Dry cleaners have a reputation as less-than-green businesses: There are plenty of chemicals used in the dry cleaning process and most companies aren’t really energy efficient. But some clothes cleaning operations are working hard to move beyond that image.

Nature’s Best Cleaners is the business at the forefront of the green dry cleaning movement. It’s located in Sunnyvale, California. Peter Xu, who began researching alternatives to the harsh chemicals most dry cleaners rely on after he realized the damage that exposure to those chemicals had done to his hands, owns the company. He found wet cleaning. Wet cleaning technology was developed by appliance manufacture Miele in the early 1990s. It can be used on any garment that is labeled dry clean only, despite what the name seems to imply.

Dry cleaning techniques require perchloroethylene — known as perc — to remove dirt. Perc is known for the damage it can do to the central nervous system. Working with this chemical in a poorly ventilated room will cause dizziness, sleepiness, confusion, headaches, nausea, loss of motor skills, unconsciousness, skin irritation, spontaneous abortions, menstrual problems and death. It can contaminate soil and is extremely difficult to clean up. Dry cleaners usually use a small amount of perc and experience limited effects, but it’s a pretty nasty chemical.

Wet cleaning, on the other hand, uses plant-based detergents which are entirely biodegradable. Water on its own isn’t harmful to clothing, and by varying the pH for specific types of cloth, Xu can successfully clean just about everything that a standard dry cleaner could. Wet cleaning can also reduce the chances of discoloration and damage to cloth fibers that perc is known for.

California state law has mandated dry cleaners to cease use of perc by 2023. As other companies have looked for their own alternatives, companies from Cupertino, San Jose and other parts of California have turned to Nature’s Best Cleaners for advice. In response, Xu has begun offering workshops on the topic. For his efforts, the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute awarded the company $10,000. They’ve also given Nature’s Best an additional grant of $5,000 to offer demonstrations to dry cleaners.

Nature’s Best Cleaners is an amazingly green cleaner. There have been other companies in the past that have made claims of running organic businesses. However, most of those so-called organic cleaners still relied on petroleum products, which Xu refuses to use. Nature’s Best Cleaners has demonstrated a clear path to a greener type of clothes cleaning.

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Photo by Jeremy Brooks