A Brief History of Dry Cleaning

11 Jul A Brief History of Dry Cleaning

Different variations on the dry cleaning method have been around for ages.

Whether we’re looking toward Europe, Africa or the Arctic, people have been cooking up all sorts of creative methods to clean clothes.

I bet you didn’t know that in the United States, raw white gasoline was used as recently as the early nineties in some dry cleaning facilities?

Or that the first power machinery for dry cleaning was created in Perth, Scotland in 1869?Or, that during World War II, shortages of chlorinated solvents resulted in dry cleaning being conducted with petroleum solvents?

The State Coalition for the Remediation of Drycleaners is an American organization created as a forum to exchange information for dry cleaning professionals. An interesting initiative they undertook back in 2007, was compiling a Chronology of Historical Developments in Dry Cleaning.

Here’s the first section taking us all the back from 1690 through to the beginning of the 1920s (you can check out the full 7-page detailed Chronology here):

It’s no surprise that today in 2014, we’ve got our process down to a science; a science that’s environmentally-friendly and green using contemporary methods. Browns obviously hasn’t been around since 1690 when turpentine was used, but since the late 1950s we’ve been cleaning clothes in the Ottawa area.

Today, we use a dry cleaning process that is completely non-toxic called GreenEarth Cleaning. It uses no hazardous chemicals, and it’s completely safe for the air, water and soil! The process is also hypoallergenic and non-irritating. Clothes dry cleaned with GreenEarth have absolutely no odor. Your clothes are fresh and clean right out of the bag. Plus, it’s dramatically less wear and tear on your garments so you don’t have to worry about any stress to the fabric.

When it comes to dry cleaning, we like to keep it contemporary.