Dry cleaning

Dry cleaning is any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using a solvent other than water. Clothes are instead soaked in a water-free liquid organic solvent typically inside a specialised dry-cleaning machine. The most commonly used solvent is perchloroethylene, although other solvents such as hydrocarbon mixtures and decamethylcyclopentasiloxane are also used.

Historical solvents include gasoline, kerosene, Stoddard solvent, carbon tetrachloride, trichloroethylene, trichlorotrifluoroethane, trichloroethane and n-propyl bromide.

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