National Clothesline

While some New Jersey cleaners may be contemplating life without perc, Tom Janick is already living it.

After removing his perc machine in October, his Craft Cleaners in Princeton, NJ, became the second plant in the world to install a Solvair cleaning machine from R. R Street & Co. Inc.

After eight weeks of running 16 loads a day in the unit, he is impressed with the cleaning results.

The Solvair machine at Craft Cleaners plays a somewhat different role in the plant than the first machine which was installed at Lake City Cleaners in Elmhurst, IL, in August. The Illinois plant uses its Solvair machine in conjunction with hydrocarbon solvent cleaning machines and and as a special tier of upcharged service. At Craft Cleaners, Solvair is the only drycleaning option in the plant. The machine sits in the same space in the plant that the perc machine once occupied.

At Craft Cleaners, the choices, then, are Solvair or wetcleaning. About 30 percent of the plant’s cleaning volume is wetcleaning. Solvair handles the rest.

“We’re really pushing it,” Janick says of the Solvair’s workload. An electrical problem with the pump has been the only real glitch so far as he puts the new technology to the test. The cleaning, he says, has been perfect. He sees no graying or redeposition and whites come out “very white.” And this from loads that require very little pre-sorting. A 30-lb. load to be cleaned in Solvair can be made up of any combination of darks and lights or heavy and light weight materials.

Pre-spotting, to the extent that it is needed, is limited to spraying a little water on stains. If it turns out that any stains remain, post-spotting is made easier because there is no stain-setting heat involved in the drying process.

The 35-minute Solvair cleaning cycle is essentially a two-stage process. Clothes are first cleaned in a wash cycle with a fluid that is a formulation of propylene glycol ether and Street’s proprietary cleaning additives. For rinsing and drying, liquid carbon dioxide under high pressure takes over. After the CO2 has penetrated and rinsed the garments, the machine depressurizes, converting the CO2 to gas and leaving a drum full of clean, dry and cool-to-the-touch garments.

Craft Cleaners is serving as a demonstration site for Solvair, thus Janick will be welcoming into his plant cleaners who are interested in a first-hand look at the technology. To arrange a visit, contact him at (609) 610-1721.

Street’s hopes to have more demonstration sites up and running in other locations around the country this year.




	Second Solvair machine in operation in New Jersey plant





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		While some New Jersey cleaners may be contemplating life without perc, Tom Janick is already living it. After removing his perc machine in October, his Craft Cleaners in Princeton, NJ, became the second plant in the world to install a Solvair cleaning machine from R. R Street & Co. Inc. After eight weeks of running 16 loads a day in the unit, he is impressed with the cleaning results. The Solvair machine at Craft Cleaners plays a somewhat different role in the plant than the first machine which was installed at Lake City Cleaners in Elmhurst, IL, in August. The Illinois plant uses its Solvair machine in conjunction with hydrocarbon solvent cleaning machines and and as a special tier of upcharged service. At Craft Cleaners, Solvair is the only drycleaning option in the plant. The machine sits in the same space in the plant that the perc machine once occupied. At Craft Cleaners, the choices, then, are Solvair or wetcleaning. About 30 percent of the plant’s cleaning volume is wetcleaning. Solvair handles the rest. “We’re really pushing it,” Janick says of the Solvair’s workload. An electrical problem with the pump has been the only real glitch so far as he puts the new technology to the test. The cleaning, he says, has been perfect. He sees no graying or redeposition and whites come out “very white.” And this from loads that require very little pre-sorting. A 30-lb. load to be cleaned in Solvair can be made up of any combination of darks and lights or heavy and light weight materials. Pre-spotting, to the extent that it is needed, is limited to spraying a little water on stains. If it turns out that any stains remain, post-spotting is made easier because there is no stain-setting heat involved in the drying process. The 35-minute Solvair cleaning cycle is essentially a two-stage process. Clothes are first cleaned in a wash cycle with a fluid that is a formulation of propylene glycol ether and Street’s proprietary cleaning additives. For rinsing and drying, liquid carbon dioxide under high pressure takes over. After the CO2 has penetrated and rinsed the garments, the machine depressurizes, converting the CO2 to gas and leaving a drum full of clean, dry and cool-to-the-touch garments. Craft Cleaners is serving as a demonstration site for Solvair, thus Janick will be welcoming into his plant cleaners who are interested in a first-hand look at the technology. To arrange a visit, contact him at (609) 610-1721. Street’s hopes to have more demonstration sites up and running in other locations around the country this year.