A few months ago I began hearing tales of people coming from Riyadh to the Eastern Province to have their clothes cleaned. The rumors were persistent. Even though I thought it was simply another urban legend, I decided to check out the stories anyway. When I began my inquiry I thought I’d just be taking a behind-the-scenes look at a company that specialized in laundry for finicky customers. By the time my research was done, I realized that I had found a Saudi company that was trying in its own small way to protect the environment, while providing superior service.
"We are the first and as far as I know the only dry cleaner in the Kingdom that is using ExxonMobil’s environmentally-friendly dry cleaning solvent, DF-2000," said Ali Said Al-Ghamdi, executive manager, Najd Laundry and Dry Cleaning. "It is not commonly available here in the Kingdom. We import it specifically for our dry cleaning operations in the Eastern Region."
I did not fully understand the implications of Al-Ghamdi’s comment at the time of our interview. But upon examining the available documentation on the functioning of the dry cleaning industry internationally as well as here in Saudi Arabia, it became clear that dry cleaning is not as innocuous a process as it seems.
Dry cleaning is not dry at all. It actually involves the use of many different chemicals in liquid form in the cleaning process. The primary solvent used by most of the dry cleaning establishments in Saudi Arabia is a hazardous chemical called tetrachloroethylene or perchlorethylene — nicknamed "perc." In the last decade numerous consumer protection organizations based in the United States have warned that a growing number of studies have linked perc with serious health consequences. According to the New York State Department of Health, perc can cause harm to the liver, kidneys, and nervous system; it can also cause reproductive harm, and it crosses into breast milk and even into developing fetuses. It is a known animal carcinogen, and the research arm of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) currently classifies it as a probable human carcinogen. The US Centers for Disease Control estimate that 74 percent of Americans have measurable amounts of perc in their bloodstreams. No studies have ever been done in the Kingdom.
A recent EPA report on all the different methods available to clean clothes included some risk assessment for perc exposure. It found that workers in dry cleaners could be exposed to enough perc to give them a cancer risk of more than 1 in 100. The EPA’s official "level of concern" is at a risk level of one in a million. The EPA’s report also showed that people living in buildings with dry cleaning machines in them could face cancer risks of up to 1 in 2,000, or even higher if the machine was poorly maintained. While some countries have prohibited the operation of dry cleaning shops in residential buildings, it is still common to see small dry cleaners located on the ground floor level of apartment buildings in Saudi Arabia.
Dry cleaners in the Kingdom and elsewhere use perc in their operations because it is quite affordable and nonflammable. But it seems neither safe nor affordable when the health risks are considered. Perc is known to be a major air pollutant, especially in urban areas, and it contaminates water resources too. The filters, muck, packaging and other waste associated with the dry cleaning process using perc, should be disposed of in the same manner as all hazardous chemicals. In practice it is nearly impossible to ensure that this takes place.
"DF-2000 is more expensive than perc but from a health and environmental perspective we feel it is the right choice," said Al-Ghamdi. "Even though it is made from petroleum it does have a high flash point which makes it quite safe to use with our specially designed equipment. We do all our dry cleaning and laundry at our central processing plant. Our local outlets are only for pick up and delivery. DF-2000 is almost odorless, removes stains and soil well, and causes no environmental damage, so our customers are pleased that we have switched to it."
Najd Laundry uses the concept of centralization to manage their operations efficiently. The company is quite proud of its central plant, which has a total capacity for laundry of more than 2,000 pounds per hour and a dry cleaning capacity of 300 pounds per hour. The company has been servicing Saudi Aramco since 1981 and has extended its services throughout the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia to include private hospitals, hotels and other service organizations.
"In addition, Najd Laundry and Dry Cleaning is a member of the International Fabricare Institute, an internationally recognized organization specialized in conducting research in the field of treatment of materials and fabrics," explained Al-Ghamdi. "Being a member we are in touch with the industry’s state-of-the-art technology updates in this field. We even have our own training center and quality assurance department and we track all our operations using the latest information technology."
I asked Al-Ghamdi what was the toughest cleaning challenge. He thought for a moment and replied, "Stains on silk. Getting them out is a painful, tedious process. Some stains are impossible but my advice is to bring the soiled garment to us quickly, point out the stain and let us try to get it out. Nothing is more damaging to clothes than an amateur trying to do professional stain removal."