KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Silicone is now an official recommendation for the cleaning of textile products according to ASTM D3136, Standard Terminology Relating to Care Labeling for Apparel, Textile, Home Furnishing, and Leather Products, reports GreenEarth Cleaning, which markets a silicone-based system to dry cleaners.
The ruling comes after GreenEarth, a voting member of ASTM Committee D13 on Textiles, proposed amendments to the care labeling standards with the goal of improving professional garment care.
It makes GreenEarth silicone the first new drycleaning solvent specifically referenced for care labeling by ASTM International since fluorocarbon in 1996, the company says.
Formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials, ASTM International is one of the world’s largest development and delivery systems of standards and related products and services. Some 12,000 ASTM standards are used around the world today to improve product quality, enhance safety, facilitate trade, and build consumer confidence.
ASTM’s new definition of dry cleaning is now “in the care of textile products, a cleaning process using solvents such as perchloroethylene, a petroleum, or a silicone,” GreenEarth says.
“We believe that the inclusion of the silicone option by ASTM will assist garment manufacturers to address the increasing regulation of perc and hydrocarbons in the drycleaning industry,” says Tim Maxwell, GreenEarth Cleaning president. “GreenEarth’s silicone process provides an alternative that is gentler for garments and the planet. We believe our alternative is good for everybody.”
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