What is this new solvent we keep hearing about? Isoparaffin? Hydrocarbon? Petroleum? Stoddard? 140F? Gas? I guess it depends on when you entered into the industry. This “new” solvent was the very beginning of the drycleaning industry, as we know it. It comes from the ground as crude oil; it is then refined and cleaned up. As time progresses, it keeps getting cleaner and cleaner.
If you have only been in the business for sixty years, it is possible that you have never seen, nor worn clothes that have been cleaned in a petroleum solvent. If that is the case then you have truly missed something. If your landlord has refused to renew your lease; the bank has refused to loan you money or your customers complain about the “toxic” solvent you use then maybe you need to take a look at the facts of this “new” solvent.
Is a high flash point solvent the same as Stoddard solvent and hydrocarbon solvent? Yeah, pretty much. The high flash point solvent has some of the properties removed and/or changed that makes it different that a regular Stoddard solvent. It has had a known carcinogen removed (benzene), some odorous compounds removed and the flash point raised to above legal limits, notably 147 degrees F.
Today we have a tried and proved solvent for the commercial cleaning of textiles that began evolving over 100 years ago. When we first started using hydrocarbon (petroleum) solvent it was smelly and greasy and didn’t really do a good job by itself, but then again it was better than the alternative which was either washing with water and lye soap or simply re-dying the non-washable garments. That is where the name “Cleaners & Dyers” came from. The older solvents of this family were generally called petroleum solvents. I suppose today we tend to use a more politically correct name and call it “Hydrocarbon” solvent.
Hydrocarbon solvent has evolved from the first crude, highly flammable, slow-drying solvent to a faster drying solvent that isn’t nearly as odorous. The latest generation of hydrocarbon solvent is now odorless and has a higher flash point to satisfy most every fire authority, of every community, when coupled with the latest in technology for the machines in which it was designed.
With the rules and regulations surrounding perchloroethylene, many cleaners are finding that it is easier to change solvents and remove themselves from the regulatory and liability issues of perc. Unfortunately, hydrocarbon solvents are not as forgiving of sloppy and inept cleaning procedures as is perc. In order to maintain a clean and odor free hydrocarbon cleaning solvent, different solvent maintenance procedures must be followed.
The cleaning of textiles can be carried out with many different and diverse solvents because they are simply that…solvents. Solvents have a simple job and that is to dissolve things or stuff. Solvents also carry the actual cleaning agents that do the majority of penetrating, lubricating and suspension of insoluble soils in textiles. The detergent used with the solvent actually incorporates moisture that will aid in removing the water-soluble soils such as perspiration, food and other water based soil, spots or stains. Drycleaning solvents will also act upon oils and greases to help remove them from textiles or garments by dissolving them or reducing the concentrations of oils and greases.
The above is a description of solvents and a little of how they work. When using them as cleaning agents they must be carefully maintained in order to remove soils and not impart other bad characteristics back into the textile or garments. The maintenance of the solvents is to keep them clean and free from oils and greases, fabric dyes that have been loosened in the cleaning process, free of odors and keeping moisture to a minimum is the solvent.
There are currently two high flash point hydrocarbon solvents on the market today and both are readily available to textile cleaners. Exxon Chemical Company developed DF-2000 and the second one is available from the Chevron-Phillips Company. They are virtually identical solvents since they both have been manufactured to have almost no solvent odor and have a flash point near 147 degrees (F) and to remove the benzene.
Rules and regulations for using hydrocarbon solvents vary around the country depending upon the prevailing fire authority. Unfortunately, there is no one standard fire code but several, sometimes of different dates and the fire authorities have the option to pick and choose which ones they want to enforce in their jurisdiction. Some refuse to accept the solvent that exceeds the 140-degree flash point that was used to restrict the use of low flash point solvents for textile cleaning. Some readily accept it as a non-hazardous cleaning fluid.
Some authorities endorse the safety controls built into the class IIIA machines while others want even additional equipment changes and controls. Some of the safety features for hydrocarbon machines consist of strict temperature control with constant sampling of solvent vapors within the cleaning machine and others contain a possible explosive vapor with a vacuum to reduce the oxygen content while others may rely upon injecting nitrogen, an inert gas, into the drying cylinder.
One local fire authority said he welcomed the hydrocarbon machines because their people knew how to fight fires but they were also aware of the hazardous fumes that perc can generate when it is in a fire. He said he trusted the hazards fires more so than the hazards of chemicals.
The high flash point hydrocarbon solvents have been in use for approximately 15 years in the US and are gaining wider acceptance because of the reduced environmental regulations and paperwork that goes along with them. Cleaners in some areas are eliminating their hazardous waste costs due to the much-lowered risk when compared to perc.
Common Misconceptions Regarding Hydrocarbon Solvent
1. You can have a short wash cycle and still get clothes clean.
2. You do not have to remove contaminants from petroleum solvent.
3. Anything can be cleaned in petroleum solvent.
4. It will produce horrible odors in your clothes.
5. It will explode and is easy to catch fire.
6. It can only be used in stand-alone buildings with fire doors and sprinkler systems.
7. It cannot be used with spin disk filters.
8. It takes a genius to clean with it.
9. It always leaves that “drycleaning smell.”