Does dry cleaning use polar or nonpolar solvents

Dry cleaning is being used as one of the best techniques to clean clothes and take the toughest stains out in the easiest as well as most efficient manner. Dry cleaning is the process in which cloth or any other garments are cleaned without using water.

The first question that may come to your mind is how clothes are washed and cleaned if there is no water taking place in the whole process.

Does dry cleaning use polar or nonpolar solvents

Well, the beauty of dry-cleaning is that it uses solvents that cannot only remove stains from each thread but keep them safe from shrinkage and wrinkles as well. There are plenty of solvents that are considered best for cleaning purposes especially while removing stains from clothes but when it comes to dry cleaning, only a few specific solvents can be used in the process to get the job done most efficiently. You may ask, does dry cleaning use polar or nonpolar solvents?

This whole guide is composed just to bring all the useful information related to this very topic in one place.

Table of Contents

What is dry cleaning solvent?

Dry cleaning doesn’t include water in the whole process but some other liquids are used to clean the clothes. Dry cleaning is widely utilized to clean clothes that are prone to shrinkage or can be affected if washed in washing machines.

Also, dry cleaning can remove oily and grease stains which can never be removed by using water as oil don’t dissolve in water instead makes the stain worse.

To tackle all these issues efficiently, some special solvents are utilized during the process which is usually hydrocarbon-based compounds and they entirely have no water in their composition.

Do keep this fact in mind that not all garments are suitable to be dry cleaned as some extremely delicate garments can be damaged due to frequent cleaning by solvents and dry cleaning doesn’t have the required ability to remove water-based stains as well.

How do dry cleaning solvents work?

We all know that Perchloroethylene (PERC), hydrocarbon, or any petroleum-based product can quickly remove stains as they interact with the stains and break them down into minor molecules. This weakens the stain’s grip on the threads and allows the machine to take it out of the fabrics in an easy manner. The actual process of dry cleaning is shortly described below:

The very first step is to inspect the whole garment to determine its conditions and see how much work it requires.
Some pre-processing is done on extremely tough stains to make them a little bit easy for dry cleaning to remove.
Then the clothes are put inside the highly advanced dry cleaning machines which are usually controlled by a computer.
Then the solvent is poured into the machine where a pump sucks it into the tank and then releases it with full pressure through the filters. After being filtered, the solvent comes into the palace with the clothes and removes all stains while rotating with the garments. The same process is repeated multiple times.
Clothes are dried by exposing heat and then inspected one last time to see if any stains marks are still left on them.
If not, ironing and other post-processing are done to make it ready to wear.

Is isopropyl alcohol a nonpolar solvent?

If you look at the chemical composition of isopropyl alcohol also known as IPA or rubbing alcohol, you can see that almost 90% of the composition is just a mixture of hydrogen and carbons. We all know that hydrocarbons are nonpolar thus it makes IPA a non-polar solvent as well.

There is a small portion in its composition which consists of oxygen (which is itself polar) but it can’t overcome its three carbons and some hydrogen that are attached to them. Its nonpolar properties have made it capable of dissolving oil which ultimately makes it one of the best products to remove greasy and related stains from clothes.

Do keep this fact in mind that you can utilize IPA to treat stains with your hands but putting it in a dry cleaning machine and then in a dryer is not an appreciated option.

You may also be interested to learn our previous isopropyl alcohol guides:

Why does isopropyl alcohol dissolve in both polar and nonpolar solvents?

This is because of the hydrogen atoms that are forming strong and long chains of bonds with both oxygen and carbon atoms in their composition. The bonds are extremely difficult (almost impossible without adding some other substances) to break.

A nonpolar substance cannot be dissolved in water if it has long and long chains of bonds with the hydrogen but in IPA, hydrogen makes bonds with carbon but it breaks it when it comes to a little polar part (oxygen).

This unique composition makes IPA a great solvent to be dissolved with both water and oily substances i.e polar and nonpolar solvents. Although they can dissolve in both, their ability is much higher and stronger while dissolving in nonpolar solvents as compared to polar solvents.

How to identify polar and nonpolar solvents?

The complex way is to look at its chemical composition and you will simply get the idea with its atoms and bonds but as not all people are chemical experts and want to get the job done easily, you can go with a simple method.

You can easily identify any solvent by mixing them in water. The process is the simplest and all you need is a transparent glass or another container which gives you a clear view of liquids inside.

Start by pouring a good amount of water into the transparent glass.
Now pour the solvent that needs to be identified to determine whether it is polar or nonpolar.
Don’t stir it or shake the container. Just let both liquids stay in it for a while.
If the solvents have been dissolved and you cannot determine which is what, the solvent is surely polar.
If both liquids are staying at different positions and you can clearly see a boundary between them, the solvent is nonpolar as such substances don’t get dissolved in water.

Pro Tip: To understand this process and concept in a better way, you can experience it by mixing water with oil.

What is the solvent used in dry cleaning?

PERF also known as Perchloroethylene is probably the most common and widely used solvent when it comes to dry cleaning. It is a nonpolar solvent that can effectively remove stains from clothes while protecting them from degradation as well.

With various benefits that come with PERC, a few health issues can also arise which have urged people to go for other replacements to this solvent. Health organizations have claimed that PERC can become an effective cause of kidney failure, liver damages, and cancer as it has been seen in various animals.

Various safe and nontoxic solvents have been introduced in this process which is widely known as green solvents and best suitable for dry cleaning methods. Some of the rapidly growing solvents include liquid carbon dioxide and liquid silicon (decamethylcyclopentasiloxane D5). D5 is considered the best because of its high abilities and also because it is safe, non-toxic, non-hazardous, and odorless.

Dry cleaning solvent for upholstery

Some of the best dry cleaning solvents for upholstery are listed below. They are completely water-free and can bring amazing results.

Blue Coral 2-Pack Dri-Clean
ProtectME Premium Fabric Protector
Blue Coral DC22-6PK Dri-Clean
Scotchgard Fabric and Upholstery Cleaner
Blue Coral DC22 Upholstery Cleaner

Dry cleaning solvent for couch

Upholstery includes a wide range of fabric types and almost all couches are covered with any of these fabrics. So, it can be said that you can safely use any of the above-mentioned solvents. Apart from this, you can try other solvents as well which mainly include:

ALBAchem Psr Brush off Spot Cleaner
Woolite At-Home Dry Cleaner
Forcefield Dry Cleaning Fluid

Dry cleaning solvent for carpet

Carpet usually falls in the upholstery category but some solvents can be used with almost all kinds of carpet fabrics as they are specially designed to dry clean carpets.

Capture Carpet Dry Cleaning Powder
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner
Capture Carpet Total Care Kit 400

Dry cleaning solvent for clothes

Dry cleaners usually use basic solvents such as hydrocarbons and PERC for clothes but some of the above-mentioned products can be used as well. Woolite is probably the best solvent when it comes to cleaning almost all fabrics of clothes.

Woolite Dry Care Cleaner
Forcefield Fabric Cleaner
Scotchgard Fabric and Upholstery Cleaner

Dry cleaning solvent for furniture:

Furniture usually gets dirty from some stains at a few positions. This thing needs to be treated as soon as possible because it can give a bad impression to your guests while they can become worse as well.