By Ed Finkel

In the closing days of the Biden Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued rules banning all uses of trichloroethylene (TCE), as well as all consumer uses and many commercial uses of perchloroethylene (PCE), labeling these as cancer-causing chemicals under the 2016 bipartisan Toxic Substances Control Act.

The decision intersects with decades-old work to make commercial clothes-cleaning operations more environmentally sustainable and less harmful to human health by reducing if not eliminating the use of chemicals like PCE, typically present in dry cleaning operations.

Over the next 10 years, PCE will be phased out in dry-cleaning settings to remove the risk for people who work or otherwise spend significant time in these facilities, under the EPA’s rule. Newly acquired machines will no longer be able to use PCE after six months, while existing machines will have to be mothballed at varying intervals, starting with the oldest models.

A focus since the 1990s

Perchloroethylene became a focus of Center for Neighborhood Technology’s work more than 30 years ago. Staff at Greenpeace asked us to verify claims that “wet cleaning”—a process involving hand work, washing machines, cold water, hair-care soaps and expert finishing—could be used on supposedly “dry clean only” fabrics.

Center for Neighborhood Technology then-Senior Engineer Bill Eyring, who retired in 2012, recalls the research as a bit of a one-off alongside his other work on green stormwater infrastructure initiatives, for example designing rain gardens and bioswales for South Side schools and churches.

“I was sitting in the office and Scott called me into his office and there was a scientist from Greenpeace with him. He told us that one of their people in London had discovered a man handing out literature about their company that cleaned fine clothing without the use of hazardous chemicals.”

To help Greenpeace evaluate whether they could recommend this approach for use in the United States, Eyring traveled to London to see the process in action at the business of Richard Simon—a third-generation self-styled cleaner to the aristocracy. Eyring toted along several dozen “dry clean only” fabrics that were stained with food, grease and other products.

Simon came to Chicago to work with a local  entrepreneur who was interested in the business, Eyring says, and in 1995 a business had been started: “Within not many months, a location on Broadway was procured, Ann Hargrove, a wonderful very experienced dry cleaner manager, was hired, and The Greener Cleaner was born….  In a very short period of time, The Greener Cleaner was a successful showpiece and other shops began to join them.” 

With support from the Environmental Protection Agency, longtime CNTer Jo Patton evaluated the performance and commercial viability of wet cleaning, collecting data from two shops that relied on both water and traditional dry-cleaning solvents—laying the groundwork for commercial viability of the approach alongside growing understanding of the health impacts from chemicals like perc.

Ownership has changed several times at the Greener Cleaner over the years and as the chain celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, it’s no longer alone: the National Cleaners Association estimates that about 300 “wet clean only” cleaners now operate in the U.S., while most dry cleaning outlets wet clean between 30% and 50% of their customers’ clothing.

The business can still boast of being one of fewer than 1% of cleaners in Illinois using zero petrochemicals—although hopefully they will have more company in the wake of the EPA rule—as well as owning their plant, while most “dry cleaners near me” are actually middlemen that send customers’ clothes out to the lowest bidder.

“Great local cleaner that doesn’t use harmful chemicals in the cleaning process,” wrote customer Mark Erspamer in a review posted in December 2022. “Amazing customer service and have taken all my cleaning and alteration needs here for years. Highly recommend!”

Ed Finkel is a free-lance writer and former managing editor of The Neighborhood Works, the magazine we published from 1979 to 1998. Reach him at edfinkel.com.