The Sunnyvale Sun
News
Dry cleaners moving to cleaner cleaning options
By Cody Kraatz
Over the next 15 years, the state will require dry cleaners to innovate and evolve toward healthier and more environmentally friendly chemicals.
Many in the Bay Area and some of those contacted in Cupertino and Sunnyvale have already made the switch, either trying to get ahead of the curve or convinced of the health hazards of perchloroethylene, which the California Air Resources Board will ban by 2023.
A very common dry cleaning chemical also called "perc" or PCE, it has long been considered the most effective way of cleaning sensitive garments but is also an identified toxin and is believed to cause cancer.
The phase-out began on Jan. 1 with a ban on new perc machine sales. By July 1, 2010, dry cleaners in the Bay Area that are located next to residences will have to move.
Additionally, perc machines must be removed once they become 15 years or older, resulting in the outright ban by 2023.
"There are other viable alternatives to perchloroethylene that work just as well," said Gennet Paauwe, an ARB spokeswoman, pointing out examples of other industries where technology has evolved to produce more environmentally friendly options.
"We're protecting public health by putting this into place," she said, referring not only to people who live or work near dry cleaners but also those who work at them.
The perc issue is even more pressing in Sunnyvale, where three dry cleaners polluted the downtown groundwater with perc more than 30 years ago.
The city and developer will jointly pay to clean it up, with costs increasingly falling on the city, which recently launched an initial interim cleanup plan that is estimated to cost $1 million.
As regulation has increased over the years, many of the predominantly family-owned dry cleaners in the Bay Area have switched over, said Karen Schkolnick, a spokeswoman for the nine-county Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
There are still 600 perc dry cleaners in the nine-county district, while 300 have switched to petroleum-based hydrocarbon solvents, she said, chalking the change up to increased awareness.
Other options include "wet cleaning" (water-based washing), GreenEarth's liquid silicone fluid and carbon dioxide systems.
CO2 is relatively rare in the Bay Area, in part because it could be as much as double the cost of a hydrocarbon machine and operates under extremely high pressures, said Schkolnick. Hydrocarbons were highly flammable many years ago, but those sold today have much higher flash points.
The switch
Certainly, some dry cleaners will hold out until they have to switch, particularly because some of the new machines are quite pricey.
"It's going to be a burden," said John Wong, who owns two dry cleaners, Swift Cleaner at 1628 S. De Anza Blvd. in West San Jose and EcoCleaners at 251 S. Mary Ave. in Sunnyvale.
He bought EcoCleaners in July 2007 already equipped with tandem 80-pound-capacity hydrocarbon machines, but is not ready to invest in new machines at Swift Cleaner until he needs replacements.
"You try to use it as much as you can, but at a point you say, 'OK, a new one will get me more [efficiency].' "
He is considering hydrocarbon, GreenEarth, wet cleaning and liquid CO2 as options.
Others have jumped on board enthusiastically when their machines approached the age when they would have to be retired anyway.
"Why do I want to wash other people's clothes with a harmful chemical?" said Kathy Sun, a Sunnyvale resident and owner of McClellan Square Cleaners at 10477 S. De Anza Blvd. in Cupertino.
At the end of November 2007 she bought and installed a huge Rynex machine with a 40-pound capacity for $60,000, tearing out her storefront to make the switch. She uses DF-2000, a petroleum-based cleaning solvent, but could switch to others if she wanted.
Now in her eighth year as a dry cleaner, she said she is also glad to be rid of the increasingly burdensome BAAQMD's permit fees and paperwork.
Despite wariness on the part of other dry cleaners, Matthias and Kati Heilmann bought a CO2 machine in November 2007 and opened Aqua Cleaners in Los Altos, also offering a wet cleaning service.
"To be honest it's not a new technology in Europe," said Matthias, adding that they paid more than $160,000 for the machine and don't expect prices to come down quickly.
"It's not proven yet in the market...and it's really dangerous to use," said Yon Jung, owner of Dry Clean ABC at 641 S. Bernardo Avenue in Sunnyvale, who instead bought a $50,000 40-pound-capacity machine in November 2007 and pays $2,500 per year to use GreenEarth's solvent.
The higher cost of non-perc machines does not necessarily translate into higher prices for the customer.
Wong charges only $2.50 for most garments, saying he earns his profits on high volume and labor efficiency.
Sun and Jung charge more than double his prices, but they say that their customers keep coming back because they appreciate the quality of service.
They say they have not had to raise their prices to cover the investment in new machines. The dry cleaners the Sun talked with said they earn roughly 15 percent to 30 percent profit margins on dry cleaning, offering cheap laundry service as a loss-leader to attract customers.
Awareness
But there are costs external to the profit-focused business plan, especially if perc turns out to be as dangerous in the long run as regulators believe.
Landlords are becoming increasingly circumspect with regard to tenants that use toxic chemicals because they worry about soil and water contamination, said Jung. The anticipated costs to clean up Sunnyvale's downtown, which could rise steeply in the future, could serve as a deterrent.
However, many customers may be ignorant of the dangers of perc and may not even know what solvent their dry cleaner uses, said Jung.
"I don't really worry about chemicals," said Tara DiCairano, a Sunnyvale resident who was picking up her dry cleaning at EcoCleaners. Her priorities are convenience and affordability, and she was surprised to hear that perc was considered dangerous but is widely used.
"I didn't have any idea."