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ScienceIsSexy420 t1_iu20orm wrote

In chemistry we call anything with water removed "dry" or "anhydrous". Even organic solvents which don't mix with water will absorb some small amount of water from the atmosphere, so we use little beads called molecular sieves that absorb the water from the solvent, and we store it under a nitrogen atmosphere. This makes the solvent "dry"

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Golvellius t1_iu66mcb wrote

Is it the same concept as dry shampoo?

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ScienceIsSexy420 t1_iu6l25i wrote

Kind of, but not exactly. Dry shampoo doesn't really remove dirt the way dry cleaning does, but rather absorbs the oils giving the appearance of clean hair. But, the dry portion is identical

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AKchaos49 t1_iu1wkxa wrote

"This shirt is dry clean only; which means it's DIRTY!"

RIP Mitch

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DrNecropolis t1_iu1r6on wrote

That’s fairly common. I worked at a dry cleaners for 10 years, and this came up pretty frequently. Usually folks wouldn’t like the prices and said they could dry clean at home, using those things that look like dryer sheets. Typically they were back two weeks later wondering why the stains weren’t coming out. Though by that time they had baked the stain into their clothes and getting the stain out would result in damage to the fabric color

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Use_The_Sauce t1_iu3pamq wrote

I imagine as a dry cleaner the worst thing you can hear is “Can you get this stain out? I’ve tried <insert random lengthy list of pointless treatments>, but it didn’t do anything”

Yes, it did. It made it worse.

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[deleted] t1_iu3rrwq wrote

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[deleted] t1_iu3v7nf wrote

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[deleted] t1_iu3y6cr wrote

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[deleted] t1_iu3zpc9 wrote

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imMadasaHatter t1_iu497u1 wrote

You didn’t read AGAIN lmao

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[deleted] t1_iu49oxb wrote

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Civil_Speed_8234 t1_iu4hw07 wrote

The correct English expression is 'their grandma'. It seems you really hate reading, seeing as you don't read comments and apparently not grammar books either.

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[deleted] t1_iu4k4ud wrote

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Civil_Speed_8234 t1_iu4lm0f wrote

Oh so you're transphobe too. Sorry, my bad for thinking you're a decent human being who just doesn't like to read

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[deleted] t1_iu4lvpk wrote

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Civil_Speed_8234 t1_iu4mqye wrote

I thought we were talking about English grammar? Now suddenly we're talking biology? Seems you really don't know anything about anything

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crankyoldbrent t1_iu2fxij wrote

Real old style dry cleaners were so bad for the environment that we have 3 spots in my town where there were former dry cleaners that nothing will ever be in the spots that those businesses were.

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Key-Owl-5177 t1_iu5tey2 wrote

Apparently they're still pretty bad. I worked at a company with a hazmat division and they got a lot of work out of dry cleaners sites

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Swift_Achilles t1_iudg4vw wrote

Depends on what solvents they used, I worked at one for about 4 years and we used a biodegradable solvent called SolvonK4. No hazmat required!

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fatDaddy21 t1_iu1n07g wrote

How did you think it worked? Like they just throw it in the washing machine and skip adding water?

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ScenicAndrew t1_iu1sgc1 wrote

I thought it probably had something to do with hot gaseous cleaners. Kinda like steam cleaning but where it didn't condense back into water at any point.

In my head I feel a white sock would probably get pretty clean if I stick it in a high pressure steam jet for 1/10th of a second.

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Rickshmitt t1_iu1zwtx wrote

Honestly i thought this too. Ive never used the service and didnt give it much thought. Chemical cleaners doesnt sound as nice

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NicoleHope55 t1_iu1pp70 wrote

I honestly thought the same as the OP but I never actually fully thought about it or looked it up. I figured dry meant dry - maybe super high temp? Or those UV sanitizing things? Vacuum? Super air blower blows the dirt out of it?

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Dendad6972 t1_iu1s3fo wrote

Actually it's low temp. The liquid used evaporates at low temperature and is almost completely captured and reused. Source: my dad owned a drycleaners.

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LilianaCole t1_iu3tz8o wrote

Hey, I'm here from another post, can you help me with the name and number of your cleaner? You said you had the cleaner for $140 for your house once a month, and that seems incredible to me. Also is the work quality? I need a little bit of deep cleaning and I want it to be worth it for me. Thanks man!! It means a lot.

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Positive-Source8205 t1_iu2ccp0 wrote

It’s called “dry” because there is no water.

Similarly, in the used oil business used oil is called either wet or dry depending on whether it is mixed with water or not.

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Wild_Rover5298 t1_iu1zhc5 wrote

So does that mean water is indeed wet

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Wilbis t1_iubdhtx wrote

Any liquid is wet. Doesn't necessarily need to be water.

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TalosBeWithYou t1_iu271nr wrote

Wetness is the retention of water on or under the surface. Water cannot be wet because it cannot be on it's self. If you add water to existing water you increase the orginal body of water.

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AdvicePerson t1_iu2nzg3 wrote

Is he a dot, or is he a speck?

When he's underwater does he get wet?

Or does the water get him instead?

Nobody knows, Particle man

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invisible32 t1_iu2e1ao wrote

Why cannot it be on it's self? One molecule of water is atop a second molecule of water. Both are now on eachother, both are wet.

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SlingDingersOnPatrol t1_iu2y999 wrote

It’s just semantics, really. If we want water to be wet, it can be. And there’s really no reason for it to not.

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EPalmighty t1_iu2k8uf wrote

But then they are each other and not on top

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drkensaccount t1_iu2drh6 wrote

Wet water is water that has a small amount of surfacant (detergent) added to break down surface tension. It's used in modeling to keep sprayed, water based glue from beading up, so it soaks into whatever it's supposed to be gluing together.

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cdngoneguy t1_iu2onn5 wrote

I learned this when I was 14 because a comfort movie of mine was My Big Fat Greek Wedding and one of the relatives owns a dry cleaner store :)

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HeDgEhAwG69 t1_iu1u474 wrote

So which is worse for the environment?

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TheToastIsBlue t1_iu1vq2v wrote

Dry cleaning. Apparently my neighborhood can thank our drycleaners for our toxic groundwater.

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wdwerker t1_iu2gese wrote

A long time ago it was fairly common for dry cleaners to have a well onsite to dump old chemicals in . Most old dry cleaners sites are on the superfund list.

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flightwatcher45 t1_iu23dvn wrote

Well they were doing something wrong if it got into the groundwater, the process of drycleaning when done correctly is safe.

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pickleer t1_iu21b8u wrote

Petroleum distillates mostly. The sign on one near my house says "ASK ME ABOUT HYDRO CARBON". Friggin trying to cloud the water, sheisters!

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franklincampo t1_iu4x33v wrote

Well, it's also targeted. The clothing is never saturated with liquid like it is in traditional laundry. They spray the solvents through specific parts of the clothing.

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lordwreynor t1_iu4hk5v wrote

Silicone solvents are becoming more prevalent. There are still some old timers that continue to use Perchlorethylene, but noone in their right mind would purchase a perc machine. Hydrocarbon solvent is probably 80% of the industry, the most popular of which is Ecosolv, due to being cheaper than exxon's df2000

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