SGS, world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company, has developed a new silicone-based dry-cleaning testing service for garments in partnership with GreenEarth Cleaning LLC, world’s largest brand of environment-friendly dry-cleaning. The new testing service can assess the appearance, dimensional stability and hand feel of the garment following washing in the eco-friendly dry-cleaning system.
GreenEarth’s dry-cleaning system uses a silicone-based solvent, instead of perchloroethylene, the solvent used widely for the purpose of dry-cleaning, but is now listed by the EPA as a toxic air pollutant that is known or suspected to cause cancer and other harmful health effects, as well as environmental damage. The silicone-based solvent – ‘decamethylcyclopentasiloxane’ (D5), is clear, odourless and non-toxic, when used in a closed loop system. D5 is currently approved as an alternative to ‘PERC’ solvents with more than 1,600 drycleaners using D5 worldwide, with some retailers and brands adopted a dry-cleaning process based on D5 solvent for their garments.
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In addition to the health and environmental benefits of using a silicone-based dry-cleaning system, studies have also shown that this system offers better garment care performance because it causes less damage to plastic trims and printing. Comparison tests between ‘PERC’ and silicone-based systems have shown that both systems offer similar protections against colour fading, bleeding and dimensional change, and in the majority of stain removal tests both systems were comparable.
SGS also offers a consultancy service to evaluate the suitability of the new dry-cleaning process on garment and textile products, helping businesses ensure their products remain presentable after using the GreenEarth dry-cleaning system.
