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Solvetex Iv

Benchmark Study

Update september 2014Over the last 2 decades, there have been many technological developments

in the field of alternative cleaning technologies. These developments may be

in the field of new solvents, new or improved machine technology or new or

improved detergents. Today the dry cleaner can choose from siloxane D5, liquid

CO2, professional wetcleaning, dibutoxymethane, iPura siloxane D5, iPura HCS

and other solvents.

This is not without a reason, as the pressure worldwide on the use of

perchloroethylene if the industry is not adopting Best Practices rapidly enough.

At the same time developments of good alternatives for perchloroethylene are

looked for. Wet Cleaning is one of them. Over the last years newly advanced

wet cleaning systems have been introduced.

A study on the cleaning performance of today’s established wet cleaning

systems has been conducted by TKT. The results are presented in this paper

tKt TKT is the Dutch technical knowledge

centre for the textile care industry, for

both the dry cleaning industry and

the laundry industry. TKT initiates and

coordinates technical and sustainable

innovation projects for the Dutch and

the International textile care industry.

TKT is imbedded in international and

networks and has extensive expertise

about technological aspects of cleaning

and washing such as (amongst others)

sustainability of cleaning, alternative

cleaning processes, energy saving,

hygiene of cleaning and washing, life

cycle assessments, environmental

legislation for dry cleaners & laundries,

textile functionalities and their relationship

to washing processes. There are many

ongoing projects about these aspects.

Additionally, practical knowledge is

transferred to the companies in the form

of online educational material, both on

a national and on an international level.

TKT is closely affiliated to the Dutch

national associations FTN (laundry)

and Netex (dry cleaning), as well as

the umbrella association CINET (the

international committee of professional

textile care).

Quality of state of the art Wet Cleaning systems

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In Solvetex IV the cleaning performance, the appearances and finishing ability is evaluated for the Wet cleaning systems/chemical

suppliers: Electrolux/Concord Textile, Miele/Kreussler, Girbau/Seitz and Girbau/Büfa to supply up-to-date information on the state of

the art performance of Wet cleaning to the professional textile cleaning industry.

ConclusionGood cleaning performances are obtained with the Wet cleaning systems evaluated for water soluble stains and limited cleaning

performance for non water soluble stains. Some differences in cleaning performances and stain removal are identified between the

different systems. The jacket of synthetic material can be cleaned and finished with a good result. For the woollen jacket, especially

the fused interlining resulted in wrinkles and bubbles for all Wet cleaning systems evaluated. Extra finishing attention is therefore

required to be able to restore the deformation and deliver high quality finishing performance. Differences between the Wet cleaning

systems are noticed in the amount of bubbles and winkles and the ease to remove them. The shrinkage is limited after the drying and

finishing processes for all Wet cleaning systems. Standard finishing procedure can reduce the deformation of the textiles significantly.

An important difference is the drying procedure and the use as complementary to dry cleaning or as replacement of dry cleaning for

the overall productivity and results. The results will be discussed in more detail in this report.

IntroductionIn the previous Solvetex projects, TKT evaluated the performance of alternative solvents. Beside the developments of solvents other

systems are developing as well. One of the major developments the past years are the Wet cleaning systems. Due to changing

legislation in different countries and the different needs of customers Wet cleaning is more and more applied. Wet cleaning systems are

based on water as solvent in combination with chemicals, reduced mechanical action, specialized equipment and specific programs.

Currently many different Wet cleaning systems are on the market, each with their own combination of equipment, chemicals and

programs. One of the most discussed items is the ability of a Wet cleaning system to replace dry cleaning equipment. This question is

difficult to answer due to the many differences in dry cleaning operations. Nevertheless this project will evaluated four different state

of the art Wet cleaning systems on cleaning performance, appearances like shrinking, greying, looks and finishing ability to present

actual results on Wet cleaning.

MaterialsThe cleaning performance is studied under real life conditions, by means of a number of test articles and sample materials, to

determine the effect on appearance like shrinking, greying and stain removal. The test methods in all the Solvetex projects are the

same and therefore comparable. Three model test swatches of each type will be cleaned every cycle and each cleaning cycle will

be carried out three times to obtain representative results. The load exists of the textile package, the test swatches and additional

standardized textiles to meet the required (optimal) load.

Textile package existing of:• Anewjacketforeachsystem,Plabelled(83%polyester,15%viscose,2%elastaneand100%polyesterlining)

• Anewjacketforeachsystem,Plabelled(100%wool,100%viscoselining)

• Asweatercleanedinsolventbefore,Plabelled,handwashable(100%wool)

Test materials for the assessment:• Modelfabricwithstandardstainsforspotremoval

• Modelfabriccottonandwoolforshrinkage,greyingandroughening

The test materials will be measured to determine the cleaning performance, shrinkage and greying.

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equipment and processesExcept for the Electrolux/Concord system the Wet cleaning systems were used as complementary system to dry cleaning. Based on

the textiles and the soil a choice between Wet cleaning and solvent cleaning was made on the location that used Wet cleaning as

complementary system. The Electrolux/Concord system was used as complete replacement of the solvent system. The equipment

and processes used are concise described.

• Girbau/Seitz:17kgwetcleanmachineat25°C,dosingofdetergentandconditioner,tumbledryingat75°Ctillhumidresult

• Miele/Kreussler:16kgwetcleanmachineat30°C,dosingofdetergentandconditioner, tumbledryingat60°Ctillhumid

result

• Electrolux/ConcordTextile:24kgwetcleanmachineat25°C,dosingofdetergentandconditioner,tumbledryingat40-45°C

fully dry

• Girbau/Büfa:17kgwetcleanmachineat25°C,dosingofdetergent,pHregulatorandconditioner,notumbledryingused

Thetimeofthecleaningprogramsareapproximately20minutesforallwetcleaningsystems.Therearesomedifferencesinequipment

and procedures which can influence the result of the wet cleaning process. The size of the machine of Electrolux/Concord is larger

compared to the other system, which relates to a higher mechanical action. The temperature of Miele/Kreussler is higher, which

can influence the stain removal. The dying procedures range from fully dry to no tumble drying at all. The temperature of the drying

processesvaryfrom40to75°C.Thedryingtimeisdependentonthehumidity.Inpracticenoneofthedryingsystemsusedamoisture

control system (not available or not used) and the end point was determined by hand by the operator.

evaluationTo be able to make a correct comparison of the cleaning performances, the complete cleaning system has been tested, including the

equipment, washer and dryer, the detergents and conditioners used and the settings or programs used. What was excluded from the

test are the pre and after spotting or any other special treatments.

The evaluation will be based on the following criteria:

• Stainremoval(ofthemodelsoilonthemultisoilmonitoringswatches)

• Greyingofcottonandwool(onthetestswatches)

• DeformationorShrinkage(ofthetextilepackageandtestswatches)

• Determinationoffinishingresult(ofthetextilepackage)

The test garment is evaluated after drying and after finishing according a standard finishing procedure. The garments are finished on

a form finisher without ironing to be able to compare the results. After evaluating the results the jackets are finished by ironing and

pressing to achieve a high quality by the same experienced dry cleaner and equipment to be able to identify the required (extra) time.

Cleaning performanceThe cleaning performance has been determined by measuring the stain removal performance of standard stains. The stains have been

subdivided into water soluble and non-water soluble. The current measurements of the Wet cleaning systems are compared to the

results of Perc and HCS from previous Solvetex projects to create a complete overview of the general available cleaning systems. The

resultsarepresentedperstaininfigure1and3andvisuallyasthetotalcleaningperformanceinfigure2and4

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Non water soluble stain removal

Figure1:thecleaningperformances,showingthenon-watersolublestainspercleaningsystemin%removalcomparedtoPerc.

The overall cleaning performance of non water soluble stains does not differ significantly between the tested Wet cleaning systems of

Girbau/Seitz, Miele/Kreussler and Electrolux/Concord, but the cleaning performance of Girbau/Büfa is significantly lower. Some other

specific differences are noticed. The removal of egg yolk is higher for the Electrolux/Concord system, while the removal of Sebum on

wool is higher for the Girbau/Seitz system. As expected the wet cleaning systems have a lower cleaning performance on fat, grease

and oil based stains than the solvents due to the limited interaction between water and this type of stains. The use of detergent

enhances the removal of non-water soluble stains.

Figure 2: relative stain removal compared to Perc for non-water soluble stains.

Water soluble stain removal

Figure3:thecleaningperformancesshownpercleaningsystemin%removalperwatersolublestaincomparedtoMiele/Kreussler

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The stain removal of water soluble stains in Wet cleaning is significant higher than the stain removal of solvents, which is expected

due to the good interaction of the soil with water. This can be beneficial for the removal of stains like odour or sweat. The cleaning

performance of the Girbau/Büfa system on the stains tested is higher overall than the other tested Wet cleaning systems, especially on

coffee and tea stains. The cleaning performance of the Electrolux/Concord is also significant higher than the performance of Girbau/

Seitz and Miele/Kreussler, especially on the blood/milk/ink and blood stain. Overall Girbau/Büfa has better cleaning performance on

tannin stains and Electrolux/Concord on Protein based stains.

Figure4:stainremovalforwatersolublestainsincomparisontoMiele/Kreussler.

The overall cleaning performance of Wet cleaning is good. Depending on the type of stains, water soluble or non water soluble stains,

solvent or Wet cleaning systems may be preferred. The advantage of Wet cleaning systems is the ability to remove water soluble stains

like odours and sweat more easily. On the other hand stains based on oil and fat is more easily removed in most solvent systems.

GreyingThe greying is measuring by the reflection of the light using a Tristimulus Reflection Colorimeter using a green filter. The results after

the test swatches are cleaned and dried three times are presented below.

•Forcotton:6.3forGirbau/Seitz,10forMiele/Kreussler,9,7forElectrolux/Concordand1.6forGirbau/Büfa

•Forwool:6.8forGirbau/Seitz,10.4forMiele/Kreussler,7.2forElectrolux/Concordand1.0forGirbau/Büfa

The greying results do not differ significantly in general, except for the low greying results for the Girbau/Büfa system. Compared to

the results for the solvents Perc and HCS the results are in general comparable for cotton and slightly higher for wool. The results for

thesolventsforcottonare7.4forpercand10.2forHCSandforwooltheresultsforthesolventsare3.7forpercand6.1forHCS.

The results are normal considering the dark load and the white test swatches. No exceptional values are measured.

Drying & FinishingAn important aspect of wet cleaning is the finishing procedure to re-shape the garment. The garments are finished on a form finisher

without ironing to be able to compare the results. The finishing procedures in practice can be different. Only the Electrolux/Concord

system dries the garments till they are fully dry. In the Miele/Kreussler and Girbau/Seitz systems the drying procedure is stopped when

thegarmentsarestillmoistafterapproximately15-20minutes.IntheGirbau/Büfasystemthegarmentisnotdriedatallafterwashing,

but the jackets are dried on the form finisher for a longer time and the test swatches are dried on the air. The normal procedure of

Büfa would be drying on the air before finishing. Hanged drying on the air requires additional space and time. In practice none of the

drying systems used a moisture control system (not available or not used) and the end point was determined by hand by the operator

after15-20minutes.Thetestgarmentisevaluatedafterdryingandafterfinishing(whichisonestepfortheGirbau/Büfasystem).

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Figure5:theresultsafterthe3rdcleaningandfinishingcycleofthe100%wooljacket

The result and ease of the finishing process determines largely the performance and quality of the process. In the TKT project “market

oriented finishing” was determined that personnel cost of finishing is the largest contributor to the cost price of the garment. The easy

of finishing and the quality after the process is therefore very important.

The result of finishing for the synthetic jacket is good for all Wet cleaning systems, although some differences in wrinkling was noticed

between the different systems. Wrinkling may require extra attention when finishing but can be removed relatively easy. The synthetic

jacket also showed good dimensional stability of the outer layer, the interlining fabric or canvas and the lining when cleaned, dried

and finished in a Wet cleaning system.

The results after finishing of the wool jacket showed more deviation between the evaluated Wet cleaning systems. Especially the fused

interlining fabric causes wrinkling and bubbles in more or less extend, depending on the used system. All jackets show wrinkles and

bubbles behind the lapels, although to varying extent. Ironing attention is needed to reduce this effect. Also the connection of the

arms to the body is subject to wrinkling and deformation. The overall result for this jacket is that wrinkling and bubbles are noticed

in all cases, in less extent for Electrolux/Concord and Girbau/Büfa followed by Miele/Kreussler and in more extent for Girbau/Seitz.

Finishing timeWet cleaning is considered as a total system including cleaning, drying and finishing. The jackets are finished after the drying

sequenceonaformfinisherforevaluationforapproximately1minutefortheGirbau/Seitz,Miele/KreusslerandElectrolux/Concord

systemandforapproximately3minutesfortheGirbau/Büfasystemtodrythegarmentsaswell.ThenormalprocedureofBüfawould

be drying on the air before finishing. The results showed that extra attention for finishing is required to be able to deliver high quality

garments. The finishing time of pressing and ironing the jackets is determined after the results of the form finisher were evaluated.

The determination of the (extra) required finishing time was performed by a skilled employee, performing the finishing for all the test

materials. The finishing sequence applied is first finishing on a form finisher, followed by pressing and additionally ironing by hand.

Theresultoftherequiredtimeisdisplayedinfigure6.

Figure6:theextratimerequiredtoachievehighqualityfinishingresult

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Theextrafinishingofthesyntheticjacketrequires3minutestimetoachieveahighqualityresult.Thewoollenjacketsrequireadditional

finishing time mainly caused by the bubbles and wrinkling on the jackets. For the Girbau/Seitz, Miele/Kreussler and Girbau/Büfa

systemthisrequires2moreextraminutesandfortheElectrolux/Concordsystem1moreextraminute.Intheeaseoffinishingthisis

considered a significant difference.

Deformation and shrinkageThe textiles cleaned in the wet cleaning systems are sensitive to water. Especially the wool items can be sensitive to deformation or

shrinkage. The test jackets are measured before the test, after the drying steps and after the finishing steps. The lengths of the arms

aremeasure(figure7)andthelengthandwidthofthebackismeasured(figure8)todeterminedeformation.

Figure7:thedeformationofthejacketsarmsmeasuredafterdryingandafterfinishing

Thedeformationorshrinkageofthearmsofthewoollenjacketislimited,between0.6and1.5%afterfinishing,andforthesynthetic

jacketsbetween0.3and1.7%after finishing.BecauseGirbau/Büfadidnotdry the jacketsaftercleaning,nodifferencebetween

drying and finishing is noticed. Electrolux/Concord did fully dry the jackets before finishing. It is noticed that the finishing process of

Figure8:thedeformationofthejacketsbackmeasuredafterdryingandafterfinishing

Electrolux/Concord reduced the deformation significantly, which is considered a vital step in this Wet cleaning process.

Thedeformationorshrinkageofthebackofthewoollenjacketsiswithin0.1%-1.2%forallWetcleaningsystemsafterfinishing,

whichisacceptable.Thedeformationorshrinkageofthebackofthesyntheticjacketsiswithin0.1%-1.0%afterfinishing.Because

Girbau/Büfa did not dry the jackets after cleaning, no difference between drying and finishing is noticed this resulted in a very low

shrinkage of the back. Electrolux/Concord did fully dry the jackets before finishing. It is noticed that the finishing process of Electrolux/

Concord reduced the deformation of the woollen jacket significantly, which is considered a vital step in this wet cleaning process. The

deformation of the woollen sweater has a wider range, but this could be easily restored by extra attention during finishing.

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Figure9and10:theshrinkageofthetestfabricsafter1,2,and3cleaningcycles,finishedandunfinished

Theshrinkageisalsomeasuredbythetestswatchesofwoolandcotton.Theshrinkageofcottonisbetween2.3and3.4%after

the cleaning and drying (if applied) cycles. The shrinkage increases only slightly after more cleaning cycles and not for every cycle.

Finishing of the test swatches on an ironing board by blowing steam reduces the shrinkage in all cases. After the first cleaning and

finishingcyclethecottonswatchesshowshrinkageofbelow2%withnotmuchdeviationbetweenthedifferentWetcleaningsystems.

The shrinkage of the wool test swatches increases rapidly after every cleaning cycle. Only for the Girbau/Büfa system is the shrinkage

relative stable. This system does not apply tumble drying instead of the other systems. The shrinkage of wool is reduced significantly

after finishing on an ironing board by blowing steam. The shrinkage after the first cleaning and finishing cycle is low for the Girbau/

Seitzsystemandcomparablefortheothersystem,around1.5%.Rougheningofthewoollentestswatchesisnoticedafterthewet

cleaning cycles for all systems except for the Girbau/Büfa system, probably because no tumble drying was applied.

General remarksThe results of the experiments are valid for the test materials used. The use of other textile materials or quality can result in different

behaviour and results. Except for the Electrolux/Concord system the Wet cleaning systems were used as complementary system to

dry cleaning. The Electrolux/Concord system was used as complete replacement of the solvent system. Based on the textiles and the

soil a choice between Wet cleaning and solvent cleaning was made on the location that used Wet cleaning as complementary system.

All the shops have extensive experience, knowledge and skills of textile materials, stains and the processes. One of the most positive

experienced benefits by the customers is the neutral or pleasant smell of the garments after cleaning.

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