National Clothesline

Results of a survey conducted by the California Air Resources Board as part of its review of the state drycleaning standard have reported by the Halogenated solvents Industry Alliance.

CARB mailed 5,800 surveys to California cleaners and received 1,856 responses, or about 32 percent.

Based on the results, the agency estimates that there are a total of 5,040 drycleaning plants and 816 drops stores currently operating in the state. Of those, 85 percent purportedly use perchloroethylene.

About 40 percent of the cleaners who responded to the survey reported an annual gross of less than $100,000; 55 percent claimed an annual gross between $100,000 and $500,000.

Also of note, drycleaning revenues were reported to constitute 50 percent or more of cleaners’ total income. Another 27 percent of those who responded indicated that drycleaning comprised over 75 percent of their total revenues.

In terms of employees, 57 percent of the drycleaners surveyed have two or fewer equivalent full time employees (FTEs) on their staff. Only 16 percent employ more than five FTEs.

In terms of longevity, California drycleaners have an impressive track record. Close to half of the state’s drycleaning facilities surveyed had been in operation for ten years or more. Conversely, only seven percent had reported being in business for less than a year.

When it comes to equipment, a vast majority of the facilities — 92 percent — marked down on the survey that they operate a single drycleaning machine. Based on all of the responses, CARB estimated that there are approximately 5,500 drycleaning machines altogether throughout California.

About 60 percent of those machines in operation are thought to be primary machines, i.e. closed loop, dry-to-dry third generation. About a third of all operating machines are believed to have secondary controls, meaning they are fourth generation machines.

CARB also tallied the median capacity of the machines to be 40 pounds. The average age of the machinery in the survey was eight years old and most machines were purchased new.

Breaking it down further, CARB reviewed the information for facilities using perc and discovered that the median capacity for secondary machines was higher than that of primary machines — 45 pounds and 40 pounds, respectively.

CARB noted that machines using the state’s next most common solvent — DF-2000 — had a median capacity of 50 pounds.

The use of perc for primary machines among survey respondents was tallied at an average of 80 gallons annually used to clean 44,000 pounds of clothes. Respondents who used machines with secondary controls consumed an average of 68 gallons of perc annually to clean 52,000 pounds of clothes.

In perc facilities, the percentage of those surveyed who use cartridge filters was the same for both primary and secondary machines — 75 percent; however, there was a noticeable difference in the number of cleaners who used spin disk filters, either alone or in combination with cartridges, for secondary machines (66 percent) as opposed to primary machines (44 percent).

The survey also indicated that secondary machines produced an average of 88 gallons of still bottoms and primary machines produced 75 gallons.

CARB also asked cleaners questions about their hours of business. Most facilities said they open at 7 a.m. and close between 6 and 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. A total of 96 percent of the cleaners surveyed also indicated that they are open for business on Saturdays, but closed on Sundays.

Over half — 55 percent — of the cleaners polled noted that they operate their drycleaning machine five days during the week; 39 percent operate their machines six days a week.

The typical size of a California drycleaning plant is 1,900 sq. ft. with an average height of 14 ft.

CARB also estimated that, based on survey data, 60 percent of the state’s drycleaning stores use general ventilation (such as large capacity roof fans), 22 percent use only natural ventilation, and 9 percent use a wall fan. Other facilities resort to vapor barrier rooms, partial vapor rooms or local ventilation to cool down their cleaning equipment.

CARB also inquired about the cleaners’ proximity to residential buildings. Only two percent responded that they are located in a residential building, and another two percent reported being located within 20 feet of a residence. The highest percentage of cleaners (37 percent) indicated that they were more than 500 ft. from their nearest residential neighbor.

The survey also indicated that most cleaners (63 percent) have a wastewater treatment unit on-site, with a majority of those facilities using an evaporator. Only 26 percent have their wastewater collected by a waste hauler.