I’d been meaning to write a post about eco-friendly dry cleaners but had yet to get to it, as I prepared to leave for my three week trip to Costa Rica I called out to my fellow eco + ethical bloggers for help with guestposts and syndication posts, and amongst the kind souls who responded, was a Unicorn of the Ethical variety.
Day 143 / 365
Traditional dry cleaning relies on soaking your clothes in a petroleum-based solvent called Perchloroethylene, or “Perc”as it’s often known. Perc is highly toxic, a well-known carcinogen and a renowned air, soil and water pollutant. Fun fact, this solvent is currently being banned in the US and many European countries such as France and Denmark. And we’ve all been soaking our clothes in it. In fact, when Ludovic started hiring workers, of those who had previously worked in other dry cleaners many had completely lost their sense of smell because of the solvents, and many ended up literally high by the end of a working day because of the amount of chemicals they were exposed too. Horrific.
Back to the story. So Ludovic obviously doesn’t want to use his old dry cleaners anymore, he figures what’s the point of him buying organic and trying to be environmentally conscious if he’s getting his clothes cleaned with these chemicals, so he begins to do his research. But he can’t find an eco-friendly alternative anywhere in London. This seems crazy to him because he’s learned that there are alternatives out there: in California, these other methods have been in use for 20 years, with other stores mainly found across France and the Netherlands. This is a problem with a solution, but there’s no one to fill this need in the UK. And there’s more he starts to notice. He remembers how often when he has used dry cleaners he hasn’t really received great service: his favourite suit has come back with an unstylish shine, his shirts have come back missing buttons, his clothes have come back with stains that haven’t really been removed. In fact, he hasn’t been a particularly satisfied customer at all, he just hasn’t had another option. He realises that there are so many elements of the dry cleaning industry that could be improved and modernised, and the BLANC dream is born: a fully natural alternative, where clothes – from basic items to the most delicate – would be cared for to the highest standards, which would be kind to the environment, to people’s skins and to its own staff. Ludovic figures Apple revolutionised the computer industry, why couldn’t he do the same for dry cleaning?
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