There’s something new in the air at Pioneer Cleaners!

Pioneer Cleaners is pleased to announce that we have recently upgraded our dry cleaning operation to a new state-of-the-art system. The new system includes a brand new, fully automated dry cleaning machine along with the environmentally friendly EcoSolv® dry cleaning solvent. EcoSolv® is odorless, 100% biodegradable, chlorine free and significantly less hazardous than perchloroethylene (traditional dry cleaning solvent).

Why did we switch to EcoSolv®?

Pioneer Cleaners has been in the dry cleaning business since 1971. When we started there was only one dry cleaning solvent that was used by all drycleaners— Perchloroethylene (commonly referred to as “perc”). For many years perc was the dry cleaning solvent of choice simply because it worked better than anything else at cleaning clothes. Unfortunately, over the last couple of decades new information has been developed about perc. Perchloroethylene is now considered to be an extremely dangerous chemical and is listed as a substance "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen" by the National Toxicology Program. But with the proper precautions and safeguards, Perc can still be safely used for dry cleaning.

Pioneer Cleaners has always had a culture of safety and strict adherence to proper handling of chemicals. However, over the almost 40 years that we have been at this location, small amounts of perc had accumulated in the area behind our cleaning operation. When this was discovered we undertook a major soil remediation project that cost many tens of thousands of dollars. Today that contamination is completely gone but it recently made us consider— is it worth the risk to continue using perc in our dry cleaning operation? We decided that the answer was NO— it’s not worth the risk.

There is a better way!

We believe that switching to EcoSolv® is the right thing to do for our customers, our employees, our neighbors, and our environment. And your clothes will be as clean as you have always expected them to be and even fresher smelling than before (no chemical solvent odor)!