Solvetex VII – New Benchmark study on quality performance solvents – Now available on WOPCOM

The Solvetex projects are executed by TKT on behalf of CINET. They provide an independent overview of the cleaning performance for professional textile cleaning processes. The previous projects evaluated currently established solvents and professional wet cleaning systems under practical conditions. Recently various new solvents have entered the market, changing the global spectrum of cleaning technology. The next Solvetex VII study reviews independent evaluation reports and conditions to present an overview of the cleaning performances and technologies for these new professional textile cleaning processes. This will include Higlow (Christeyns), Intense (Seitz), Ky (Kreussler) and Sensene (Safechem).

To provide an up-to-date benchmark, these solvents were evaluated at a testing location by TKT to determine the cleaning performance according to the Solvetex procedure. This will enable updating of the Solvetex benchmark study with the current state of the art cleaning technologies. The results of this set of measurements are compared with those for PERC and HCS as measured in the Solvetex 1 project. The testing conditions in the project Solvetex 1 were however not identical, as these tests were conducted at dry cleaners with their standard process and their normal cleaning load and not at a testing location.

General test set-up

Quality aspects of solvent cleaning like stain removal, greying and dimensional change were assessed. A textile package was used to judge visual appearance and assess dimensional change. Test swatches were used to measure stain removal, dimensional change and greying.

The machine load existed of the textile package, the test swatches and additional textiles normally cleaned by the textile cleaner to meet the required load. Pre and after spotting, finishing or any other special pre- of after-treatment were not included. The process conditions were supplied by the cleaning system suppliers.

The evaluation was based on the following criteria:
• Stain removal (of the model soil on the multi soil monitoring swatches)
• Greying of wool and cotton (on the test swatches)
• Dimensional change of the cleaned garments and wool and cotton test swatches
• Determination of visual appearance of the textile package

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