It appears that the incoming dry cleaners at East John Court (15th Ave and E. John Court across from Group Health and Safeway) will be an environmentally friendly dry cleaner.
Contrary to what its name implies, dry cleaning involves washing clothes in a liquid solvent to remove stains. In about 85 percent of dry cleaning shops this solvent is perchloroethylene (or “perc”), a chemical that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers both a health and environmental hazard. (Tree Hugger)
I am very interested in what this business constitutes as “green” and “environmentally friendly”. At least on the surface, it appears that this dry cleaner is different than the standard shops.
I dunno — seems like most of the dry cleaners slap some kind of “Green!” sticker in their windows. We all know being green means smelling like a dirty hippie.
I checked out the dry cleaner next to Victrola this morning and they have “energy star” in their window…not quite the same thing.
there’s a cleaner in chicago called the greener cleaner http://www.greenercleaner.net) that is, in fact, a greener cleaner. it uses a wet-cleaning process doesn’t involve chemicals but is still safe for things that say “dry clean only.” i hope that this place uses the same process – i haven’t used a dry cleaners since we moved away from chicago.
I would like that process. I hand-wash my “dry clean only” clothes because I can’t bear all the chemicals.
Doesn’t appear to be the same thing, but when I lived in NC there was a local dry cleaner that used liquid CO2: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/36/greenclean.html
A 100% toxin-free dry cleaner called Blue Sky will be opening in Seattle in August. It will be the only non-toxic dry cleaner in Seattle. Blue Sky uses CO2 cleaning, which is rated the best method by Consumer Reports. [Disclosure: I work for the PR firm supporting Blue Sky. I’ve learned more than I ever wanted to know about dry cleaning and have been holding off on mine for months, until Blue Sky opens.]
Joe, thanks for the heads-up on Blue Sky. I just checked out their website and it looks great. I called California and they said they don’t have a date yet but the Seattle branch will be at 111 Elliott Ave W. But they offer free pickup/delivery anyhow.
I live a couple of blocks from the new one on Capitol Hill. I found this thread because I was looking for their phone number so I could call and ask them about their process. Still haven’t found the number. Plan to walk by there tomorrow though.