First Solvair system hits the street
After several years of prototype testing, the first Solvair cleaning system has
made its debut in a commercial drycleaning establishment.
Local dignitaries joined representatives from R. R. Street & Co. Inc. at a formal ribbon cutting at Lake City Cleaners in Evanston, IL, where co-owners Victor and Janice Seyedin are putting the
machine to work on the premium service that the company offers.
Lake City Cleaners, a member of the America’s Best Cleaners group, has locations in Lake Forest, Highland Park and Chicago
and caters to a high-end clientele. The Solvair machine will be used for
cleaning garments in Lake City
’s Monarch Care class of service. According to Victor Seyedin, customers don’t mind the slightly higher price charged to have garments cleaned in the new
system.
“They love the fact that it is environmentally friendly,” Seyedin said. “We have customers who had been saving special garments and couture items to
clean in the system, and now that they have tried it, they are really pleased
with the results.
”
“We are very proud to be the first in the world to offer this outstanding method
of environmentally-safe drycleaning
” said Janice Seyedin. “We are committed to the satisfaction of our clients and are thrilled to add this
service to our existing state-of-the
–art technology.
Street’s first unveiled the system at the California Cleaners Association trade show
last year and again showed it at the Clean Show in Las Vegas in June.
The machine consists of two sections — a low-pressure side and a high-pressure side. On the low-pressure side, clothes
are cleaned in a rotating wheel into which solvent is pumped, circulated and
filtered.
A high-speed extraction removes most of the solvent at the end of the wash
cycle.
Street’s describes the solvent as “a biodegradable formulation developed by the company of proprietary cleaning
additives and an environmentally friendly cleaning liquid that is in common use
in consumer household cleaners.
”
On the high-pressure side, liquid carbon dioxide is used to rinse and dry the
garments under 600 pounds of pressure. After four rinses, the pressure in the
wheel is reduced until the liquid CO2 converts back to a gas, leaving the
garments dry, clean and free of solvent. Because there is no heat used in
drying, stains can not be set during the process.
The entire process takes 30 minutes and, according to Street’s, requires no pre-spotting and removes a wider range of stains and soils than
was previously possible.
The system offers environmental advantages, too, Street’s notes. Solvair does not add to greenhouse gasses or smog formation and is
energy efficient. The system maximizes recycling and reuse of cleaning liquids
and supplies and all process wastes are managed with a
“closed loop” system that eliminates emissions to the environment and ensures reclamation of
recyclable materials.
“Solvair is a major advance in the science of cleaning garments and is the result
of more than eight years of intensive research and development,
” said Ross Beard, president and CEO of Street’s. “In a nutshell, Solvair will allow drycleaners to produce outstanding results in
an environmentally safe way.
”
According to Street’s, additional Solvair cleaning system installations are planned in different
regions of the United States this autumn.
