The continuously expanding market witnesses an increase in the number and types of products that guarantee greater environmental protection resulting from lower temperatures and less polluting solvents. Other advantages derive from cautious choices: longer durability of garments and a rise in competitiveness due to standard regulations. All this is possible as long as businesses possess suitable machines to face the changes. This new and widespread awareness led to some interesting developments also in the use of Perchloroethylene in dry-cleaning
“Chemistry at the laundries in XXI century? It is at the center of a great revolution. However, we will need to fight for it” says Andrea Perata, the Division Manager for Italy at Ecolab. He explains: “The key point here concerns laundries that request for innovation at the same price. We need to spread a lot of information as far as this field goes, e.g. on textile durability which is one of the most important topics. If a laundry chooses to go towards innovation by investing in new machines and new chemical products, it will be able to treat textiles in a more expert way: not only from the point of view of environmental sustainability but also considering textile durability”.
“If I am able to supply a restaurant – Perata continues – with cloth napkins that can be used 120 times on average instead of 80 times, I am significantly more competitive. So, spending 30% more on purchasing solvents and detergents of this type results in a final, sharp increase in business”.
Research, relations, information. As we can tell from this first intervention, there are three key words that take us to discovering what type of chemistry will guide the future at the beginning of XXI century. Routine products supplies are definitely over now. Nowadays, the environmental factor and sustainability on the one hand – ignored until the day before yesterday – and the continuous, often radical changes in textile care business on the other, triggers the launderers to always process new requests for the suppliers of detergents and solvents. This contributes to exchanging ideas and interactions. This way, companies can actually obtain certifications without which they would not be able to participate in numerous tenders.
Two regulations are guiding the changes: REACH that entered the chemical panorama in 2007 and the European Regulation on Detergents from 2004. “Both promote the use of less polluting components, clear labelling and information on detergents and the research on new solutions”. We learn that from Christeyns Italia, a manufacturer of chemical products for laundries based in Pessano con Bornago, Milan area. “At Christeyns – the communication says – the regulations have strongly influenced the way we do business, to the point that our approach towards “green” chemistry goes beyond the standards. We help clients decrease the environmental impact. Once they become aware of that, it is the clients themselves who stimulate our research simply because they are constantly looking for systems able to reach high levels of energy and water saving”.
“As far as environmental sustainability goes, we should not forget about the supply chain – Christeyns’s communication reads – as it is necessary to be able to supply products in tank trucks or packaging that can be recycled in order to reduce the plastic pollution. Looking at the future, it is reasonable to think that producers and users will undergo an increasing pressure to improve their work practices so that the operative costs can actually be reduced dramatically”.
“Chemical production has been characterized by two main phenomena: a strong slowdown of dry-cleaning and a constant rise of wet cleaning” starts Marco Vaccari who owns Surfchimica based in Milan together with his business partner, Roberto Castelli. He continues: “The decrease in dry-cleaning led to greater attention to the production of machines using PERC, that is still dominant in this sector. Today, the available PERC machines are safer and less polluting than they used to be. This observation takes us to underline a fundamental principle: whatever chemical products one wants to use either in wet or dry cleaning, they need to be equipped with suitable machines in order to do that. Otherwise, the word “progress” makes no sense”.
“As far as wet cleaning goes, – Vaccari concludes – we need to rely on continuous research following the constant changes in the clothing sector where fabrics often co-exist with synthetic materials, and garments contain various decorations, from metal pieces to leather”.
“We can say that the chemistry for the laundries of XXI century is quite dynamic and varied” adds Moreno Torre, the Sales Director of Biar, a manufacturer of chemical products. He explains: “Let us consider time as a crucial factor in a washing cycle: if we choose products with enzymes, we obtain great results at low temperatures through the relative use of mechanical means, as long as we give the enzymes time to eliminate the soil. If, however, we do not have the necessary amount of time to do so, we need to opt for surfactants that are faster but need higher energy consumption”.
“Whereas in dry-cleaning – Torre continues – PERC is still dominant but it obviously competes with hydrocarbon products that are constantly evolving. It is true that the current PERC machines are safer for both the operators and the environment. Yet, the remaining drawback concerns the distillation sludge that is toxic. Some serious research is also being carried out in the field of oxygen use. It can be used at very low temperatures, already at 28 degrees.”.
Another supplier of chemical products to laundries is Montega based near Rimini. Stenilio Morazzini, the CEO of Montega says: “The key factor is the relationship a business establishes with the clients. It is clients who inform on the news in terms of textiles, fabrics, synthetics fibers and materials”. “Consequently, –Morazzini continues – I need to establish a partnership with the client in order to, e.g. test dosing systems. It is crucial to understand not only what but how much of that product is to be used. The information is extremely important also to me, the supplier. Therefore, we have been working with dosing devices loaned for use. They can be remotely managed by us as well”.
Clearly, as far as dry-cleaning is concerned in the beginning of our XXI century, Perchloroethylene is still the most widely used dry cleaning solvent in the world. Olin Corporation, an American giant of world chemistry confirms the above after having purchased The Dow Chemical Company’s Global Chlorinated Organics business in 2015. Olin’s Chlorinated Organics business manufactures the DOWPER™ Solvent, a high purity grade of perchloroethylene, specially stabilized for use in dry cleaning, and exports it all over the world. Perchloroethylene (PER) dry cleaning machine technology – Olin’s communication reads – has greatly improved over the past decades. PER has been well-studied and its risks have been assessed under the European legislation on the safe and environmental use of chemicals (REACH).
Olin’s communication says: “Today worker exposure is much better controlled due to modern cleaning machine technology, which captures and recycles solvent emissions. These efficient machines also greatly reduce the amount of PER needed for cleaning – less than 10g of solvent per kg of garments. Repeated recycling of the solvent means less solvent use and less waste generated”.
From whatever angle we look at it, the chemistry of XXI century brings good news to laundries.
Stefano Ferrio
Detergo Magazine – May 2018
