National Clothesline

The last time the Clean Show rolled into Orlando was six years ago. At the time, almost 20,000 people attended, which was actually a drop from the Clean ’97 figures in Las Vegas. However, the number of exhibiting companies had increased, totalling over 600 altogether taking up an impressive 281,050 sq. ft. of space.

Whatever the numbers, Clean ’99 still proved indispensable to attendees because many troublesome issues concerned cleaners at the time. Confusing care labels were a hot topic of conversation. Trade publications closely chronicled the ongoing status of the Barton bill and many plant owners wondered what role alternative solvents would play in the future. Meanwhile, Procter & Gamble had just launched its new product, Dryel, with ads that ominously claimed: “Suddenly ‘Dry Clean Only’… Isn’t.”

Of course, many similar problems plague the industry today. Regulatory battles are not about to go away. Cleaners in California and New York can certainly attest to that. Alternative solvents are still carving their way deeper into the marketplace as the future remains unclear for every solvent. Oh, and care labels can still be quite confusing at times.

On the bright side, Dryel didn’t herald the end of “Dry Clean Only” garments being sent to the cleaners. In fact, Dryel didn’t seem to do much of anything except inspire some other so-called “home drycleaning” products to claw for a few drycleaning dollars. Add casual dress trends into the mix and many plant owners have seen their bottom lines get weighed down.

Now, some believe the industry is about to rebound. Regardless if that’s true, most cleaners can agree that the past six years have been extremely difficult, which is precisely why the Clean Show is needed once again. It makes an appearance only every two years, but that belies the fact that it is always the industry’s single most important event. It is a time when cleaners can see the best equipment that manufacturers have to offer and hear the best advice that the trade associations and experts have to give. It is a time when cleaners put aside questions and doubts in order to replace them with solutions and hope.

Yet, many cleaners still believe they cannot afford the trip to Orlando this year. Those cleaners are unaware of the Clean Show’s true worth. Every resource and tool the industry has to offer will be in one place. Everything you could possibly want or need will be easily accessible for four whole days. Can anybody really afford to miss such an opportunity?

Thanks to solid work by the industry’s trade associations and the good sense of EPA, drycleaners will be spared the heavy burden of Title V permits under the Clean Air Act. Title V has been a time bomb contained in the clean-air regulations that, fortunately, has now been disarmed. Many cleaners may not even be aware of its existence. The industry had been spared under a temporary exemption that ran out last December. Now EPA says it wants to make the exemption permanent.

Here’s what you will be exempted from: onerous compliance requirements and huge permit fees. In North Carolina, for example, the initial Title V permit costs $8,500 and renewals are $6,000. And that’s after you jump through all the hoops to qualify for the permit. North Carolina is not the worst case; it’s just one example.

For most cleaners, those fees would be a significant hit to the bottom line, and that’s something that EPA recognized (thanks to our trade associations for making sure it was understood) in deciding in favor of an exemption. Also in the industry’s favor, and noted by EPA, was the generally good compliance with clean-air regulations, thus making additional regulations unlikely to improve matters. Current regulations and compliance programs in place should be sufficient, EPA said. In this case, even the regulators don’t want more regulations!

This good news is something that trade association members should keep in mind when that renewal notice comes in. A few hundred dollars for a membership renewal sure beats several thousand dollars for a government permit renewal. And for non-members, consider where we’d be if nobody paid those dues.