Not-Wet-With-Water Cleaners

Did you know that dry cleaning doesn't necessarily mean 'dry'? I took my fave sweater to the dry cleaners last Monday cuz it was looking a bit dingy. In order to log another Newbie, I asked the woman a bit about dry cleaning. She showed me a machine much like a washing machine that cleans the clothes in mass quanitities. The cleaning solvent is a liquid but because the process doesn't use water, it is dubbed "dry" cleaning. The solvent is constantly filtered through at an amazing rate so that my sweater was cleaned for 8 minutes and used approx. 200 gallons of solvent. She said that their business in little ol' Helena probably used millions of gallons of solvent PER DAY. Seems like a total waste when I really don't mind wearing a dirty sweater. My sweater was definitely clean and shiny when I got it back, but not clean or shiny enough to justify all that pollutant and energy just to clean my fave sweater.