Channel NewsAsia 10 Jun 08;
SINGAPORE: Dry cleaning clothes is touted to be gentler on delicate fabrics. But a local company is now offering another greener alternative called wet cleaning which uses less water and electricity.
It has even received a grant of S$11,000 from the National Environment Agency to develop its technique.
Four years ago, Mr Balraj Gopalkrishnan heard about wet cleaning from his friend. Since then, he has been paying S$7 to wet-clean a jacket. But he also continues to use the dry cleaning option.
He said: "With wet cleaning, you get your clothes a little more cleaner. But when I want to have more delicate material clothes washed, I usually use dry cleaning."
The washing machine that uses the wet cleaning technology takes only 15 minutes to complete the wash. And for the dry cleaning option, it takes about 45 minutes.
Besides consuming less electricity, the wet cleaning technology also uses less water. Chemicals used are also vegetable-based.
And the wet cleaners said they spent a few months to develop the wet cleaning technique as they had to understand how various fabrics react to different wet cleaning chemicals.
Now that they've developed the technique, the company hopes that more laundry shops can adopt this greener option especially as the cost of a wet cleaning machine is about S$10,000 compared to S$50,000 for a dry cleaning machine. - CNA/vm
