National Clothesline

By Bill Bogus

Risk free is not a possibility, but diminishing risk is.

It has often been said by economists and the government that small businesses are good for the economy.

But the greenies and environmentalists have different opinions about drycleaners. They hate drycleaners with a passion, Mom and Pop drycleaners particularly because they are the hardest to eradicate. The reason being that good drycleaning is necessary, and perchloroethylene (perc) does it best.

However, it is the manner of cleaning and the kind of chemical being used that greenies and environmentalist don’t like. They say that perc causes cancer and pollutes the atmosphere. What they won’t tell you is that they don’t know, and don’t want to know, what modern technology has accomplished in making perc safe for drycleaning use.

In October 2002, The Washington Post, known for its investigative reporting, printed a Los Angeles Times article verbatim, without inquiry into facts and included this heading: “In California, Clean Air vs the Dry Cleaners.”

Now if The Los Angles Times and The Washington Post would have investigated the accusative remark made in order to deprecate drycleaning with perc as a hazardous cancer-causing occupation, they would have determined, the statement is not true.

The truth is that modern technology made drycleaning machines into a dry-to-dry method. Clothes go in dry and come out dry — nothing comes out wet. The cleaning is done like being corked in a bottle. No vapors or solvent odors. Everything is contained within the system.

Cleaning with perc is well on the safe side. It is not a hazard for the employees, the public, the environment, or the atmosphere and it is not a ground water polluter. All waste is disposed as prescribed by EPA government regulations. Drycleaners are knowledgeable of that responsibility.

Another Washington Post article, “EPA Reports Decline in Pollution,” said that more than 23,000 factories, power plants, hard-rock mines and chemical manufacturers were surveyed for the study. There was no mention-of drycleaners in the study. EPA also reports “that toxic chemicals have declined by 49 percent since 1988.”

Drycleaners are minuscule in causing pollution, but still they have reduced the need for perc by 70%. The reason for the reduction is that perc is a dry solvent and an excellent penetrant for fast soil removal. Being a dry solvent, it is highly recoverable and recycled for continuous use. This is the reason why perc is the favorite.

Small businesses, including drycleaners, are in the great majority, but they are also the great Silent Majority that takes a beating from takeovers, the greenies and the misinformed environmentalists.

Small businesses provide services people need and want and should be allowed to operate without being hassled. They are the oarsmen who drive the boat of the economy toward a prosperous future.

Because of the unflattering abuse drycleaners are getting from prominent newspapers in the country, like The Washington Post and The Los Angles Times, drycleaners have to awaken to the fact that they can no longer be in the Silent Majority.