Co2 Cleaning

Though Co2 is recognized as an environmentally safe alternative to perc, it is the most expensive for the customer and for the dry cleaner. There is also a liability keeping the machine in the store. The steel drums that house the Co2 are doing so at extreme high pressure. If ever these drums where to receive excessive damage to the outer shell, it would be like a bomb going off. Think of it like what happens to a balloon after it pops, now times that by however much and i’m sure you know what we mean.  We choose not to use this system only for this reason. It is not completely safe for our customers and workers in our store. 

Traditional dry cleaning systems use perc or petroleum-based chemicals as the primary cleaning solvent–with additives and detergents. Wet Cleaning utilizes water as its primary solvent. The liquid CO^₂ process employs liquid CO^₂ as the primary solvent, with recyclable cleaning agents.

Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring and generally benign substance. At room temperature, CO^₂ can exist in the form of a gas and is therefore used to carbonate soft drinks and other beverages. In solid form, carbon dioxide is known as dry ice. At room temperature, CO^₂ can also exist as a liquid if kept in a closed system at an elevated pressure. Liquid CO^₂ has a gas-like consistency and a low surface tension allowing it to function as a very effective cleaning medium when combined with detergents.

The Micare™ system uses a large conventional rotating basket with a detergent system. The system utilizes a specially designed, 60-pound capacity MICO^₂™ machine that houses liquid CO^₂. It is similar to today’s front-load, mechanical action machines and features gentle wash and extract cycles.

A detergent system (containing patented cleaning agents) enhances the cleaning ability of the liquid CO^₂, allowing it to remove soils from the garments. After the cleaning cycle, the machine pulls the mixture of liquid CO^₂ and cleaning agents (i.e., the wash fluid) away from the clothes and then cleans and reuses the solution. The Micare™ process does not require heating of the clothes and is therefore gentle to fabric.

Specifically, the Micare™ System works in the following stepwise fashion:

• Approximately 60 pounds of garments are placed inside a large rotating basket in the MICO^₂™ machine and the door is closed, sealing the system. Vacuum is applied to remove the majority of the air in the system and CO^₂ gas is added to pressurize the wash tank.
• Liquid CO^₂ is then added from the storage tank along with the Micare™ detergent system in order to form the wash fluid. The clothes are agitated for a pre-set time period and with a selected degree of agitation depending on the nature of the garments (e.g., delicate, normal, and heavy cycles). Similar to perc dry cleaning machines, the wash fluid is circulated out of the wash tank through a lint filter to capture loose fibers and vestige lint. It then passes through a carbon filter and returns to the wash tank. At this point, the wash cycle is complete.
• The liquid CO^₂ and detergent mixture (i.e., the wash fluid) is pumped out of the wash tank to the storage tank. The excess wash fluid (that fluid left clinging to the garments) is further removed by a spin extract cycle. A portion of the wash fluid is then cleaned via a distillation process that removes excess dirt and detergent. The residue from the distillation process is automatically eliminated from the machine and collected for shipment back to Micell for recycling. Carbon dioxide gas is removed from the wash tank using a compressor and the gas is sent back to the storage tank for reuse. The Micare™ system is able to efficiently convert CO^₂ from a gas to a liquid, thereby permitting 98 percent of the CO^₂ to be recycled. A nominal amount (10 lbs) of CO^₂ gas is then vented to the atmosphere.
• After a cycle time of 35 to 45 minutes, the cleaned garments are removed from the wash tank.