Care Research Association, also believes information technology could have a major impact. Perhaps the industry could progress to a drycleaning machine able to automatically check how items being placed into its drum should be cleaned and then adjust its processing parameters so that the most delicate or difficult item in the batch is processed without damage, he suggests.

Furthermore, information technology could be employed for building garment histories, showing how often they had been cleaned.

Mr Tebbs says easier fine-tuning of cleaning programs through the computer control would be welcomed. Further development with still rake-out automation, and with technology for dealing with contact water, would probably be worthwhile.

Martin Gregson, group technical director of Johnson Cleaners (UK), maintains the most significant drycleaning machine advances over the past five years have been those concerned with improving the reliability and safety of equipment.

Like cars, drycleaning machines have improved thanks to attention to detail. With drycleaning machines, additional interlocks, and the fitting of solvent catchment trays as standard, have been important moves forward.

Mr Gregson considers that even more effective solvent recovery systems will result in gradual reductions in drying times. While shortening the whole cycle time by making improvements in drying technology is desirable, reducing the “wash” time has to be guarded against if cleaning standards are to be maintained.

Hydrocarbon technology has gained a foothold, offering an alternative cleaning method to perc. Hydrocarbon certainly works from technical and economic points of view, he says. As far as liquid carbon dioxide and other, branded, alternative processes are concerned, he takes a wait-and-see attitude.

Martyn Lewis, managing director of Lewis & Wayne, and vice president of the Textile Services Association, maintains that hydrocarbon technology has its place, extending the range of classifications that can be processed, but as it is not as effective as a cleaning medium as perchlorethylene, it cannot be viewed as a true alternative to perc.

However, he believes, hydrocarbon would be perc’s successor if the use of perc was ruled out by legislation.

Machine advances liked by Mr Lewis include self-cleaning systems, a reduction in the need to handle solvent manually, automatic dosing, easy machine operation and maintenance, computerised diagnostics, and heat pump efficiency for drying. He would like to see introduced a more efficient way of removing dyestuffs from solvent in the event of a colour bleed, a sight glass on the front of the machine so that solvent clarity could be checked at a glance and also some form of mechanical device that could hang work up after the processing cycle.

Low temperature

Improvements in drycleaning machine technology have reduced the level of skill required by the operator, points out Mr Lewis. Against this possibly negative aspect, he wonders how feasible it would now be to find operators with higher levels of skills.

There have been many widely welcomed improvements in perc machine solvent cooling, allowing cleaners to have greater confidence when processing more delicate classifications. Confidence is further enhanced with lower temperature drying.

Acknowledged as assisting with perc machine performance is the type of system that cools solvent before it enters the cage, allowing the cleaning medium to be kept at the correct temperature throughout the working day.

Through computerised management, the solvent in the cage is maintained at the correct temperature throughout the whole cleaning phase.

Another advance is the compactness now achieved with drycleaning machines. A highly productive 20kg load machine can, for example, have a remarkably small footprint. Incorporated into the short cycle machine can be solvent chiller, solvent recovery unit, and automatic still-residue pump out. Increasingly welcomed is the way in which this type of advanced machine consistently achieves an extremely low solvent ppm level in the cage at the conclusion of the deodorisation phase.

More and more frequently seen over the past decade has been heat-transfer technology that dramatically reduces the running costs of perc machines.

Hydrocarbon

Some observers point to how the technical excellence of the new wave of hydrocarbon machines has been well noted, and now that the price of these has been reduced, more are being seen in the high street.

Attractions of hydrocarbon technology are a high degree of processing flexibility and the ability to clean a wide range of classifications without too much risk of a garment calamity. It is being found that most drycleaners used to a perc machine can adapt quite easily to using hydrocarbon technology. This is especially so if the cleaners have been using pre-spotting methods.

Add on value

With so many drycleaning shops competing for business, difficulties experienced in attracting more customers through the door of a unit are considerable. It is essential, therefore, to maximise the spend and profitability of each customer visit. Extra services play a vital part in this, and one of these services is the provision of special treatments for fabrics.

A spray system for the drycleaning machine can enable special treatments to be used effectively and efficiently. The charge for an item, if it is given a stain and soil protective treatment, can be increased by about £1.80 which is extremely worthwhile.

The operator is not faced with any extra work, as the spray action is regulated by the machine’s computer control. Essential with the provision of such a service is the selling of it at the counter. If this is done well, some 40% of customers will, after a while, request the treatment.