Canada's First Solvair System: Marcia Todd from Fabricare Canada makes a visit to Toronto Based Dry Cleaners, Parkers Dry Cleaners

Added at 5:06pm, Monday June 1st 2009

By Marcia Todd | Fabricare Canada | www.fabricarecanada.com

Canada’s first Solvair System

Two days before my scheduled visit to the Parkers cleaning plant at Yonge and Lawrence in Toronto, I received a PR package introducing Streets’ Solvair to the local media. The package, hand delivered to my office, included a bag with laminated tag, an invitation from Parkers president Gary Fine for a personal demonstration of the system, and promotional material. I was impressed that nowhere did the material say anything negative about any other solvent.

Why Call It A System?

Solvair is really two separate processes run one after the other. First there is a six-minute wash in solvent that is a mixture of additives and dipropylene glycol ether. Because there are two changes of solvent each minute, the manufacturer considers this the equivalent of a 12-minute wash.

After the solvent leaves the wheel, recycled CO2 is introduced. Under pressure, it is liquefied and provides a series of cold rinses in which the garments float weightlessly while the solvent and soil are sucked out of them. As experienced dry cleaners can see, this eliminates two of the problems caused by traditional cleaning: mechanical action and heat. At the end of the 34-minute cycle the clothes are cold to the touch and wrinkled. But as the garments warm up to room temperature the wrinkles become relaxed.
The pressure door is locked with a quarter turn of the wheel. At the end of the cleaning cycle, the rim inside the door is very cold to the touch. Other than that, I was not aware of the pressurization and use of the liquefied CO2.

No Pre-spotting, Minimal Sorting

There is no pre-spotting. Loads can be made up of any 30-lb assortment of garments available, which is especially helpful at the end of the day. According to Parkers president Gary Fine, you can toss in a red “bleeder” or a sweaty baseball cap to top off a light load and nothing will be adversely affected. Fine also pointed out that the lint from a load is about 5% of what it is with other solvents. He should know: in his organization he runs perc, GreenEarth, hydrocarbon and wet cleaning.

Fine showed me a worn, sweaty-stained cap that had been recently cleaned. I compared it with the photo taken before it was cleaned, and was impressed at the way this difficult item could be restored to like-new condition by the Solvair system.

When pre-spotting is required, a spray of water is the only treatment needed, none of the usual array of spotting bottles on the board is touched. Water-based stains are often removed in cleaning because the solvent is said to carry 100 times as much water as perc.

Doing the Math

Admittedly, this is the most expensive cleaning machine in the industry, at US$150,000 for the unit. In addition, it is necessary to purchase a chiller, Solvair cleaning fluid-with-additives and the CO2. Brian Hatt, sales manager for Streets, points out that the system is a viable option for any dry cleaner doing over 1,500 lbs per week. Savings come from superior cleaning, a 34 minute cycle, the lack of additives and minimal spotting chemicals to buy, the freedom to run mixed loads if you wish and the fact that the solvent can be marketed as ‘green’. As far as space requirements go, according to Gary Fine, Solvair will fit in the same space as an 80-lb hydrocarbon cleaning machine.

Controlled From Afar

The unit has a computer screen with easy-to-read graphics showing what phase of the cycle the machine is in, or what the operator needs to do in the way of routine maintenance. But this is just part of the story. This screen, and those of all other units worldwide, is monitored constantly by a Solvair technician. This person has the ability, through a direct, line to operate any part of the machine.

For example, Brian Hatt was making an adjustment one day and needed to have a valve opened. He asked the off-site technician to do it, and it was opened immediately. The operator can be warned via the screen, when it is time to install the next drop-in-box of solvent. The supplier is notified automatically, Dalex in this case, to deliver a new box of solvent and pick up the waste, which has been collected in the previously emptied solvent box.

The Bottom Line

Gary Fine, as mentioned above, has all the basic solvents within his organization of eight locations. He sums Solvair up “It is not an alternative solvent; it is a new approach to cleaning. It does the best job I have ever seen, and the investment is paying for itself.”