Dry cleaners are big environmental offenders. Toxic detergents can evaporate into the air and pollute drinking water if improperly stored. The liquid must be hauled away by special companies and carefully disposed of. Massive machines that clean the clothes use huge amounts of electricity and give off so much heat that the temperature in back of a dry-cleaning business can exceed 110 degrees.
Juan and Marianela Chirinos owned a traditional dry-cleaning shop in Casselberry for eight years. Sick of slaving over piles of laundry in the boiling-hot store and feeling dizzy from the harsh detergent, which irritated their skin if it splashed against them, they began researching a ‘greener’ way to clean clothes.
“I feel we are here on this earth for a purpose and so we should not damage the things God has provided for us, including the earth and our bodies. By being better stewards of our environment I feel we are respecting God,” Juan said. In response to their spiritual calling, they opened Rinse Cleaners — the first eco-friendly wet cleaners in Orange County — in the Alafaya Business Plaza two months ago. Their new business hardly resembles a traditional dry-cleaning business at all.
The entrance is decorated with mosaictiled floors and modern, stainless-steel designs adorn the counter. Decorating the walls are shoe repair and sewing antiques. “The way we present ourselves is the way we present our clothes,” Juan said. The look behind the lobby doors where an average of 1,000 garments are cleaned daily is also profoundly different. Instead of the towering machines used to dry-clean clothes sits what looks like oversized washer and dryer machines. The energy-efficient appliances control the temperature being used to clean the clothes, which is what Juan said protects even the most delicate fabrics.
Ninetyfive percent of all cleaning materials used are eco-friendly (5 percent being the spot remover they use). The garment is dried by clamping it to plastic bodices where steam inflates it with a loud hiss — shhhhhh! Then Rinse employees go to work, detailing shirt pockets and pant pleats with a plasticcovered iron — all in an effort to protect the fabrics from direct heat. “People have been loving it. They say their clothes look like new,” Marianela said. “The process takes a little longer because of the detail but it is worth it.
Stronger cleansers take care of the stains right away, but with a soft, gentle system you have to take your time.” The new green appliances have saved the Chirinoses 30 percent on their energy bill each month and they also save the $100 it costs to haul away toxic detergent. “It was a bigger cost up front, but we are making it back every month by the energy we save,” Juan said. Because Rinse Cleaners is the first and only eco-friendly wet cleaners in Orange County, Commissioner Linda Stewart said officials are writing a new code for this type of business. The current one still charges an annual $40 hauling fee.
“There are no highly volatile solvents being used like in traditional dry cleaners, just water-based solvents. I think all dry cleaners should switch to this kind of operation. It promotes a healthier lifestyle all around — even for those wearing the clothes,” Stewart said.
“They are a model for the entire county.” Rinse Cleaners was the first business to take advantage of the incentives the county passed to encourage green businesses such as an expedited permitting process and more intimate involvement with the Orange County Environmental Protection Division. “We applaud him for his efforts,” Hamp Pridgen, EPD program administrator, said about Juan. “Anything that cuts down on hazardous chemical use is a good thing.”
Pridgen said the chemicals widely used by traditional dry cleaners have strong storage requirements because they evaporate into the air even faster than the volatile chemicals in gasoline. “Dry cleaners do have an impact on the environment. This is exactly the direction we should be headed in cleaning our clothes,” he said.
When the Chirinoses first learned of wet cleaning four years ago they were skeptical. Like many traditional dry cleaners, they were afraid that the process was too slow and would not be able to handle delicate fabrics. Juan visited one of the most successful wet cleaners in Canada, whose owner makes around $1.5 million a year.
“That is when I made up my mind,” he said. Rinse Cleaners is still striving to be greener by working to gain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council and looking into ecofriendly alternatives to the traditional plastic bags and wire hangers cleaners use.
For now they ask their customers to bring the hangers back for re-use. Juan welcomes those living in communities located far from their location to request their complimentary pickup and drop-off services. His hope: to replace many vehicular trips with one trip by his delivery driver (and, of course, to land more business).
Juan plans to start a networking group for alternative cleaners to help others in the industry become more environmentally friendly. “We want to prove that the system works and eventually want to go green all the way,” Juan said. “If we are going to do it, we want to do it right. We want to live up to our company motto — ‘Safe for our world, Safe for you.’”
