Green Business
of the Week

November 2, 2008

Greener Cleaner

You might go right past Wicker Park’s Greener Cleaner, situated as it is in a kind of bay next to the entrance to the Damen blue line el stop. That would be a shame. Greener Cleaner offers a service that should be of interest to anyone who cares about the environment . . . and good-looking clothes.

There are some clothes that just don’t want to see the inside of your washing machine. They carry labels that sternly warn “Dry Clean Only.” Well, it turns out that there is a method of wet cleaning that can give those garments the protection they need and give you and the environment the protection you deserve.

Developed in Germany in 1991, the process used by Greener Cleaner involves state of the art equipment and specially formulated natural soaps and conditioners. It is implemented by trained staff with a great deal of expertise in cleaning dry-clean-only clothes. The result? You get cleaner clothes that don’t have that nasty chemical odor.

And it turns out that the nasty odor is just as dangerous as you might have guessed. The solvent used by 90% of dry cleaners is perchloroethylene, familiarly known as “perc.” The EPA website says that “Breathing PERC for short periods of time can adversely affect the human nervous system. Effects range from dizziness, fatigue, headaches and sweating to incoordination and unconsciousness. . . . Breathing perchloroethylene over longer periods of time can cause liver and kidney damage in humans.”

If that all sounds less than appealing to you, you might want to check out Greener Cleaner. Our cleaning results were excellent, and prices were comparable to or below most quality cleaners. Greener Cleaner takes back any packaging they send out for reuse or recycling and offers a reusable nylon garment back with a shoulder strap if you don’t want to take plastic home with you.

Greener Cleaner has locations at 1552 N Damen, in Wicker Park; 5312 N Broadway, in Edgewater; and in three Dominick’s grocery stores, in Greektown and Ukrainian Village and on the Gold Coast. For more information, you can go to www.greenercleaner.net or go to the Green Business of the Week page on mikenowak.net. Or you can call 1-888-875-8345.