你
把最珍爱的衣服拿去干洗店干洗，这些衣服被标好标签，和一大堆衣服裹在一起被收走。多数顾客不了解干洗店的内里干坤，那些庞大的隆隆作响的机器和嘶嘶冒出的蒸汽，都透着神秘。干洗店柜台后面究竟发生着什么？另外，很多人都有这样的疑问：为什么女式衫衣的干洗费比男式的贵？为什么有些污渍能够洗掉，有些却不能？
种种疑惑之外，干洗业本身也处于变迁的过程中，这个行业己经开始改变。许多干洗店被要求在2020年以前改用新的洗衣溶剂，以取代如今广为使用的清洁用品全氯乙烯。于是，商家们使用了更多的新方法来清洗衣物。宝洁公司（Procter & Gamble Co.）最近推出干洗连锁品牌"汰渍干洗店"（Tide Dry Cleaners），使用硅酮制品替代传统溶剂，取名叫"绿色地球"。
最终效果如何在许多人看来都是不确定的。加州西好莱坞（West Hollywood）Drybar美发沙龙连锁的联合创始人韦布（Alli Webb）说："我现在更多地看衣服标签，看看能不能自己洗。"她说她对化学品很在乎，有时候会开车去到远一点的一家自称用料环保的洗衣店。
P&G
有些顽固污渍很难去掉，例如墨水、红酒和芥茉酱等等，那就要用针对特定物质的化学品进行手工清洗。纽约市Ernest Winzer干洗店老板巴里士（Bruce Barish）说，衣服上的巴萨米克香醋就很难去掉，它是水质和油质的混合污渍，颜色发暗，很难洗掉，特别是被客人不小心揉擦之后。
干洗店的服务和质量参差不齐，因为多数干洗店是独立经营的。根据美国人口普查局（Census Bureau）的统计资料，美国目前一共有24,124家干洗店和非投币式洗衣店。
但是某些现象是通行的。纽约的Floyd Advisory公司在2009年做过一次调查，随机选取了50家干洗店做调查对象，发现女士衬衣的洗衣费比男士衬衣平均高出73%。被调查的洗衣店解释说，女式衬衣不像男士衬衣一样能用机器熨烫，只能手工操作。
去年，市场调研机构Mintel International发现，在过去12个月内曾经购买衣物的女士们当中，75%的人表示她们避免购买需要干洗的衣服。
宝洁公司表示，顾客对干洗业的低评价正是促使宝洁公司做出新尝试的原因之一。宝洁公司"未来工程"（FutureWorks）事业部发言人霍尔特豪斯（Ross H. Holthouse）说，该公司调查发现大量的顾客对干洗店的服务不大满意，认为干洗店十分黑暗，像是走进了一个黑箱，不知道里面发生着什么事情。
宝洁公司的汰渍干洗店延用了汰渍洗衣粉的名字。在这里，开车的顾客无需下车，会有服务员帮你取送衣服；洗衣店提供密码控制的储物柜，让顾客可以在营业时间之外取送衣物；还用条形码跟踪顾客的数据资料，包括顾客的个人喜好。每一家洗衣店都开敞明亮，所使用的机器也摆在视线范围之内。在堪萨斯州的堪萨斯市（Kansas City）开了三家试营店后，宝洁公司去年秋天在俄亥俄州的梅森市（Mason）开了第一家正式运营的汰渍干洗店，今年7月又在俄亥俄州开了两家店。宝洁公司说，两年之内可能会开出几百家连锁店。
宝洁公司也是众多不用全氯乙烯溶剂的商家之一，它使用自己的"汰渍"产品，同时也用全氯乙烯的替代品"绿色地球"。
美国环境保护署（Environmental Protection Agency）将全氯乙烯归为空气污染物及潜在致癌物。环保署要求位于居民楼内的洗衣店在2020年底以前停止使用全氯乙烯，加州、伊利诺伊州和新泽西州等地还要求更早更广泛地终止使用全氯乙烯。
于是一些替代性溶剂开始在市场上出现，宣称洗衣效果同样好但是对人与环境的害处较少。其中最常用的有碳氢化合物、"绿色地球"以及用水和洗衣粉的湿洗方法。环保署还没有发布对这些物质的监管政策，干洗店也不必报告使用了哪种洗衣原料。
有些业内人士认为，对于全氯乙烯环保性能的忧虑被夸大了。全美洗衣业协会（National Cleaners Association）的技术服务负责人斯佩尔沃格（Alan Spielvogel）认为，干洗业近年来已经采取措施减少全氯乙烯的污染，主要是通过安装先进洗衣设备。另外，他也不相信其他的替代品真就那么环保。
美国大约有60家干洗店使用了新型干洗液SystemK4,，这种新产品由Kreussler公司制造。今年早些时候，克里夫兰伦敦干洗店（London Cleaners）的老板就由"绿色地球"转用SystemK4，并且认为后者更为好用。
Kreussler公司不肯公开SystemK4的化学成分，但是表示这种产品可以比全氯乙烯让衣物更松软，闻起来更清新。Kreussler的副总裁菲茨佩德里克（Richard Fitzpatrick）说：SystemK4对衣物造成的损耗要小于全氯乙烯。
斯佩尔沃格和一些人却担心使用其他溶剂会加重成本，很多干洗店必须为此购置新机器，价格在45,000美元至10万美元以上。改换洗衣原料可能会使洗衣费更贵，因为店家会把投资在新机器上的成本转嫁给顾客。行业组织"干洗与洗衣协会"（Drycleaning and Laundry Institute）的代理首席执行长斯嘉尔科（Mary Scalco）说，提高洗衣价格是不可避免的，干洗业大多是小本经营的夫妻店。
如果想弄清楚什么衣服值得干洗，首先要看清楚衣服的标签。美国消费者联盟（Consumer Federation of America）的公共事务负责人吉利斯（Jack Gillis）说，有些标着"只可干洗"的衣物可以自己在家小心处理。如果不知道衣物的质地对肥皂和水有什么反应，那就有些冒险。康奈尔大学（Cornell University）纤维学科教授奥本杜夫（Kay Obendorf）说，有些衣料如粘胶纤维不能水洗，因为它的耐湿强度较低。其他一些衣料如羊毛如果水洗会缩水。另外，某些娇气的衣料、衬里、装饰等经不住水洗。
佛罗里达州科勒尔斯普林斯（Coral Springs）的萨伯希尔（Nadene Sabghir）说，她女儿的一件礼服被干洗店弄得缀片都融掉了，现在她不会把带有装饰、缀片的衣服或者自己真正的心头好拿去干洗，而是尽可能自己手洗或轻柔机洗。
RAY A. SMITH
（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）
You drop your most cherished clothes at the dry cleaner, and they're ticketed, thrown into a massive pile of garments and whisked away.
To most consumers, what takes place behind the counter, where imposing machines rumble and steam hisses, is a mystery. What exactly goes on back there? Other common questions: Why do women's shirts often cost more to clean than men's, and why do only some stains come out?
Adding to the confusion is a transition that is already shaking up the dry-cleaning industry. Many dry cleaners will be required to find new solvents to replace a widely used cleaning agent called perchloroethylene, or perc, by 2020. As a result, businesses are using a growing array of new methods to clean garments. Procter & Gamble Co. recently launched Tide Dry Cleaners, a chain of stores that use an alternative product, based on silicone and called GreenEarth.
The result, for many people, is uncertainty. 'I find myself looking at tags more to see if I can wash it,' says Alli Webb, the West Hollywood, Calif., co-founder of Drybar, a chain of blowout hair salons. She says she is nervous about chemicals and sometimes will drive farther to a cleaner that promotes itself as eco-friendly.
The shakeup is coming to an industry that has changed little for decades. While the Frenchman credited with inventing dry cleaning started with turpentine, perc has been used since the 1930s to clean clothes, and about 80% of cleaners still rely on it. Like turpentine─and benzene, kerosene and gasoline, which were also tried in the early years─perc is good at dissolving oil-based stains. It is pumped into a supersized washing machine to flush dirt from the clothes.
Stubborn stains from difficult-to-remove substances, such as ink, wine and mustard, are attacked by hand with chemicals that target particular substances. Bruce Barish, owner of New York City's Ernest Winzer Cleaners, cites balsamic vinaigrette as 'very hard to get out.' It's a mix of both water-based and oily stains with a dark dye that is hard to remove─especially since most customers accidentally rub it in.
The quality and service vary, in part because most dry cleaners are independently owned. There are 24,124 dry-cleaning and non-coin-operated laundry establishments in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau.
But certain things hold true across the industry. In a 2009 study that examined 50 randomly selected dry cleaners, New York-based Floyd Advisory LLC found that women paid an average of 73% more than men for laundered shirts. Dry cleaners surveyed say women's shirts don't fit in their industrial presses as well as men's and must be ironed by hand.
Last year, market-research firm Mintel International found that 75% of women who had gone clothes-shopping in the past 12 months said they avoided buying clothes that required dry cleaning.
Indeed, it is customers' low opinion of dry cleaning, in part, that sparked P&G's new venture, the company says. P&G research found that a large percentage of consumers were generally dissatisfied with their dry cleaning, says Ross H. Holthouse, a spokesman for the consumer-product maker's FutureWorks division. 'They felt the stores were dark and that they walked into a black box and didn't know what was happening,' he says.
Tide Dry Cleaners stores, which use the branding of Tide laundry detergent, have valets that carry clothes to and from customers' cars, lockers with customized passwords where consumers can drop off or pick up clothes after hours, and bar codes that keep track of customers' data, including preferences. The company made sure the stores were bright and open, with the machines visible, Mr. Holthouse says. After starting with three test stores in Kansas City, Kan., the company opened the first Tide Dry Cleaner in Mason, Ohio, last fall, and two more Ohio stores opened in July. The company says it could have several hundred locations in a couple of years.
P&G is also one of a growing number of businesses to use a cleaning substance other than perc. It uses P&G products such as Tide as well as perc alternative GreenEarth.
The Environmental Protection Agency has classified perc as a toxic air pollutant and potential human carcinogen. While the EPA mandated that cleaning businesses located in residential buildings phase out perc by the end of 2020, some states, including California, Illinois and New Jersey, have sought to end its use sooner and more broadly.
As a result, alternative solvents have come on the market, claiming to clean just as well but with less harm to humans and the environment. Among the most popular are hydrocarbon, GreenEarth and a water-and-detergent method known as wet cleaning. The EPA hasn't issued policy rulings on these substances, and dry cleaners aren't required to say what they use.
Some in the industry say the environmental concerns over perc have been overblown. Alan Spielvogel, director of technical services at the National Cleaners Association, a trade group, says the industry has taken steps over the years to reduce perc pollution, primarily by installing advanced machines. What's more, he's not convinced that the alternatives clean as well.
About 60 dry cleaners in the U.S. use SystemK4, a new dry-cleaning solution made by Kreussler Inc. Alex Shvartshteyn, owner of London Cleaners in Cleveland, switched from GreenEarth to SystemK4 earlier this year and prefers the latter.
Kreussler wouldn't disclose the chemical makeup of SystemK4, but it says the product leaves clothes softer and fresher-smelling than perc. 'It won't beat up the clothes as much as perc,' says Richard Fitzpatrick, vice president at Kreussler.
But Mr. Spielvogel and others fear switching to alternatives will be costly. In many cases, dry cleaners will have to buy new machines, which can cost $45,000 to $100,000 or more. Converting to alternatives could increase the average dry-cleaning bill as owners pass on the costs of investing in new machines to customers. Increasing prices 'is certainly an option' says Mary Scalco, acting chief executive officer of the Drycleaning and Laundry Institute, a trade association. 'Most of the dry-cleaning industry is comprised of small mom and pop businesses.'
When trying to decide what merits dry cleaning, consumers should start with the label. While some 'dry clean only' items can be carefully washed at home, says Jack Gillis, director of public affairs at the Consumer Federation of America, 'you'd be taking a risk if, like most of us, you didn't know how the fabric would react to soap and water.' Some fibers and fabrics, such as viscose rayon, require waterless cleaning because they have 'low wet strength,' while others such as wool might shrink, says Kay Obendorf, a professor of fiber science at Cornell University. In addition, some delicate materials, linings, finishings or trims won't withstand the wash.
Nadene Sabghir, of Coral Springs, Fla., says one of her daughter's party dresses came back from the dry cleaners with melted sequins. Now, she doesn't bring anything with 'embellishment, sequins or something I really love' to the cleaners. 'If I can hand-wash it or delicate-wash it, I will.'
RAY A. SMITH
To most consumers, what takes place behind the counter, where imposing machines rumble and steam hisses, is a mystery. What exactly goes on back there? Other common questions: Why do women's shirts often cost more to clean than men's, and why do only some stains come out?
Adding to the confusion is a transition that is already shaking up the dry-cleaning industry. Many dry cleaners will be required to find new solvents to replace a widely used cleaning agent called perchloroethylene, or perc, by 2020. As a result, businesses are using a growing array of new methods to clean garments. Procter & Gamble Co. recently launched Tide Dry Cleaners, a chain of stores that use an alternative product, based on silicone and called GreenEarth.
The result, for many people, is uncertainty. 'I find myself looking at tags more to see if I can wash it,' says Alli Webb, the West Hollywood, Calif., co-founder of Drybar, a chain of blowout hair salons. She says she is nervous about chemicals and sometimes will drive farther to a cleaner that promotes itself as eco-friendly.
The shakeup is coming to an industry that has changed little for decades. While the Frenchman credited with inventing dry cleaning started with turpentine, perc has been used since the 1930s to clean clothes, and about 80% of cleaners still rely on it. Like turpentine─and benzene, kerosene and gasoline, which were also tried in the early years─perc is good at dissolving oil-based stains. It is pumped into a supersized washing machine to flush dirt from the clothes.
Stubborn stains from difficult-to-remove substances, such as ink, wine and mustard, are attacked by hand with chemicals that target particular substances. Bruce Barish, owner of New York City's Ernest Winzer Cleaners, cites balsamic vinaigrette as 'very hard to get out.' It's a mix of both water-based and oily stains with a dark dye that is hard to remove─especially since most customers accidentally rub it in.
The quality and service vary, in part because most dry cleaners are independently owned. There are 24,124 dry-cleaning and non-coin-operated laundry establishments in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau.
But certain things hold true across the industry. In a 2009 study that examined 50 randomly selected dry cleaners, New York-based Floyd Advisory LLC found that women paid an average of 73% more than men for laundered shirts. Dry cleaners surveyed say women's shirts don't fit in their industrial presses as well as men's and must be ironed by hand.
Last year, market-research firm Mintel International found that 75% of women who had gone clothes-shopping in the past 12 months said they avoided buying clothes that required dry cleaning.
Indeed, it is customers' low opinion of dry cleaning, in part, that sparked P&G's new venture, the company says. P&G research found that a large percentage of consumers were generally dissatisfied with their dry cleaning, says Ross H. Holthouse, a spokesman for the consumer-product maker's FutureWorks division. 'They felt the stores were dark and that they walked into a black box and didn't know what was happening,' he says.
Tide Dry Cleaners stores, which use the branding of Tide laundry detergent, have valets that carry clothes to and from customers' cars, lockers with customized passwords where consumers can drop off or pick up clothes after hours, and bar codes that keep track of customers' data, including preferences. The company made sure the stores were bright and open, with the machines visible, Mr. Holthouse says. After starting with three test stores in Kansas City, Kan., the company opened the first Tide Dry Cleaner in Mason, Ohio, last fall, and two more Ohio stores opened in July. The company says it could have several hundred locations in a couple of years.
P&G is also one of a growing number of businesses to use a cleaning substance other than perc. It uses P&G products such as Tide as well as perc alternative GreenEarth.
The Environmental Protection Agency has classified perc as a toxic air pollutant and potential human carcinogen. While the EPA mandated that cleaning businesses located in residential buildings phase out perc by the end of 2020, some states, including California, Illinois and New Jersey, have sought to end its use sooner and more broadly.
As a result, alternative solvents have come on the market, claiming to clean just as well but with less harm to humans and the environment. Among the most popular are hydrocarbon, GreenEarth and a water-and-detergent method known as wet cleaning. The EPA hasn't issued policy rulings on these substances, and dry cleaners aren't required to say what they use.
Some in the industry say the environmental concerns over perc have been overblown. Alan Spielvogel, director of technical services at the National Cleaners Association, a trade group, says the industry has taken steps over the years to reduce perc pollution, primarily by installing advanced machines. What's more, he's not convinced that the alternatives clean as well.
About 60 dry cleaners in the U.S. use SystemK4, a new dry-cleaning solution made by Kreussler Inc. Alex Shvartshteyn, owner of London Cleaners in Cleveland, switched from GreenEarth to SystemK4 earlier this year and prefers the latter.
Kreussler wouldn't disclose the chemical makeup of SystemK4, but it says the product leaves clothes softer and fresher-smelling than perc. 'It won't beat up the clothes as much as perc,' says Richard Fitzpatrick, vice president at Kreussler.
But Mr. Spielvogel and others fear switching to alternatives will be costly. In many cases, dry cleaners will have to buy new machines, which can cost $45,000 to $100,000 or more. Converting to alternatives could increase the average dry-cleaning bill as owners pass on the costs of investing in new machines to customers. Increasing prices 'is certainly an option' says Mary Scalco, acting chief executive officer of the Drycleaning and Laundry Institute, a trade association. 'Most of the dry-cleaning industry is comprised of small mom and pop businesses.'
When trying to decide what merits dry cleaning, consumers should start with the label. While some 'dry clean only' items can be carefully washed at home, says Jack Gillis, director of public affairs at the Consumer Federation of America, 'you'd be taking a risk if, like most of us, you didn't know how the fabric would react to soap and water.' Some fibers and fabrics, such as viscose rayon, require waterless cleaning because they have 'low wet strength,' while others such as wool might shrink, says Kay Obendorf, a professor of fiber science at Cornell University. In addition, some delicate materials, linings, finishings or trims won't withstand the wash.
Nadene Sabghir, of Coral Springs, Fla., says one of her daughter's party dresses came back from the dry cleaners with melted sequins. Now, she doesn't bring anything with 'embellishment, sequins or something I really love' to the cleaners. 'If I can hand-wash it or delicate-wash it, I will.'
RAY A. SMITH
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