THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LAUNDRY & DRY-CLEANING
In Nigeria and most probably, in most sub-Saharan Africa, it is common to say, I want to visit the dry cleaner or better still, I want to dry clean my cloth. I have watched with dismay and wonder if people any longer care about the real meaning of laundry or dry-cleaning or can even differentiate between the two;
The problem of ambiguity or lack of knowledge of the use of the right word or process is further compounded by people n the business who can’t offer a solution to the disparity in the words. The acclaimed ‘drycleaners’ don’t even know what is the clear cut difference between the two words- Dry-cleaning & Laundry.
Moving on a short pedestal, it is important not to stress further on this. Even at that, it is pertinent to make a brief call at the origin and brief history of laundry & dry-cleaning.
The words; Laundry and Dry-cleaning originated and its process, from time immemorial. Most probably at the on set of the use of fabric. Records put it that the early men wash their clothes/ cloak with water. Only before a sudden twist when somebody during, a festivity that involves making sacrifice at the alter dropped same at the alter. Upon picking it, he marveled at what he saw, on dipping his cloak in water for washing –it began to foam. This is the most traceable path to the process of laundry- washing with water and soap. (Reaction of Ash, water & fat brings foaming effect- soap-saponification). This was the trend.
As human advances in behavior & become more sophisticated, what he depends upon becomes more advance. The use of mechanical equipment surfaced and its consequence effect on man. This time Lye and ammonia were used in conjunction with fuller’s earth- a type of clay in early laundry to remove soils and grease from clothing that are too delicate when washing with water & soap only.
Dry-cleaning is further brought to prominence when according to history, somebody splashed accidentally, a chemical substance, on a greasy fabric and it suddenly removed it stains.
Note; Jolly Berlin’s firm of Paris is credited as the first dry-cleaning firm (1840).
Laundry and dry-cleaning: the disparity
In spite of the name, dry-cleaning is not completely fluid free. In dry-cleaning washing is done without water-hence ‘dry’. The process involves the use of chemical fluid. The most commonly used are percholoroethylene commonly called perc. Some other companies use other solvents such as liquid co2, hydrocarbon solvent k4. (Note that until 1930 when perc was discovered, most solvent used were (even as perc is, though to a little degree) highly volatile, hence it’s discovery.
During laundry however, the most important is water, soap, detergent and/or machine
