Dry Cleaning vs. Wet Cleaning
Researched by Jennylyn A. 1999-2000	PURPOSE  HYPOTHESIS  EXPERIMENT DESIGN  MATERIALS  PROCEDURES  RESULTS  CONCLUSION  RESEARCH REPORT BIBLIOGRAPHY About The Author

The purpose of this experiment was to determine which chemical would clean coffee and fruit punch off of a fabric made of cotton and poly-cotton.

I became interested in this idea when I noticed the owner of Selah Cleaners buying many chemicals.  There were so many I wanted to know which one worked best.

The information gained from this experiment will be very useful for people who get stains.  Coffee is a stain that people get often so this information will be used.

My hypothesis is dry cleaning Shout will remove a stain better than washing, Clorox, or Easy Wash.

My hypothesis is based on the label on Shout saying "Removes more tough stains better the 1st time!"

The constants in this study were:
The fabric types
The amount of coffee
The amount of fruit punch
The amount of chemicals
The amount of detergent
The amount of time the stain gets to be soaked in
The amount of stains used

The manipulated variable was the type of chemicals.

The responding variable was the amount of coffee and fruit punch left on the fabric made of cotton and poly-cotton.

To measure the responding variable I will go to Tree Top and use their colorimeter to measure how much coffee or fruit punch is left on the fabric. 

1.  Gather materials.
2.  Start with the cotton fabric.
3.  Cut fabric into 48 10 cm X 10 cm squares.
4.  Take 16 squares.
5.  Label each square with a special pen that resists dry cleaning.  Use"D" for dry cleaning,  "W" for wet cleaning. Use "C" for  Cotton,    "PC" for poly-cotton.  Use "CF" for the coffee stain, and "F" for the fruit punch stain.  Use "S" for Shout, "CL" for Clorox, "E" for Easy Wash, and "N" for your control fabric. Use "1" for trial one, "2" for trial two, and "3" for trial three. 
(Example: D-C-F-S-1)
6.    Stain the 8 squares marked with "F" in fruit punch for 15 minutes. 
7.    Stain the 8 squares marked with "C" in coffee for 15 minutes. 
8.    Hang fabrics until they are dry.
9.    Take fabrics to Tree Top for your first color analysis.
10.  Treat 4 fabrics marked with "S" with Shout.
11.  Treat 4 fabrics marked with "CL" with Clorox.
12.  Treat 4 fabrics marked with "E" with Easy Wash.
13.  Do not treat the other 4 fabrics they are controlled.
14.  Put 2 fabrics treated with Shout, Clorox, Easy Wash, and the 2 controlled in the washer with the detergent Cheers.
15.  Put the rest in the dry cleaning.
16.  Do not dry the fabrics, let them dry flat or hang them.
17.  Take fabrics to Tree Top for your second color analysis.
18.  Compare 1st analysis with the 2nd.
19.  Record data.
20.  Repeat steps 3-17 two more times for a more accurate result.  When you repeat step 3-17 the first time be sure to use your fabrics for  trial two and when you repeat it the second time be sure to use your fabrics for trial three. 
21.  Repeat steps 3-19 except instead of using a cotton cloth use a poly-cotton cloth. 
(50% cotton X 50% polyester)

The original purpose of this experiment was to determine which chemical will clean coffee and fruit punch off of a fabric made of cotton and poly-cotton. 

The results of the experiment were that Shout cleaned a coffee stain better than Clorox or Easy Wash.  However Easy Wash cleaned fruit punch better than Shout or Clorox.

My hypothesis was that dry cleaning and Shout will remove a stain better than washing, Clorox, or Easy Wash.

The results indicate that this hypothesis should be rejected.  Because Shout didn't clean as well as the other pre-cleaners did.

Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if dry cleaning chemicals will work better washed instead of dry cleaned.

If I were to conduct this project again I would be sure to put the cloth on the colorimeter correctly.  If I took the cloth and moved it slightly to the left or right the colorimeter will take a reading that is actually darker than what it used to be.  I would also use chemicals that are compatible.  The chemcials and solvent I used didn't work well with eachother.  Therefore the stain wasn't removed as well.

 Most garments are expensive.  If you get a stain on a piece of clothing you shouldn't just throw it away and get a new piece.  It's important for dry cleaners to provide the proper treatment to remove stains off of clothing or the result will be that people will have to spend more money buying new clothes than spending money on just getting their stains removed, for nearly half of the price.

Soap is made with fats and alkali.  Soap has existed since colonial times when women made them in large pots. They somehow got the idea to start making soap in large quantities, so they could sell them to other families.  Soon after that people started inventing machines to make soap.  Now you can buy soap at a department store.  The average person uses about 25 pounds of soap per year!

The material cotton was made from a cotton plant.  To know when the cotton is ready the bulbs split open and a fluffy white cotton ball shows up.  Cotton has many uses.  It goes from diapers to maybe even explosives.  The cotton threads are weaved together many times to make a strong fabric.  The only problem with weaving the cotton threads many times is that it makes the fabric very absorbent, so if you spill something on it the stain will be absorbed very quickly.
A bollworm is a caterpillar that eats the cotton plant.  It is known as one of the most destructive insects in the United States.  Nematodes are also very destructive insects.  They are microscopic worms that eat the roots of the cotton plant and reduces it growth.
Cotton is grown in the southern part of the U.S.  Like lower California, Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana.  The average person uses about 14 pounds of cotton per year!
There was once a liquid detergent that guaranteed that it would clean any stain off of cotton, and it did.  The only problem was that it would only take off a few layers of cotton.  When it removes the stain it only takes off as many layers of cotton that it needs to it get rid of the stain on the fabric.  When it keeps removing a stain it will start to tear and become very thin and delicate. 
Polyester is often mistaken for silk.  The material polyester is actually made from a certain kind of plastic.  That’s why it is so easy to get rid of a stain on polyester.  Just use some soap and water and the stain will come off very easily.
The material poly-cotton is a mix of polyester and cotton.  They are weaved together to make a material that is combined.  It’s a bit easier to get rid of the stain than cotton, but it’s a little harder to get rid of it than polyester.

Chemicals are used on a treating board.  To help remove the stain you use a spotting bone and spotting brush.  You either spray or pour the chemical needed on the stain.  Different chemicals are used on different stains.  After the stain is treated you either put your clothes in the Percolator or in the washer.  There are many different kinds of chemicals.  Some you can get in a store and some you can only get if you work or own a dry cleaning business.  Most of these chemicals are hazardous.  When handling these chemicals be sure to wear protective gloves, and don’t come in physical contact with the chemical. 

Dry cleaning uses a solvent called Perc.  Perc can be used over and over again until it evaporates which is in about a month.  Perc goes through a filter than it goes back into the stage when it washes clothes.  Dry cleaning doesn’t use any water. That’s why people call it "dry" cleaning.  The dry cleaning machine looks like a large washing machine.  It is about 2 times as large.  Dry cleaning is sometimes better than washing, but some clothes shouldn’t be dry cleaned.  Two types of those fabrics are vinyl and leather.  Leather can't be washed either so they are usually sent out to Seattle and they are cleaned there. 

Stains can be almost anything.  Usually the darker the stain the harder it is to take out, but not necessarily.  It also depends on the fabric.  For example it is harder to take a stain off of a fabric made of cotton than it is to take a stain off of a fabric made of polyester. Solid stains, like lipstick, may be harder to remove than a liquid stain.  It’s harder because the stain will dry too quickly, unlike liquids it takes a bit longer to dry than solid stains.  There are some exceptions like tea. Tea is one of the hardest stains to take out.  It is actually considered a dye.  Tea is a liquid but it might not come off.  Some of the lipstick might come off though.  If you want to remove a stain that is a solid it would be a good idea to remove the excess clumps in the stain before you treat it or wash it. 

Water is known to be the number one choice for cleaning a stain, but sometimes clothes come back from the washer shrunken or discolored.  If you want to remove a stain without using chemicals you can used detergents.  If you try to remove a stain without detergent the stain might not come off very well, or it might not come off at all! 

A colorimeter is a machine that measures color.  A colorimeter uses L, A, B, to measure the color.  L measures the lightness and/or darkness.  The whiter the item is the higher value L will be.  The darker the color is the lower the L value will be. 
 Before you test something you first put a white tile on the hole.  The number must be around the number shown at the bottom of the tile.  Then you put a black tile on the hole the color must also show up around the number on the bottom of the tile.  You do this to make sure the colorimeter is working properly.  After you do this you can adjust the hole on the top of the colorimeter to your satisfaction and begin testing your colors. 

 Dry cleaning is something people use when stains on the clothes won’t come off when they try to get rid of them at their home.  If people just go out and buy new clothes instead of bringing them to the dry cleaners.  They might be spending twice as much money that they need to spend. 
 Water is known to be the best choice for cleaning clothes, but sometimes clothes may come back discolored, shrunken or torn.  Water and soap work together to get rid of the stains on your clothing. 

Kliegman, Leonard.  "Dry Cleaning" The New Book of Knowledge,  1992 vol. 4. p. 339

Pattison, Scott E. "Detergents and Soap" The New Book of Knowledge,  1992 vol. 5 
      pp. 139-141

Smith, Wayne D. "Cotton" The New World Book of Knowledge, 1995 vol. 4 pp. 1086-1093

Hartman, Marvis E. "Polyesters" The New World Book of Knowledge,  1991 vol. 15 p. 652 

Fox, Mary Anne. "Solvents" The World Book Encyclopedia, 1995 vol. 18 p. 587

Hartman, Marvis E. "Polyester" The World Book Encyclopedia, 1991 vol. 15 p. 652

Smith, C. Wayne. "Cotton" The World Book Encyclopedia,  1995 vol. 4 pp. 1086-1093

"What is Dry Cleaning?" http://www.webadgot.com/dynadean/dynpage2-2.html

 "Dry Cleaning" http://www.rainbowintl.com/stain.htm December 15, 1999

Sigworth, Van "Dry Cleaning" Encyclopedia American, 1999 vol. 9 p. 425 

Feinstein, Myron E. "Detergent and Soap" The World Book Encyclopedia, 1999 vol. 5 
      pp. 163-166

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