National Clothesline

The second in a series of alternative cleaning process showcases sponsored by the Institute of Research and Technical Assistance will be held at Royal Cleaners in Santa Monica, CA, on Sunday, Oct. 7.

The host will be Royal Cleaners, owned by Bobby Smerling. He purchased a carbon dioxide cleaning machine in 2003 and now plans to open a second store that relies on both CO2 and wetcleaning.

Both Smerling and his spotter, who speaks fluent Spanish, will be available to demonstrate the equipment and discuss spotting, finishing and cleaning practices with cleaners. They will make formal presentations at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Santa Monica plant, located at 256 26th St.

IRTA has developed a case study for Royal that demonstrates that the cleaner’s costs have been reduced since the conversion. Although the cost of carbon dioxide machines is relatively high, the operating costs for Royal are lower, so there was a cost advantage in converting from perc, the IRTA reports shows. Royal has increased its business substantially since the conversion, IRTA said.

Royal Cleaners’ 60-lb. Sailstar CO2 machine replaced a 55-lb. perc machine that had been used to clean 104,000 pounds of garments annually. Current volume at the shop is 155,000 pounds per year. The CO2 machine has a cycle time of 35 minutes.

Smerling told IRTA that it took about two months to learn the new features and procedures with the CO2 machine. He noted that finishing is about the same as with perc but there is more stain removal needed. He added that delicate garments are much easier to process in CO2.

Royal received a grant from the South Coast Air Quality Management District to purchase the system. SCAQMD, which started phasing out perc in its four-county southern California jurisdiction five years ago, has offered grants to drycleaners to assist in the cost of converting their operations to non-perc alternatives.

Earlier this year, statewide phaseout of perc was instituted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). CARB also has authority under AB 998 to provide grants to California cleaners for replacing perc machines.

The AB 998 grant program is funded by surcharge on perc imported for use in drycleaning. The majority of the funds collected by the fee, currently at $6 per gallon, is designated to provide $10,000 grants to assist drycleaners in switching to non-toxic, non-smog forming cleaning technologies, specifically wetcleaning, carbon dioxide cleaning and Green-Jet systems.

AB 998 also charges CARB with developing a demonstration program to make cleaners aware of certain eligible alternative technologies which include carbon dioxide cleaning and various water-based cleaning processes.

IRTA, a technical nonprofit organization that demonstrates new and emerging technologies, received a grant from CARB to work with cleaners who have converted to carbon dioxide and water-based technologies to serve as showcase facilities to feature the alternatives.

Information on the CARB grant program will also be provided to interested cleaners at the Santa Monica showcase.

IRTA also recently completed a project sponsored by Cal/EPA’s Department of Toxic Substances Control and U.S. EPA to identify, develop and test alternative low-VOC, low toxicity POG spotting agents. IRTA ’s fact sheet on these alternative spotting agents will be available at the showcases.

The Santa Monica showcase is the second in a series. Last month IRTA initiated the series at Gordon Shaw ’s Torrey Hills Hangers Cleaners plant in San Diego. Two more showcases with cleaners located in the Bay Area and the Los Angeles area are planned.

IRTA also plans to hold an exposition next year where cleaners will be able to learn more about the carbon dioxide and water-based cleaning technologies.

For more information on IRTA, contact Katy Wolf, (818) 244-0300. Information is also available on IRTA ’s website, www.irta.us.