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It's used in dry cleaning in the USA, and their suppliers will deliver it to you by the gallon [0]. MSDS of course [1]. If you're in Australia and go to the den

It's used in dry cleaning in the USA, and their suppliers will deliver it to you by the gallon [0]. MSDS of course [1]. If you're in Australia and go to the dentist, there's this as well [2] although surely that container with its death's head and POISON label are kept well out of sight. Of course there's the lab supply chain, but that's usually more expensive. It's really easy and legal to get if you want it. I've known many mechanics and similar, professional and otherwise who use workaround sources like these to get the "good stuff" degreaser. [0] https://garmentcleaningsupply.com/picrin-1-gal-streets.html https://garmentcleaningsupply.com/picrin-1-gal-streets.html [1] http://www.cleanairsupply.com/CleanAir_Web_Image/Chemical/MSDS/MSDS-RRstreets%20Picrin-US%202012-11-05.pdf http://www.cleanairsupply.com/CleanAir_Web_Image/Chemical/MS... [2] https://henryschein.com.au/impression/accessories/finale-solvent-1l-for-mouthguards-and-splints https://henryschein.com.au/impression/accessories/finale-sol...

TedDoesntTalk 3y ago
> It's used in dry cleaning in the USA Does it remain in the fabric after use? Is there danger to the wearer of dry-cleaned clothes or only to the people working at dry cleaner businesses?
- 1attice 3y ago
  Yes. This is why most dry cleaners won't accept bedding. It's considered too high-contact. (If they do accept it, they wash it with something other than TCE) Source: a college friend of mine, years ago, who worked as a dry cleaner. After talking to her, I've never used one since.
  - anonymouse008 3y ago
    > After talking to her, I've never used one since. What do we do about our formal wear then?
    - mgkimsal 3y ago
      go casual? (not entirely /s)
    - sn0wf1re 3y ago
      Hand wash gently?
    - 1attice 3y ago
      That's a great question that is entirely fabric-dependent. If your formalwear is wool (for example, a tuxedo or blazer) you'd probably want to swap it out for a version of the garment which is made from Superwash wool, which is machine-washable. (Or your choice of alternative fabric.) Creating superwash wool is still a pretty chemically-intensive process, but that might not be forever: https://www.moderndailyknitting.com/community/superwash-part-2-how-do-they-do-that/ https://www.moderndailyknitting.com/community/superwash-part... It should at least cut down on your TCE exposure. Silk is trickier -- if you wet it, you have to take great care to dry it without overheating it, while at the same time getting it to dry evenly, so you don't get watermarks on the fabric. It's doable, but it's a total PITA. The best strategy here, for me, has been to wash my silk blouses very rarely, and with a great deal of care, and tumble-dry low. I also use the 'vodka trick' I picked up working in the backroom of a theatrical costume company, many years ago -- get a bottle of cheap vodka, pour it into spritz bottle (one with a fine-mist setting -- the kind at beauty stores work great) and turn the garment inside-out; hit the pits, etc. It's safe for silk, fur, and other delicate fabrics. If you're going to be wearing silk, do it in winter or in air conditioning :) Fur -- well, you wouldn't have been dry-cleaning fur anyway, right? right?? This is a whole chapter on its own. (The vodka trick works tho) Finally, there are also lots of wonderful new machine-washable fibres on the market -- tencel, etc. -- that may be suitable for formalwear. But putting formalwear aside, the biggest problem I see is down-filled jackets and duvets. I have literally no good ideas here, other than 'wash very rarely and tumble dry low, low low'
      - bobthepanda 3y ago
        Duvets at least you can buy machine washable covers for.
  - hammock 3y ago
    Don't dry cleaners launder most things - as in, they use clothes soap not TCE? I'm under the impression that this is what happens when I drop shirts off to be cleaned and pressed
    - TylerE 3y ago
      The whole point of dry cleaning is not to use water. Now, sure many dry cleaners will offer laundry services, but that isn’t dry cleaning.
      - hammock 3y ago
        Doesn’t really address my question
        doubleg72 3y ago
        No, my button up shirts say dry clean only and I drop then off at the dry cleaner to be dry cleaned, not laundered.
    - cobertos 3y ago
      It depends on the fabric/you can ask. I brought in one delicate item to be washed (a cosplay) and they said they'd wash it in cold and not dry clean it.
    - StillBored 3y ago
      They do both, for cotton shirts they will just launder and press it, which is why its frequently $1-$2 a shirt. For many other fabrics they run it through the dry cleaning process, which is why its $5-7 a shirt.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
hatsunearu 3y ago
Yeah, automotive brake cleaner comes to mind. Proven to cause neurological damage, horrifically acutely toxic and chronically toxic, causes colorblindness of all things... Oh yeah, when it thermally decomposes into phosgene, a WWI-era chemical weapon. Spray brake cleaner on hot brakes and you're pretty much instantly dead.
- serf 3y ago
  >Spray brake cleaner on hot brakes and you're pretty much instantly dead. brake cleaner is bad -- i'm not here to dispute that -- but i've witnessed quick-lube/inspection mechanics spraying brake cleaner onto hot brakes for 20+ years, both in shops i've worked in personally and in shops i've witnessed as a customer. Oil-lube guys routinely work on very hot just-off-the-highway cars. Brake inspections are often a required element of such jobs, and there are few better ways to spray the brake dust off of calipers/drums/disc-hats/suspension components in a hurry than sprayable brake cleaners, as horrible as they are. Not only is the solvent and kinetic action of the spray itself useful, but the wetting action towards the brake dust prevents aerosolizing the brake dust for everyone in the shop. I have never witnessed a death on-site. I have no doubts that what you say about instant death is true in some laboratory environment or closed conditions, but it doesn't really correspond to practical reality. The reality is that these folks go home, create a family, live their life , and then die at an early age from a chronic illness that is brought about by the conditions. That's why these practices continue unabated; people aren't dying instantaneously from exposure, they're dying from the pernicious long term exposure effects.
  - RankingMember 3y ago
    I wouldn't be surprised if the wanton use of brake cleaner you describe was using the non-chlorinated variety. Both exist, e.g.: https://www.amazon.com/CRC-05089-BRAKLEEN-Brake-Cleaner/dp/B000LDR9HI https://www.amazon.com/CRC-05089-BRAKLEEN-Brake-Cleaner/dp/B... vs https://www.amazon.com/CRC-05089-BRAKLEEN-Brake-Cleaner/dp/B000BXKZUQ?th=1 https://www.amazon.com/CRC-05089-BRAKLEEN-Brake-Cleaner/dp/B...
    - 3y ago

TedDoesntTalk 3y ago

> It's used in dry cleaning in the USA Does it remain in the fabric after use? Is there danger to the wearer of dry-cleaned clothes or only to the people working at dry cleaner businesses?

1attice 3y ago
Yes. This is why most dry cleaners won't accept bedding. It's considered too high-contact. (If they do accept it, they wash it with something other than TCE) Source: a college friend of mine, years ago, who worked as a dry cleaner. After talking to her, I've never used one since.
- anonymouse008 3y ago
  > After talking to her, I've never used one since. What do we do about our formal wear then?
  - mgkimsal 3y ago
    go casual? (not entirely /s)
  - sn0wf1re 3y ago
    Hand wash gently?
  - 1attice 3y ago
    That's a great question that is entirely fabric-dependent. If your formalwear is wool (for example, a tuxedo or blazer) you'd probably want to swap it out for a version of the garment which is made from Superwash wool, which is machine-washable. (Or your choice of alternative fabric.) Creating superwash wool is still a pretty chemically-intensive process, but that might not be forever: https://www.moderndailyknitting.com/community/superwash-part-2-how-do-they-do-that/ https://www.moderndailyknitting.com/community/superwash-part... It should at least cut down on your TCE exposure. Silk is trickier -- if you wet it, you have to take great care to dry it without overheating it, while at the same time getting it to dry evenly, so you don't get watermarks on the fabric. It's doable, but it's a total PITA. The best strategy here, for me, has been to wash my silk blouses very rarely, and with a great deal of care, and tumble-dry low. I also use the 'vodka trick' I picked up working in the backroom of a theatrical costume company, many years ago -- get a bottle of cheap vodka, pour it into spritz bottle (one with a fine-mist setting -- the kind at beauty stores work great) and turn the garment inside-out; hit the pits, etc. It's safe for silk, fur, and other delicate fabrics. If you're going to be wearing silk, do it in winter or in air conditioning :) Fur -- well, you wouldn't have been dry-cleaning fur anyway, right? right?? This is a whole chapter on its own. (The vodka trick works tho) Finally, there are also lots of wonderful new machine-washable fibres on the market -- tencel, etc. -- that may be suitable for formalwear. But putting formalwear aside, the biggest problem I see is down-filled jackets and duvets. I have literally no good ideas here, other than 'wash very rarely and tumble dry low, low low'
    - bobthepanda 3y ago
      Duvets at least you can buy machine washable covers for.
- hammock 3y ago
  Don't dry cleaners launder most things - as in, they use clothes soap not TCE? I'm under the impression that this is what happens when I drop shirts off to be cleaned and pressed
  - TylerE 3y ago
    The whole point of dry cleaning is not to use water. Now, sure many dry cleaners will offer laundry services, but that isn’t dry cleaning.
    - hammock 3y ago
      Doesn’t really address my question
      - doubleg72 3y ago
        No, my button up shirts say dry clean only and I drop then off at the dry cleaner to be dry cleaned, not laundered.
  - cobertos 3y ago
    It depends on the fabric/you can ask. I brought in one delicate item to be washed (a cosplay) and they said they'd wash it in cold and not dry clean it.
  - StillBored 3y ago
    They do both, for cotton shirts they will just launder and press it, which is why its frequently $1-$2 a shirt. For many other fabrics they run it through the dry cleaning process, which is why its $5-7 a shirt.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

hatsunearu 3y ago

Yeah, automotive brake cleaner comes to mind. Proven to cause neurological damage, horrifically acutely toxic and chronically toxic, causes colorblindness of all things... Oh yeah, when it thermally decomposes into phosgene, a WWI-era chemical weapon. Spray brake cleaner on hot brakes and you're pretty much instantly dead.

serf 3y ago
>Spray brake cleaner on hot brakes and you're pretty much instantly dead. brake cleaner is bad -- i'm not here to dispute that -- but i've witnessed quick-lube/inspection mechanics spraying brake cleaner onto hot brakes for 20+ years, both in shops i've worked in personally and in shops i've witnessed as a customer. Oil-lube guys routinely work on very hot just-off-the-highway cars. Brake inspections are often a required element of such jobs, and there are few better ways to spray the brake dust off of calipers/drums/disc-hats/suspension components in a hurry than sprayable brake cleaners, as horrible as they are. Not only is the solvent and kinetic action of the spray itself useful, but the wetting action towards the brake dust prevents aerosolizing the brake dust for everyone in the shop. I have never witnessed a death on-site. I have no doubts that what you say about instant death is true in some laboratory environment or closed conditions, but it doesn't really correspond to practical reality. The reality is that these folks go home, create a family, live their life , and then die at an early age from a chronic illness that is brought about by the conditions. That's why these practices continue unabated; people aren't dying instantaneously from exposure, they're dying from the pernicious long term exposure effects.
- RankingMember 3y ago
  I wouldn't be surprised if the wanton use of brake cleaner you describe was using the non-chlorinated variety. Both exist, e.g.: https://www.amazon.com/CRC-05089-BRAKLEEN-Brake-Cleaner/dp/B000LDR9HI https://www.amazon.com/CRC-05089-BRAKLEEN-Brake-Cleaner/dp/B... vs https://www.amazon.com/CRC-05089-BRAKLEEN-Brake-Cleaner/dp/B000BXKZUQ?th=1 https://www.amazon.com/CRC-05089-BRAKLEEN-Brake-Cleaner/dp/B...
  - 3y ago