National Clothesline

When a two- or three-tank drycleaning machine is used for cleaning suede, leather, fur and fabric combination items, it is important to know: if the tanks that hold the drycleaning fluid share the same pump that pumps the drycleaning fluid; if the tanks also share the same filter that filters the drycleaning fluid; if the filter can be by-passed; and what tank the reclaimed drycleaning fluid goes to during the drying cycle.

If each tank has its own pump for pumping the drycleaning fluid it contains, it will be possible to pump that drycleaning fluid to the machine wheel without diluting the concentration

of a detergent plus conditioner like Royaltone that is needed to properly clean a load of suede, leather, fur or cloth combination items without color loss or stiffening.

If a tank shares a pump with one or more of the other tanks of the machine, then there will be a dilution of the concentration of the detergent plus conditioner every time the machine is switched from a low charge tank to a high charge tank.

For example, every time the machine is switched from the one percent tank to the two percent tank or the six percent tank, or is switched from the two percent tank to the six percent tank, the higher charge tank will be diluted by the lower charge drycleaning fluid.

This dilution results from mixing the lower concentration charge drycleaning fluid in the pump and piping with the higher concentration charge drycleaning fluid coming from the tank(s) holding it.

This dilution must be compensated for by increasing the charge concentration in the two percent and six percent tanks to offset the dilution that occurs every time the tanks are switched from tanks with lower concentrations of the detergent plus conditioner to tanks with higher concentrations.

Increasing the charge above the two percent and six percent levels will not adversely affect the cleaning of the suedes, leathers, furs and fabric combination garments, nor will the increase in charge in the one percent tank adversely affect the cleaning quality of the cloth items being drycleaned.

If each tank has its own filter for the drycleaning fluid in it, it will filter without diluting the concentration of the detergent plus conditioner.

However, if a tank shares a filter with one or more of the other tanks, then there will be a significant dilution of the detergent plus conditioner every time the machine is switched from the one percent tank to the two percent or six percent tank or from the two percent tank to the six percent tank.

The dilution results from mixing the lower concentration charge drycleaning fluid in the shared filter and piping with the higher drycleaning fluid in the shared filter and piping with the higher concentration charge drycleaning fluid coming from the tanks holding it.

This dilution is significant and must be corrected by increasing the concentration in the two percent and six percent tanks to offset the considerable dilution that occurs every time the tanks are switched from the tanks with the lower concentrations of the detergent plus conditioner to the tanks with the higher concentration.

There will also be a significant increase in the one percent tank concentration charge every time the tanks are switched from the tanks with the higher concentration of the detergent plus conditioner to the one percent tank.

However, increasing the charge above the one percent level will not adversely affect the quality of the cleaning of the cloth garments drycleaned.

Even if the charge of the one percent tank increased to a six percent concentration of the detergent plus conditioner, there would not be any reduction in the high quality of the cloth garment drycleaning. This can readily be understood when it is recognized that the detergent plus conditioner was developed specifically for cleaning cloth trimmed with dark and bright colored suede, leather or fur, with excellent results in a six percent charge.

When an extra operating tank that shares the same filter with the main tank is used for cleaning suede, leather and fur and the volume of suede, leather and fur being cleaned is low and if the filter that is shared by two or more tanks can be by-passed, then the option of by-passing the filter is possible.

If the filter is by-passed, then the dilution in concentration of detergent plus conditioner that would otherwise be experienced by sharing the filter will be greatly reduced or eliminated depending upon whether or not the tanks share a pump.

If they do share a pump, there will be minimal dilution as explained earlier. If the tanks each have their own pump, there will be no dilution.

However, when the filter is by-passed, there is obviously no filtration and the condition of the cleaning fluid will deteriorate after several loads if it is returned to the same tank each time it is used without filtration or distillation. Therefore, this tank of charged drycleaning fluid will periodically have to be filtered and/or distilled and recharged with detergent plus conditioner. Ideally, each tank should have its own pump and filter.

However, good quality cleaning of suede, leather, fur and cloth combinations is possible with machines that contain multiple tanks that share the same pump and/or filter — if the procedures described previously are strictly adhered to!

Another factor to be considered is dilution of the charge due to reclamation. Reclaimed drycleaning fluid is essentially distilled in the drying and reclamation process, therefore it is uncharged drycleaning fluid.

If it is deposited into one of the tanks that are charged with the detergent plus conditioner, it will dilute the charge each time a load of items is drycleaned.

Just as in regular drycleaning, the charge must be increased to offset the dilution caused by the infusion of the reclaimed (distilled) drycleaning fluid into the charged tank.

How much the dilution amounts to depends upon the following factors:

1. The number of pounds of suede, leather and fur that are dried per load in the reclaimer

2. The percent concentration (or charge) of detergent plus conditioner in the tank into which the reclaimed and therefore distilled drycleaning fluid is deposited. The higher the detergent concentration charge level, the greater the dilution per load.

A good rule of thumb for determining the amount of detergent plus conditioner that must be added to maintain the detergent concentration charge level is as follows:

For the two percent charged tank, add one ounce per three pounds of suede, leather or fur cleaned and reclaimed.

For the six percent charged tank, add one ounce per one pound of suede, leather or fur cleaned and reclaimed.

These additions are higher than those required for cloth garments because the charge levels are higher and the skins that make up suede, leather and fur retain a much higher percent of drycleaning fluid after extraction and when reclaiming begins.