What you probably already have

If you are running a modern washer-extractor with programmable water levels and variable extract speeds, and a dryer with a moisture sensor, the wash and dry side is largely covered. Wet cleaning does not require a machine badged for it. It requires a machine you can control, and a dryer that stops when the load reaches a residual moisture level rather than running to bone dry.

Where plants come unstuck is at the extremes. A washer with fixed water levels and no low-action program will be too aggressive on wool, and a timer-only dryer will over-dry, which is what shrinks garments and ruins handle. If either of those describes your machinery, that is the piece to change — not the whole plant.

What you will need to add

Finishing equipment

This is the real investment, and the one most cleaners underestimate. Wet cleaned garments come out of the dryer with moisture still in them, deliberately, and are finished under tension while that moisture is still there. That needs:

• A form finisher for jackets, coats and structured tops.
• A trouser topper for the tops of trousers and skirts.
• A pressing table with vacuum and steam for everything else.

Without them, a wet cleaned garment needs far more hand pressing to look right, and your labour cost per piece climbs to the point where the process stops making sense. With them, finishing is fast and the result is better than solvent.

The chemistry

The LANADOL range covers the process: AKTIV as the core detergent, X-PRESS for less sensitive textiles, AVANT for pre-brushing stubborn stains, APRET as the fibre-protection and finishing agent, LICKER for leather, and ABAC where disinfection is required. See the full range.

Programs and training

This is the part that determines whether it works. Wet cleaning is a set of programs matched to garment classes — water level, mechanical action, temperature, cycle time and target residual moisture, each set for what is in the drum. Getting them right for your machinery, your water and your mix of work is what the commissioning period is for.

What changes in the plant

• No solvent purchasing or storage. No drums, no bunding, no deliveries.
• No hazardous waste stream. No still residue, no filter cartridges, no waste contractor.
• No vapour exposure. Nothing for staff to breathe, nothing to monitor.
• Lower energy use and less maintenance. There is no distillation and no solvent recovery circuit to keep in order.
• More finishing labour. This is the honest trade-off, and the reason the finishing equipment is not optional.

Run it alongside solvent, not instead of it

Most plants that adopt wet cleaning keep their solvent machine. The two processes fail in different places — solvent is still the better answer for heavy oil and grease and for some fused constructions, while wet cleaning handles everything solvent attacks and everything water-soluble.

Running both means very little work has to be turned away, and it means the garments carrying a circled W on the label — which you are currently declining or improvising on — become work you can take.

Where the extra work comes from

Three sources, in rough order of size. Garments you currently refuse, particularly beaded, sequinned, coated and heat-transferred pieces. Customers who ask for it by name, which is a small but growing group. And commercial accounts with a reason to avoid solvent residue — aged care, healthcare, hospitality and anything worn against skin.

Being listed on this site as a wet cleaner is free and sends consumer enquiries your way. See who is already listed.

Getting a straight answer for your plant

What it takes depends entirely on what you are running now. Spencer Systems supplies the chemistry and the finishing equipment across Australia, installs it, and trains your operators on the programs.

Tell us what is in your plant and we will tell you what would actually need to change — including if the answer is that your current machinery is not suitable.

Working out whether it pays? What wet cleaning actually costs to run goes through the six cost lines that actually change — chemistry, cycle time, finishing labour, solvent overheads, equipment, and the work you can then accept.